emma's country kitchen

delicious breakfast! you want that in your life. emma's specializes in breakfast seven days a week and will make sure that you leave their restaurant satisfied and happy. you might have seen them on season 4 of you gotta eat here! or noticed that blogto named them the #1 best all-day breakfast in town. they're open from 8am to 3pm every day of the week - don't expect to find any sort of dinner menu here - it's breakfast and brunch comfort food all day, every day!

when visiting on the weekend you can typically expect to be met with a bit of a wait to get in. they tend to move things along pretty quickly, but obviously the later that you arrive, the longer that the wait will likely be. i stopped in on a holiday monday and the place was bumpin'. you'll usually find them open on statutory holidays when lots of other spots opt to remain closed. the restaurant is fairly unassuming from the street, with their brown signage. on the inside you'll find that the room is quite spacious, with a few tables up in the front and quite a lot more in the back. they underwent a renovation a few years ago which has really helped to maximize their space. the decor is minimal and the ambiance is warm, buzzing and welcoming.

after a reasonable wait, we were seated at a table in the back section and were promptly served by the friendly wait staff.

emma's wants you to enjoy fresh comfort food and that includes; bakery items that are made fresh in-house daily, using only local meats that they cure and smoke themselves, and freshly fried donuts. the menu is filled with the delicious classics that you crave and each one is done really well. as a tea drinker, i asked for tea ($3.00) and chose english breakfast since i enjoy black tea in the morning. their tea is provided by tea squared, a company from canada. i prepare my black tea with milk and sugar and enjoyed a perfectly warm and pleasant cup. can't go wrong with that! i also noted that emma's offers some pretty awesome brunch cocktails, and the emma's caesar especially caught my eye. on another day when i'm feeling more "fun" i will certainly give it a try!

there are lots of items on the menu; from their rotating (and usually seasonally appropriate) pancake flavours, to a daily quiche, to the classically southern biscuits and gravy. they've even got avocado toast for the millennials. however, their most renowned item has to be the emma's benny (warm and fluffy buttermilk biscuit topped with house cured peameal bacon, soft poached eggs and smothered in mousseline sauce. served with a side of red skin potatoes - $16.00), a must-try. the food arrived fairly quickly and i eagerly sliced into my perfectly poached eggs. emma's signature buttermilk biscuit is impossibly buttery and absorbs the surrounding egg yolk and mousseline mélange decadently well. the peameal bacon is truly something special, utilizing toronto's famous meat so well. hormone and antibiotic free, their meats come from the best butcher in town; sanagan's meat locker. their peameal is salty and tender, a delicious protein base. what's the difference between mousseline and hollandaise sauce? it's a richer version of the classic that uses whipped cream. as if hollandaise could get any better. this benedict is like a hug of happiness for your stomach.

the potatoes were fine, a little bit plain. i could have used a bit more crisp on them, but they tasted good with salt and ketchup.

emma's is pretty well-known for serving up some of the best donuts in town. chances are that after eating a big, filling breakfast that you might not think that you have any room left for a donut. so take your donut to-go! you don't want to miss out! their flavours change all the time (instagram is a reliable source to find out what they've got in the case each day) and on my visit they had one of their best ones; maple bacon ($3.25). a lot of people are doing a maple bacon donut. it's a pretty trendy flavour. but it's my opinion that emma's is doing the best version of it that i have ever tried. the way that they handle the bacon on this donut is by far the best. it's ultra abundant and crumbly, capturing the salty and sweet combo expertly well. if your a fan of the maple bacon donut, this is the beginning and end of it right here!

emma'scountrykitchen is a perfect little breakfast (not so) secret. they bringcountryflavours right into the city and serve up what you dream of for a classically delicious breakfast. you want this!

base on online recommendations, we chose to go to emma'scountrykitchen on new years morning, do not be put off by the non descript store front. the restaurant is nice and clean. expect a line up. to our delight the menu offers a unique and refreshing selection. each of us, 3 people, ordered different meals and we were equally impressed of presentation, test and price. the staff were organized friendly and worked very well together. as an after note, the staff inquired about possible allergies which we appreciated.

