Brown Dog Cafe

vegan whole-wheat banana pancakes

If you're looking for a lovely way to enjoy breakfast, you can't do much better than the charming Brown Dog Cafe. The owners and staff are deceptively easygoing, as they manage to deliver a meal with high attention to detail, down to the adorable cookie accompanying your cappuccino.

After devouring buttermilk pancakes with fresh blueberries on my first visit, this time I chose vegan whole-wheat banana pancakes, with whole grains and milled flax. I actually may prefer the vegan option, although it may just be that I am in awe of anyone mastering such a fluffy, thick pancake without eggs or dairy. My adventures with vegan pancakes, especially when I throw in bananas, usually end up being thin and mushy in the inside.

cappuccino

One of these days, I think I can muster enough strength to tear myself away from their pancakes, and order the Big Dog Breakfast (2 eggs; bacon, veggie bacon, or sausage; pancakes or french toast; served with homefries, fruit or toast) simply to say I did. Or better yet, I'll come back later in the day and savour some of the tempting lunch dishes or crepes. The trouble is: they serve breakfast until three o'clock.

They have a different weekend menu with all-day brunch items, as well as a separate gluten-free menu. Plus, as you may have already surmised, they are very vegan friendly, with tofu scramble replacing eggs in any dish.

mocha