ROSE & SONS (176 Dupont St.)
Kate: Though I have heard amazing things about Rose & Sons over the past few years, the location and rumoured wait time prevented me from trying it (remember, I used to live at Passy, where brunch is nothing but a fantasy). Having been so impressed with Big Crow, I had very high hopes for what I will call this “greasy spoon with a twist.”
Karolina: I feel about Rose & Sons the way I feel about The West Wing or Kendrick Lamar: they all come critically and popularly acclaimed, and (considering my love for greasy food, Aaron Sorkin, and hip hop) I should love them all. Alas, something just doesn’t click, and despite my continued efforts to immerse myself and fully enjoy the experience, I walk away feeling a little meh. My introduction to R&S was an absolutely mind-blowing dinner. I should note that this fabled meal was one I enjoyed before I became a vegetarian; herbivores are likely to be more limited at R&S than most restaurants, so I fear I might not feel the same way if I were to return now. At any rate, since that evening, I had been to R&S for brunch once before going with Kate. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to see how mediocre the overall experience was, and how it ranked far below my dinner. But in spirit of wanting to be proven wrong, I suggested (some may even say zealously advocated) that we dedicate a Jurisfoodence adventure to R&S.
Kate: What?! I literally wrote this review while listening to the new Kendrick Lamar album. So. Good.
Karolina: *hangs head in shame*
Brunch Hours
Rose & Sons is open for brunch from 9 p.m.-3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Wait Time/Service
Kate: We both assumed that R&S would require a bit of a wait—it is very small and seats maybe twenty to twenty-five people—so aimed to be there for 9:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning. However, I was pleasantly surprised: I arrived late, and Karolina already had a table when I got there—a very good start.
Karolina: Obviously, calling a meal that you eat at 9:30 a.m. on a Sunday “brunch” is somewhat of a misnomer. However much our outrageously early meal time probably resembles my future as a retiree, it saved us from having to spend an hour standing outside on an uncharacteristically freezing mid-March Sunday morning in order to snag a coveted table at R&S. So don’t judge.
Kate: We had a few different people serve us while we were there; though one had a bit of an attitude, our main server was very nice and polite, and even brought me a free coffee (more on that below).
Karolina: Agreed, our server was lovely (and not just because she never charged us for those hash browns, either!), while the table runner was unfortunately unpleasant. I suppose it shouldn’t come as a surprise, though—R&S is destined to have at least one blasé American Apparel cast-off on its staff; it’s basically par for the course with trendy restaurants.
Atmosphere
Kate: I like the old-school diner feel and cozy atmosphere at R&S, but the waiting area is far too small considering how popular the restaurant is; the number of people squished into the doorway at nearly all times has got to be a fire hazard… Also, though I initially really liked the booths, there was an unfortunate bro reunion happening at the table behind us; the result was loud, obnoxious, and, luckily for me, my bench was getting jostled with every movement. At one point, our server got trapped between the bros (as they welcomed more friends and switched up their seating arrangements) and the kitchen; the result was both unfortunate and hilarious.
Karolina: The music, which was a combination of old-school soul and funk, was awesome. The sparse and minimalist interior of R&S works, given its no-nonsense greasy spoon thing. However, given its small size, it’s impossible not to be freezing all the time; wherever you sit, you are never more than a few feet away from the door. The seating arrangement is cool, though; while you might be forced to sharing a table with a group as obnoxious as the above-mentioned bros, I generally like the idea of shared tables; it’s cute and adds a feeling of community.
Coffee
Kate: So there is no drip coffee here, which I think is a bit of a faux pas for a brunch place (especially when the alternative, an Americano, costs $3.25). Further, the milk that I was given had gone bad and split once I added it to my drink; I was brought a new one by a second server, who informed me that she had checked the milk and it was fine. As someone who almost never sends things back at a restaurant, I found this infuriating; not only was the fact that it split plainly obvious, what happened to the good ‘ol saying “the customer is always right”? Also, it split again in my second drink. Luckily for me, our first server mistakenly brought me a third coffee and gave it to me for free.
Karolina: Thankfully, the cream I added to my Americano neglected to curdle, and I was spared from verbal sparring with the table runner, unlike poor Kate. It seems as if restaurants in the R&S family have a habit of refusing to serve basic and cheap drip coffee (remember Big Crow and their cowboy coffee?). This is annoying, but the Americano was really good, and only about a dollar more than I would expect to pay for a plain-old coffee, so I’ll let this one slide.
