Friday morning at my Airbnb rental, I was going to go to the Tim Hortons near Bloor and Lansdowne for a quick breakfast at 9. Then I found out that Daily Grind at St Clarens offered brunch. I have passed by this café countless times but I thought they only sell coffee. I'm not interested in a latte and not even a Vietnamese coffee, but do they offer Vietnamese-inspired dishes?
On the typical brunch list of French toast, pancakes, eggs and bacon, there was one such item: a take on the croque madame called Viet Madame ($17). It was two enormous slab of brioche with melted cheddar on the outside, gooey Swiss cheese on the inside, and a sunny-side-up egg perching precariously on top. The ham component was lemon grass marinated pork loin. The whole thing was too big (but not francesinha big) so I was glad I chose salad instead of potatoes for my side. Overall, it was an ok breakfast but much too dry. Either they forgot the Bechamel or their take on a croque madame's sauce was lacking.
The brunch area, through an archway next to their main coffee-only space, was clean and minimalist. But the exposed brick felt warm and homey. At least half of the room was the kitchen, so there was only 4 tables and a few seats at a counter. The service seemed a tad slow given that there was only 1 other occupied table: 2 brothers showing their Latino parents the hipster life in West-End Toronto. It'll probably pick up later on but at this early hour, it was mostly locals stopping by for a quick caffeine fix.
On the way back to the house, I saw application billboards for two new condos: one at Lansdowne and Bloor, and the other just a few steps away at St. Helen's replacing the Value Village building.
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