Disgraceland
965 Bloor St W
Phone: Not available
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Disgraceland opened earlier this year on Bloor West and quickly won over local fans for its weekend brunch lineup.
Having heard glowing reviews from friends but mixed reviews in the local papers, I was eager to get over there and check it out for myself. Ready for anything, I walked over bright and early, settled into a seat by the window with a couple friends and ordered up the Veggy Benny, Green Eggs & Ham, a round of coffees and one Strawberry Mimosa ('cause hell, we're up before noon on a Sunday).
Service is laid back but never lacking. Hot coffees arrive in no time, and the cocktail soon after.
While I'm not generally one to start off my day with a boozey kick, this strange and pretty Strawberry Mimosa could become a habit. A mix of 'muddled strawberries, orange juice and champagne', it wakes the senses right up with the blend of citrus and sparkle.
That said, it's merely one from a whole list of cocktails. I've posted the full list below.
The food arrives and we dig in... and... it's great!
No, this isn't the mimosa speaking when I say that the Veggy Benny is quite possibly my favourite eggs benny in town. Pictured at the top, two poached eggs are served over a stack of spinach, mushrooms, roasted red peppers and thick fried green tomatoes instead of a bun -- genius. A generous helping of Hollandaise doesn't hurt things either.
Green Eggs & Ham, stars basil spinach pesto in the role of green and Virgina ham as itself. I wouldn't trade my benny for it, but between the pesto and chipotle hollandaise, it was really tangy and different. The side of hash browns we'd half-expected to be so greasy were the complete opposite - crispy outside and fluffy in. The King'd be mighty proud.
Since that morning, I've already been back to Disgraceland and would return again. Anyone who had doubts needs to give this spot another try.
Comments (20)
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. Big time. The food was mediocre at best, super (SUPER!) greasy, and barely warm. The hash browns were greasy little cubes. My boyfriend's brunch had a big hair in it and there was lipstick all over his coffee mug. I love Disgraceland as a place to drink a beer and chill - the owner seems super nice and cool, the vibe is great - but brunch was not good at all.
Great review, and love the pics. The Strawberry Mimosa sounds especially intriguing; I'll have to give this restaurant a try!
Debbie
Tony, being super greasy is what I look for in a place like this. For some people that's an upside and not a downside.
I LOVE eggs benny (thanks for the reviews last month blogTO, I'm so busy trying to get to these places now lol)
and would normally say that veggie eggs benny are blasphemy but damn that looks good!
Even as a carnivore, I could be easily persauded to eat that!
And yea, no grease, I don't go. Brunch is usually the cure for self-inflicted sunday morning headaches ;)
The Heart Attack Benny is one of the great creations of modern cooking. Way to go Disgraceland.
I really need to find a place like this in the east end. Toronto doesn't stop at Coxwell. I've seen Whitlock's in the directory, but there isn't much info on it. Does anybody know if this place is any good, or of any other good brunch places in the area?
Tanja: Do they do brunch on Saturday too?
Sometimes you need a good fix of grease and, unfortunately, lots of places only do brunch menus on Sundays...
Disagree bigtime here!
Coffee cup - lipstick all over it
Coffee - Tasted like hot water with coffee flavour added.
Caesar - Super "clammy" very little/no spice or flavour.
Heart-Attack breakfast while interesting was lacklustre at best. Chipotle "hollandaise" was certainly not actual hollandaise, and was COLD. Eggs were overcooked, and the homefries were cold as well.
Service while adequate was about as warm as the homefries.
In no way was this meal worth the $20 + tip it cost. At these prices I'd say go have brunch at Brassai or something, which has amazing eggs benny (although I haven't been in a while) for cheaper than anything on this menu. You'll get better service, better food, and better atmosphere.
(nb: before anyone says anything, I appreciate a greasy casual breakfast as much as the next person (i'm still mourning the Stem), but this place is just bad!)
Ryan L.: Whitlock's is great for brunch. Especially if you can get the coveted window seat and people watch on a Sunday morning. Down the street on Queen East, the Sunset Grill has a pretty mean breakfast menu as well. I know it's a bit of a chain, but this place has great hashbrowns and is better then any other Sunset Grill I've been to.
Now, if only someone could recommend a great breakfast place east of Victoria Park. Finding a great place to eat in Scarborough is an extra challenge.
