ARTS & CULTURE
10 Obiter Dicta
Jurisfoodence: In Search of Toronto’s Best Brunch
Food Adventure #10: Brit
kate henley & karolina wisniewski ›
staff writer & editor-in-chief
The Bristol
(1087 Queen St. West)
K ate: It feels like forever since I’ve had brunch on
the Obiter! As our various commitments to our
master’s theses and Mock Trial kept us from doing
a Jurisfoodence review in the last issue, I felt that it
was necessary to go somewhere that I knew to be
excellent, so I suggested (for the first time) somewhere I had actually been before: The Bristol. I am
absolutely obsessed with this place, as you will soon
find out.
K a rolin a: By now, Kate knows the way to my
heart: British sentimentalism and $5 cocktails before
noon. The moment these virtues of The Bristol were
explained to me, I was sold.
Brunch Hours
The Bristol is open for brunch from 10:00 a.m.-4
p.m. on Saturday and Sunday (though, oddly
enough, they will not serve alcohol before 11:00
a.m.).
Wait Time/Service
K ate: Every other time that I had been here, it was
pretty packed so I suggested we go at 10:30 a.m. on
a Saturday morning; perhaps due to its West Queen
West location (it’s a block away form the Drake), it
was nearly empty when we arrived (though it did fill
up by the time we left at 12:00-12:30 p.m.).
K a rolin a: Our server was fantastic. Maybe it’s
because we’ve generally visited well-established
brunch hot spots, but I’ve always found the service
to vacillate somewhere between cordial apathy and
affected snobbery. Previous servers may not have
been incompetent, but our server at The Bristol was
genuinely friendly and down to earth in addition to
doing an excellent job.
I vaguely wondered during our brunch whether our
server’s charming yet unexpected habit of adopting English turns of phrase, despite the fact that she
was undoubtedly Canadian, was at the behest of The
Bristol’s management. I hope not. Kate assured me,
however, that she often calls people “love” as well,
so maybe my suspicion was unwarranted.
ê You had me at “vanilla infused puffed rice crisp batter . . .”
K ate: Yeah…I feel like I know a lot of people that say
that, but maybe we all just secretly wish we were
British. I don’t know. Our server was really great
though; super friendly and everything came to the
table in good time.
Atmosphere
K ate: I love the atmosphere here; some of the British
paraphernalia is a bit much, but in general it is super
cozy and there are football games (European football, obvs) playing on the various screens non-stop.
If you are someone that doesn’t like TVs in restaurants (a camp I am usually a part of), then you might
not enjoy this, but if you’re looking for somewhere to
take in some English Premier League as you nurse a
hangover, this is the place for you.
K arolina: My love of the UK knows no bounds, but
the Union Jacks strung up around the walls tried
my patience slightly. The Bristol did “British pub”
about as well as any Canadian restaurant can, which
is probably not saying much. Despite the fact that
the theme may have been laid on a bit thick, it had
a very pleasant interior, with lovely wallpapered
walls, a quaint fireplace, and comfy armchairs.
t humbs UP
Five kittens rescued from a garbage can in
Langely, BC.
Coffee
K ate: The coffee is pretty good—it comes in huge
mugs and it’s bottomless. Zero complaints.
K a ro l in a: Perhaps inspired by the portrait of
Queen Elizabeth II staring down at me, I ordered an
Earl Grey tea. I wish it had been loose leaf or at least
Twinings. It was fine, though. The real show-stopping beverage was what followed…
LLBO licensed
K ate: Not only is The Bristol licensed, but it has $5
brunch cocktails. In addition to Caesars and regular mimosas, you can get grapefruit and lager mimosas (I’ve gotten the latter on past occasions, and they
are actually pretty delicious). Though it isn’t on the
menu, you can also ask for a grapefruit and champagne mimosa; it is delicious and perhaps even life
changing (see: Karolina).
K arolina: I will never drink a regular orange juice
mimosa ever again. How gauche! The mimosas at The
Bristol were undoubtedly the best part of brunch.
They had the perfect ratio of juice to champagne,
and were garnished with a lime wedge, which was a
cute touch. And at $5 each, there’s really no reason
not to order one.
The Food
K ate: I had the Brighton Toast, which the restaurant describes as “crispy French toast with vanilla
infused puffed rice crisp batter.” In addition to *real*
maple syrup, it comes with blueberries, strawberries, and whipped cream. The two pieces of toast
» see jurisfoodence, page 18