LLBO licensed
Kate: R&S has cocktails: a Caesar will cost you $13 and, though mimosas are advertised, there is no price listed. However, after the delicious and cheap cocktails at The Bristol, I couldn’t justify ordering one.
Karolina: I let my inner ten-year-old get the best of me, and instead of going for an alcoholic beverage, I ordered a different kind of drink to accompany my meal: a milkshake! More like soft-serve ice cream, the thick peanut butter milkshake I ordered came with a healthy dollop of whipped cream and some nuts sprinkled on top. It was sinfully delicious; if we lived in a world where calories didn’t exist, I would live off of it.
The Food
Kate: Though I was tempted to try the classic all-day breakfast at R&S, I was told by some friends that I absolutely had to get the griddled Brie cornbread. Feeling like I should branch out and try one of the unique and signature dishes R&S has to offer, I followed this advice. The cornbread arrived topped with a slab of brisket and a fried egg, and covered in maple syrup and chilli sauce. Though R&S does cornbread well, there was almost too much of it in proportion to the rest of what was on the plate. Unfortunately, the meat was also a bit chewy. Regardless, the combination of flavours was interesting and pretty tasty, though I was unable to finish it and felt like I had clogged some arteries about halfway through; this is definitely not a meal for the faint-of-heart.
Karolina: I ordered the Avonlea clothbound cheddar omelette, which was served with toast topped with avocado and walnuts. Google has taught me that Avonlea clothbound cheddar is an award-winning cheese from PEI with complex flavours and aromas. Unfortunately, it was virtually indiscernible in the omelette—had it not said on the menu that the omelette came with cheddar, I would never have known from just eating it. One flavour which did come through very distinctly was that of olive oil, which the omelette, toast, and nuts were swimming in. While I am an avid olive oil enthusiast, “too much of a good thing” is evidently a concept that the cooks at R&S are unfamiliar with. Thus, the meal turned into a bland palette of flavours that vaguely resembled a combination of walnuts, egg, and avocado muddled beneath the dominant flavour of mediocre olive oil (Kate and I were schooled on how to discern the difference between excellent and middling olive oil while on a wine tasting tour in Tuscany—one of the most valuable lessons I learned whilst in Italy!).
Luckily, the dish was enlivened by the home-made chilli sauce that I requested. Those who are fatigued by the ubiquitous presence of Frank’s Red Hot as the only hot sauce option at virtually every non-ethnic restaurant will be happy to hear that R&S’ counterpart is original and tasty.
All in all, the dish was somewhat of a miss, but was saved by the awesomeness of (a) avocados in general, and (b) R&S’ chilli sauce.
Kate: Maybe it’s a cheese thing at R&S: upon reflection, I don’t think I tasted Brie on my cornbread either—very unfortunate. I must admit that despite the large amount of olive oil, as a former vegetarian and an avocado lover, I literally spent the entire meal eying Karolina’s omelette enviously and vocally proclaiming how much I wish I’d ordered that.
We also decided to split a side of the schmaltz hash (grated potatoes fried in duck fat); this decision was partially based on the fact that I have yet to experience truly delicious hash browns in Toronto and also because I wanted to see what R&S had to offer. Though I was not blown away by my main breakfast, I have to say that hash browns are not only something that R&S does right, it does them better than anywhere else I have been in Toronto.
Karolina: I am ashamed to say that I also partook in the hash browns, unaware that they were soaked in animal fat. Not one of my finest moment as a vegetarian, and a lesson that it’s always worth double-checking that your meal is in fact veggie-friendly. Now that I know what I was eating, I have difficulty admitting this, but I enjoyed consuming them as well.
Cost:
Kate’s meal: Americano ($3.25) + griddled Brie cornbread with brisket ($15) = $18.25 + tax and tip.
Karolina’s meal: Americano ($3.25) + peanut butter milkshake ($7) + cheddar omelette with avocado and walnut toast ($15) = $25.25 + tax and tip.
Final thoughts
Kate: Though I wouldn’t mind going back and trying the avocado omelette, if I was returning to this location for brunch, I would probably just go to Big Crow: a bigger space, a better atmosphere and amazing food.
Karolina: For those who are interested in a meal comprised only of milkshakes and hash browns, you can’t do much better than R&S. For the rest of us, it’s probably a bit overrated. Nonetheless, I just can’t let go of the hope that R&S will one day redeem itself and replicate the amazing first meal I had there. I’ll just make sure to go back for dinner next time.
| SERVICE | 3.5/5 Dean Sossins |
| ATMOSPHERE | 4/5 Dean Sossins |
| FOOD | 3/5 Dean Sossins |
| OVERALL | 3.5/5 Dean Sossins |