If you're looking for a GREAT breakfast place in the east end, try Marvellous Edibles. It's on Laird, just south of Eglinton. Reasonably sized protions, delicious, fresh squeezed orange juice, and all the standards, with some fabulous specialties!
Thanks for the East End suggestions. Laird might be a little too central to make it worth the trip however.
In Scarborough try Amazing Ted's (in Highland Creek Village), The Wexford (at Warden and Lawrence), Bo Peep (on Kingston Road near Midland), and Markham Station (Markham and Sheppard).
the place was GREAT. we got there a little before 12 on sunday and was a little apprehensive, but once it filled up, it was obvious this was the place to be. The heart attack benny was YUMMERS and my friend got the green eggs and ham. definately greasy (not as greasy as Maggies tho), but not enough to make me not eat dinner (a good thing).
Food was a tad cold tho, I think beacause it was winter and we sat near the window.
I am happy to have Disgraceland in my neighbourhood, however, the are always out of something or there is always a problem when I go there. The blueberry mojitos won my heart a couple months ago, and I wanted to try brunch there this weekend. We were warned upon sitting down that food was going to take an hour and they were out of a good chunk of the menu. No strawberries for the mimosa either.
That and I hope they get their cider on tap soon. Otherwise, Disgraceland is really hit-or-miss.
Simply put, this bar is just not good. It's a terrible attempt at being a divish, trendy spot, and is a major dissapointment for such a potentially up and coming area. Food is terrible. Service is terrible. Music is the same as the bar next door, except the bar next door has the right crowd for it. Such a shame...poorly run...poorly planned. It's just a cheap attempt to reopen as the place it was before. I live very close by...I love my Ted's collision on College and my Ronnie's in Kensington..they have true character...but Disgraceland is a HUGE dissapointment. You can't try to be trendy, either you are or your aren't. Also...get a Credit/Debit machine...people pay a fee to eat terrible food in a boring atmosphere? brutal. In going for cheap and trendy only genuine 'cheapness' was achieved. I've tried, I've been there numerous times...I don't recognize one of the pictures above...
WTF.
Disgraceland has likely been my biggest disappointment of the 21st century. Let me clarify...
- Right around the corner; only really potentially interesting place on that stretch of Bloor... unless you wanna count Long & McQuade = +
- Looks kind of cool from the outside = +
- Occasionally has a night where some dude DJ's only metal = +
Went in for brunch today.
- THE SERVERS ARE TOTAL FUCKING IDIOTS
- COMPLETELY NEGLECTED TO NOTICE THAT MY GIRLFRIEND AND I WERE WAITING @ THE DOOR FOR A TABLE FOR 10 MINUTES (we eventually sat down on our own)
- NEW GROUP OF PPL WALK IN... THEY ARE SEATED IMMEDIATELY AND BROUGHT COFFEE UPON SITTING DOWN
So we walked out...
But not without informing the waitress that what just happened was beyond inexcusable.
Bottom line... Disgraceland is the retarded cousin of all things enjoyable.
I give it another 6 months...
Food was COLD COLD COLD! Sent the Benny back and it still came back COLD! Coffee and service was brutal. Coffee cream comes in a tiny plastic shot glass?! You can find much better spots in Toronto.
Food wise, this has to be one of the most disappointing experiences I ever had. This really is saying something especially when I walked in with especially low expectations from a bad service experience here to begin with...
Amazingly, they ruined poor expectations by reaching bigger lows, not by service, but simply by the food. Two orders, both an English Breakfast... bangers, beans, hashbrowns, brown toast... 2 eggs over easy on a saturday afternoon (2ish?) when the place is deadsville.
Both orders yielded 2 orders with rubbery eggs as a puck, white toast and homefries... the hard burnt "toast" couldn't even penetrate the rubbery mess of egg.
So we mention something to the server, who mentions it to the cook, and he fires up more eggs and toast.
This time he gets the toast right, but we end up getting eggs which were twice as rubbery, to such a point that the previously burnt toast was able to stand upright in a small hole I made in the rubbery mess of egg puck he concocted in his Frankenstein kitchen.
Honestly, what are you doing even opening a kitchen if you can't even do a corrected order of eggs over easy properly...
food was good, but service was really slow and unattentive.
they do not provide any drink list and our drink (mimosa) was overpriced.
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