The key to a good meal is decreasing your chances of food envy. There’s nothing worse than discovering your dining companion ordered something tastier than you did. Unfortunately, brunch at Mildred’s Temple Kitchen (85 Hanna Ave.) means there’s a 50-50 chance of this happening. Longtime pals of Plato Putas, Romina and Noreel, joined us on a Sunday morning at this newish spot created by the people behind the oft-loved but now defunct Mildred Pierce.
First we start with the good. There are only seven brunch mains on the Temple’s menu and we tried four. The biggest hit was the Huevos Monty ($13). While this photo doesn’t do the dish justice, imagine black bean refritos and sharp cheddar baked between the tortillas, which is topped with sunny-side-up eggs, salsa and avocado crème fraîche. It was light, the cheesy bean filling was incredibly savoury and I was still raving about my small sample of this dish hours later.
The second tasty dish was Veda’s Choice ($13), a remix of the classic Eggs Benedict. Poached eggs sit daintily on a croissant accompanied by smoked salmon, béarnaise sauce and a side of crispy oven-roasted potatoes.
Memorable meats are always a good thing and we also enjoyed the sides of Rosemary Bacon (shown above) and Sweet Fennel Sausage ($4 each).
Now onto the misses. The first was an order of extremely dry and disappointing Black Currant Scones (2 for $4), which we decided weren’t even worth finishing.
Next up on the boo-for-brunch items was Green Eggs & Ham ($9). The eggs, while vibrant in colour, suffered from a very heavy hand when it came to the salt. The ham looked like it came straight from the deli counter at Metro. And don’t make us mention that dry biscuit.
Mrs. Biederhof’s Panckakes ($12) looked promising with three blueberry buttermilk flapjacks, maple syrup and whipped cream. Unfortunately, the very first bite elicited the following statement: “Bar_One pancakes are way better. So are the pancakes at School.” ‘Nuff said.
With such a small menu, Temple Kitchen needs to step up their brunch game. This isn’t even taking into consideration the odd musical selection which included dated Top 40 hits like Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Beyoncé’s “Check On It” pumping over the sound system. Please take heed and order properly if you step into this kitchen. We think your body is a temple and it deserves better.
