Allô mon Coco has a breakfast for the famished

• Name + address: Allô mon Coco, Billings Bridge Mall

• Diet: meat, vegetarian

• Prices: $12-$25

• Wheelchair accessibility: Yes

• Other: Kids menu

• Licensed: Yes

• Website: www.allomoncoco.com

I finally stopped in at Allô mon Coco after years of walking past its doors. I was glad I did although I was shocked that there was a line of folks waiting inside the mall to get in. Lucky for me I was solo and was able to slide into one of the remaining breakfast bar seats without delay.

There wasn’t an empty seat and the room was abuzz with conversation and the din of breaking dishes. Despite the crowd, the service was flawless and timely with dishes coming out not long after ordering and I watched the staff with amazement. 

The menu at Allô mon Coco is imposing and it may take some time to make a selection. I ordered the Special which came with sausage, ham, bacon, two eggs, potatoes, fruit, toast and a banana pancake. It will come as no surprise to regular readers that I did not eat the pancake.

In addition to omelets, casseroles, waffles, pancakes they also offer wellness and kids menus.

Sipping on the coffee I noticed that it was somewhat nicer than your standard diner coffee but I was looking forward to something a little cold and fizzy and so I ordered a strawberry and rose flavoured soda. 

It was less sweet than expected but had a floor of strawberry flavoured “bubbles” that came shooting up the wide straw, the little orbs then exploding in the mouth with natural tasting strawberry juice.

My overcrowded platter arrived and I wondered how to tackle it since that pancake covered almost the entire surface of the plate. 

I moved things around and began by noticing that the meat had been done on the griddle rather than having been finished in the deep fryer. Thank heaven for small mercies.

The sausages were the standard breakfast variety but better than most and the bacon still had some chew. The ham, often the saltiest thing on the plate, was mild and decently flavoured.

I prefer my eggs soft-poached and they arrived precisely as I’d ordered although sitting in a shallow bath of tepid water. It’s one of the more off-putting things for me and restaurants need to learn to avoid this serious misstep. I could barely finish the one egg.

The cubed potatoes were nicely fried and then dusted in some kind of salty-sweet white seasoning powder that I had trouble placing.

Sitting at the far corner end of the bar I found that I was enjoying my time removed from the fray. I had ready access to the service staff who came by frequently asking if I needed a top up and I was free of activity behind me. 

All in all, for $19 this was a substantial amount of food that was decently prepared and this Quebec-based chain is showing other breakfast restaurants how it’s done.

7 AM Breakfast & Lunch

• Name + address: 7 AM Breakfast and Lunch, 2950 Bank St.

• Diet: Meat, vegetarian

• Prices: $11-$17

• Wheelchair accessibility: Yes

• Licensed: No

• Website: www.7ambreakfast.com

7 AM Breakfast & Lunch is the newest of the breakfast franchises to arrive in Ottawa. I was told by the server that the business originated in Oakville, Ontario and that it continues to expand. 

There’s little doubt that post-COVID these early opening eateries fill a void now that so many places, once open for lunch service, now only open for dinner.

I was in the mood for something a little more healthy on this particular morning and opted for a scrambled egg plate with avocado and ham. Of course, I soon put that idea to rest when I ordered a side of sausages which, again, had been finished in the deep fryer. It doesn’t have to be this way!

Looking at my plate I felt confused by the appearance of the “ham” which was cut and cured from a pork loin. Peameal bacon by any other name I guess. I didn’t mind it at all as it was pleasant, it’s just that on the menu there’s an upcharge for peameal bacon and here it was included with the dish.

The potatoes were of the frozen “tater-tot” variety and inoffensive but the avocado took the prize for the strangest thing to pass these lips in years. It was ripe (if that’s the word I want) enough but tasted nothing like avocado and had a strange paraffin waxiness that felt as synthetic as it tasted. 

The scrambled eggs as well didn’t taste like they’d been made with fresh eggs and if they were, they’d been cooked in a microwave. These were unlike any eggs I’d ever eaten: hard and rubbery.

Unlike most breakfast joints, there were no condiments or jams, honey or peanut butter on the table. My toast was delivered dry and I had to ask for jam.

There are many other dishes to explore on their menu, the space was clean and the service was very friendly and attentive. 

7 AM Breakfast & Lunch has some way to go if it’s to survive in its chosen segment. It certainly needs to elevate the quality of its ingredients and it really needs to do something about kitchen execution. Microwaved eggs are not a standard to set.

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THE DESSERT COURSE

Taking the Chocomotive to Happyville

• Chocomotive, 502 Notre-Dame, Montebello.

As you approach the main shopping drag in Montebello, you’ll notice the historic train station on the right that now serves as the tourist information centre and a chocolate shop.

The understandably and whimsically named Chocomotive is one of those de rigeur tourist shops that provides a large variety of locally made food in addition to its chocolates. It’s so much a tourist attraction that I wasn’t surprised to see a bus spilling its seniors for an in-store presentation on chocolate making.

We’ve all seen chocolate shops in small touristy towns but while too many of those produce products of questionable quality, the treats at Chocomotive are first-rate.

They confirmed for me that they use Cocoa Barry and Valrhona couverture chocolate in the production of their chocolates. Couverture has a higher percentage of cocoa butter, giving the end product a greater sheen and, if properly tempered, a better quality and more even snap when the chocolate is broken.

From truffles and pralines to bars, all the chocolate I sampled was very good and would not be out of place on the shelves of fancy shops in bigger metropolitan areas.

My preferences lay with the dark chocolate creations with the praline fillings beautifully blended for a smooth texture. The fruit-filled versions were particularly appealing, save for the Griotte, a cherry-filled chocolate that came enrobed in a milky white sugar syrup that was so sweet, it felt painful.

If you’re in Montebello, Chocomotive is a must stop especially for their salted caramel and dark chocolate butter truffles. They’ve been diligently serving customers for 20 years and what a blessing for locals that what they produce is world class.

NEXT EDITION

A historic Papineau dinner

It was back to Montebello but this time for a dinner in the historic Manoir Papineau. It was a pleasure to have been asked and now sitting in this space amongst the antiquities and perusing the evenings menu, I felt an intimidating presence of impending bloat.

This was going to be some feast and if this is how the well-heeled of society ate back then, then little wonder so many suffered from gout. 

The things I go through for the readers.

QUICK BITES

• Popular Shinka Sushi, have now opened their restaurant in their industrial park location. It’s no longer just takeaway. 

• Atelier’s Marc Lepine is gearing up to open his new restaurant La Petite Sauterelle. [Ottawa Citizen]

• OpenTable has a listing of the 100 most popular brunch spots in Canada. [OpenTable]

• Curious how many restaurant/bars are operating in Canada? Check out these by-province stats. [Statistics Canada]

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