one of my favourite brunches in toronto would have to be the one at emma’scountrykitchen. it’s a little bit out of the way to get to, so we went the morning before heading to canada’s wonderland since we had a car rental. emma’s benny. for breakfast, we decided to get the same thing, since it seemed like this was everybody’s go-to at the restaurant. the emma’s benny. this was also featured on you gotta eat here! it comes with warm and fluffy buttermilk biscuit, topped with a house cured peameal bacon, soft poached eggs, and smothered in a mousseline sauce. this is served with a side of red skin potatoes, an orange slice, and strawberry.

this morning i went for brunch at emma’scountrykitchen. my friend and i arrived before the 9am opening time and there were already locals in line. it’s a super popular spot on the weekends for brunch and also appeared on jon catucci’s you gotta eat here. i ordered the emma’s benny. warm and fluffy buttermilk biscuit was topped with house cured peameal bacon, poached eggs and a generous amount of in mousselline sauce (like a hollandaise with whipped cream). it was served with a side of griddled red skin potatoes. the sauce was buttery and delicious and i dipped everything in it. the peameal bacon was not too salty or hard. the eggs were a perfect poach. this dish was heavenly and i washed it down with some freshly squeeze orange juice.

this morning i went for brunch at emma’scountrykitchen. my friend and i arrived before the 9am opening time and there were already locals in line. it’s a super popular spot on the weekends for brunch and also appeared on jon catucci’s you gotta eat here.

i ordered the emma’s benny. warm and fluffy buttermilk biscuit was topped with house cured peameal bacon, poached eggs and a generous amount of in mousselline sauce (like a hollandaise with whipped cream). it was served with a side of griddled red skin potatoes. the sauce was buttery and delicious and i dipped everything in it. the peameal bacon was not too salty or hard. the eggs were a perfect poach. this dish was heavenly and i washed it down with some freshly squeeze orange juice.

my friend had the cornbread and pimento cheese french toast. a house made corn bread, dipped in a creamy custard and griddled until golden brown. it’s opped with melted pimento cheese, 2 over easy eggs, avocado, crema and finished with a smoked paprika salt. i stole a bite and it had a heat to it that was balanced well with avocado cream.

this place, even if you have to wait, is well worth it.

we went for a late breakfast at emma'scountrykitchen...on a weekday. (i had the day off...yay me...sometimes it's good to be off on a random day!)  i've wanted to try this place for a while now but emma'scountrykitchen is in the west end near st. clair and dufferin where we usually find restaurants in this area a bit out of the way to get to.  but, we're glad to have finally made our way there as it was well worth it!

i found out about emma'scountrykitchen from the show you gotta eat here...their brunch is quite nice and worth the wait, but next time i would be prepared to go there early.

egg's benny here i come. i love emma'scountrykitchen but get there early as they are busy.

i rarely go out for breakfast and when i do,its usually for eggs benedict and i love how they do them. everything there is scratch made and the biscuit they serve it on is delish. you won't need to eat again until dinner! i love the potatoes they serve alongside. i honestly can't complain. because they use fresh food, good quality meats you just can't beat it.

it's a great little spot serving up great food! give it a try.

emma’scountrykitchen is a no-frills, exactly-as-advertised little restaurant. the first photo highlights a simple b.l.t. sandwich ($5), served with a choice of fresh, homemade bread and tied together with a bit of aioli that eric ordered. i decided to get a slightly heartier option, pictured in the second photo, and ordered the breakfast biscuit ($5.5). this is a rich, homemade buttermilk biscuit served with an over-easy egg, cheddar, and choice of meat (sausage is pictured). eric and i both a side of red skin roasted potatoes ($3) which were tossed in coarse sea salt and thyme and really quite delicious.

the flowers in a mason jar on every table are just one of the many adorable “country charms” that make this place stand out from other places in the big city. while this restaurant may not stand out as being particularly creative or different in a more rural setting, in toronto, it kind of is a true novelty. plus, if you want to take a little of thecountrycharm home, there is also a great selection of frozen treats (portioned cookie dough, soups etc) and baked goods that all feature their signature red and white gingham and/or brown paper bag packaging.

