Big 'C' now stands for Crave

One of the favoured brunch spots, Big C, about four years back turned into a new restaurant of a forgettable name which then turned into what is now known as Crave. After visitng Crave a couple of times now, I have had the pleasant surprise of delicious food, almost over the top polite service, and delicious food. The restaurant has a beautiful little patio in the back that has a pleasant little zen-ish garden thing happening there. ( I actually think that they have speakers in the shape of rocks so that the speakers don't interfere with the theme they have going on back there.) I recently visited the place for brunch and found the food to be quite good, and with healthy portions. I wouldn't say that I would rave for Crave but I certainly wouldn't direct people away from it. They had a couple of things that I thought looked good. It had these crazy large pancakes that came in a triple stack that looked very fluffy and came with an in house fruity compote. I don't know how these flap jacks stacked up to Bert's but I may have to revisit the place just to taste these. The second thing that caught my eye was the panatone french toast. The person I went with said that the panatone toast wasn't "quite as 'eggy'" as he would have liked them, which I can appreciate, but they weren't bad. I don't know how they stack up against Seb's banana bread french toast but I can bet they aren't nearly as rich. As far as the decor and ambience goes, I would say that it is a little more Pier 1-ish than the other eclectic- artsy places on Main. It has big black and white prints, contemporary smashed glass designer dividers, a roll up garage door to the outside front patio, and the little zen patio out back. It filled quite quickly, and maintained the old school Big C brunch time line up - so go early.


Out of 5 sweet and juicy turkey sausages

Scene: 3 The scene was good. The service was great. The people who were there seemed like they were the "just west of Ontario Street, but liked to venture to the east side to take in the action". It did seem a little out of place for what one might expect on Main, but if Main is about a mixed bag of style, then throw this one into the mix.

Grub: 4 I had the standard 2 eggs any style, toast, hashed brown potatoes, and these delicious turkey sausages. I had no complaints, but I know that I could get the same thing somewhere else for less - everything but those sausages. However, the specialty breakfasts mentioned above did pique my interest for yet another visit.

Coffee: 3 Well, the friends and a nice place to chill was fulfilled, but the coffee is yet to be desired. It seemed pretty utilitarian, but then again, they served an americano but keep in mind it was served at a restaurant which is not really made to any particular specification.