Breakfast is best and basic at these famous Montreal greasy spoons
by Susan Krashinsky
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| Photos by Susan Krashinsky |
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Montrealers love to go out for breakfast. And why shouldn't we? Our fair metropolis is home to an array of decadent greasy spoons. From McGill hangout Place Milton, to Dusty's, to historic landmarks Green Spot and Cosmo's, we hereby present the most famous spots to turn your morning sunny side up.
DUSTY'S
There are plenty of chichi breakfast cafes in and around the Plateau, but sometimes a crêpe just doesn't cut it. For down-home fare, many soak up the sun on Dusty's pretty terrasse, or huddle over cups of coffee in one of the line of cozy booths. All the standards are done to perfection, and for those with a sweet tooth, the French toast is so saccharine it will make your jaw ache. Far from the paltry slice of orange, this baby is heaped with a variety of colourful fruits; it's the kind of breakfast you can imagine being served on Olympus.
PLACE MILTON
This place has been a McGill institution for years. Every weekend, even in the depths of winter, a line of university kids snakes out of the front entrance, all of whom stare at the coffee inside like ghosts yearning for their former lives. A bit of magic has gone out of the place since the departure of the waitress who called everyone "chèr(e)." I was privileged enough to have breakfast on her last day, and witnessed the adoring visitors who came - some with flowers - to bid her farewell. Place Milton wins the omelette award for superlative craftsmanship and liberal helpings of cheese.
The toast is sopping with butter and aside from the obligatory slice of tomato, there isn't a single vegetable to be found on the breakfast menu.
GREEN SPOT
Jukeboxes adorn every table, no-nonsense waitresses bustle about and the décor looks like it's been around the block a few times. This is part of the Green Spot's charm; it's a greasy spoon in earnest. The toast is sopping with butter and aside from the obligatory slice of tomato, there isn't a single vegetable to be found on the breakfast menu. It'll banish a hangover and make your ventricles work overtime. The quality of the food and the prices that hark back to a time before St. Henri got hip, combine to make this breakfast a solid deal.
COSMO'S
This entire restaurant consists of one counter flanked by stools; as a result, the customers eating there become a small community. The man beside me was ashamed to admit he was full while I, a rather small woman, was cleaning my plate (though he was somewhat comforted when informed that I was trained to eat by a Jewish mother.) While the other greasy spoons in Montreal tend to favour cubed potatoes fried to perfection, Cosmo's makes hash browns to beat the band. With a chunky, mashed inside and a crispy outside, these potatoes are pure comfort. Despite the frantic pace, the ladies behind the counter are ineradicably friendly. Adoring regulars have left sketches of owner Tony Koulakis as a teenager, a superhero, and a well-muscled vacationer on a Tahitian beach. Good luck getting a seat: Cosmo's popularity is so entrenched in NDG that on some days the line-up extends out the door and onto the sidewalk.
Information
Dusty's: 4510, avenue du Parc; (514) 276-8525
Place Milton: 220, rue Milton; (514) 285-0011
Green Spot: 3041, rue Notre-Dame ouest; (514) 931-6473
Cosmo's: 5843, rue Sherbrooke ouest; (514) 486-3814 |
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