i don’t really know what else to say. it’s quaint, it’s well-priced, and it’s a great place to go for breakfast, lunch or brunch. for many, its lack of significant wow factor may be a deterrent for traveling to an isolated restaurant in the morning. however, if you live in the neighbourhood, it may just become of of your go-to spots!

final note: i hear they also have great doughnuts!

even though we were on a tight schedule and knew that emma’scountrykitchen didn’t take reservations, every bite was worth being 10 minutes late. at 1pm on a saturday, the restaurant was busy. the dining room itself was small, cozy, seated about 30 people with only one or two large tables. we ended up sitting at the front window and baked in the sun. despite the line outside, we didn’t feel rushed and the meal was relaxed.

like most torontonians brunch has become not only one of my favourite meals, but one of my favourite weekend pastime activities. on a rather chilly spring morning, i ventured out with my sweetheart on st. clair west to emma'scountrykitchen. this is not a fancy place by any means - the name says it all. but the moment you walk into emma'scountrykitchen you feel like you're at home. coffee or tea and the newspaper were offered immediately even though we had to wait for our table. the wait wasn't long but i was disappointed to learn most of the daily specials were sold out. if you want a chance at trying anything this place is famous for get there early! i had the classic breakfast and was delighted by the homemade biscuits and sausage that accompanied my plate. if you love brunch as much as i do visit emma'scountrykitchen.  

we’ve tried quite a few brunch places in toronto, but emma’scountrykitchen on st. clair west has become one of our favourite spots for one main reason: their signature buttermilk biscuits ! our very first visit was at the beginning of last year, and i was really excited when matt suggested it. while the french toast and gingerbread pancakes sound amazing , it’s really hard to go there and not order emma’s benny or the classic with their signature buttermilk biscuits, which are to die for! matt describes them as big, fluffy, buttery goodness. emma’s benny and the classic, both with emma’s signature buttermilk biscuit on the weekends, they also serve donuts and dulce de leche-filled beignets. blogto has emma’s on the list for the best donuts in toronto , and i saw an episode of the food network’s  donut showdown  where the owners of the restaurant actually won, which is pretty cool. beignets filled with dulce de leche brunch is served from 9 am

the idea of emma’scountrykitchen is fantastic: homemade biscuits, donuts, and other indulgent foods. however, the biscuit was not nearly as good as those i used to make from my anne of green gables cookbook. actually, i don’t think they’re as good as those at tim horton’s. and i know from a previous walk-in experience that the donuts here are not as good as the $2/dozen grocery store donuts that mason gagnon recently gave me.

we started our crawl at emma’scountrykitchen with full brunch. let it be known that donuts go very fast here, so we made sure to order the donuts before they sold out!

the base donut underneath all the toppings was not too oily and not too dry. it was overall a good bite, and very fresh tasting.

misses

peach ginger glaze donut – the peach flavour was nice but we weren’t fans of the ginger glaze. the flavour concentration wasn’t even around the donut so sometimes you got too much peach or ginger in a bite. you feel like you’re always missing something from one bite to the next.

the lemon raspberry donut – we could have done without the dried/candied lemon on top. the raspberry frosting by itself would have put me in a homer simpson coma but the lemon taste was just too zingy for the already sweet donut.

hitswe all agreed that the rocky road was our favourite. you feel like you finally know what real chocolate tastes like, and it doesn’t taste like sugarsugarsugar. they found a way to make rocky road without the need to be hyper sweet! thank you, emma!

have been hearing about emma'scountrykitchen ( @emmacountrykitc ) on twitter for a while and one sunday, we decided to head there for brunch when no specific cravings pop up. nothing much in terms of decor, very simple with the kitchen at the back but there was quite a few thoughtful touches throughout the place such as the vintage bottles as vases, red checkered fabric as displace case backdrop and the cutlery chandelier.  when we got there it was packed and the only table lefts was the smaller bar tables at the front. iced coffee and fresh squeeze orange juice   emma's benny $13 ~ warm & fluffy buttermilk biscuit top with house cured peameal, poached eggs and smothered in mousseline sauce w/ a side of griddled red skin potato the poached egg was perfectly cook, the mousseline / hollandaise sauce was just as perfect and love the fresh fluffy biscuit. i could easily devour anything on this plate on it's own but having everything together in one bite is just heavenly. memories of the