4/5 for le vieux vélo. le vieux vélo is a little place that serves only breakfast all day in rosemont-la petite-patrie. it was voted #1 best breakfast 2013 by cult mtl. in my opinion, breakfast is the most fun meal of the day to go out to eat, so i absolutely had to try this place. there was a bit of a line to get in on the saturday morning that we visited, but they took my name and recommend that we wait in the coffee shop next door, have a coffee, and that they would come to get us there. the wait only took about ten minutes until we were seated in the main front room. there appeared to be another room to the side, but i didn't get a very good idea of its size. it's a busy and bright space with plenty of morning bustle and happy people chatting over eggs.
once seated we perused the all-french menu, the pleasant server took our order, and our food arrived quite quickly. i was definitely in the mood for a chai latté ($4.25) to drink. the mug was big and spicy and i was immediately soothed by its warm aromas. this chai might have been slightly mild and watery for my taste, but there was something nice about the subtly, easing me into my day.
i was immediately drawn to the benedicts on the menu, of which there are several. they also serve various other breakfast favourites, but with so many impressive-sounding benedicts, the choice seemed obvious. l'atlantique (two poached eggs, smoked salmon, cream cheese, red onions and capers covered in a lemon hollandaise sauce - $9.75) was calling my name. all benedicts are served on an english muffin with french browned potatoes. i liked that there was a big bottle of sriracha on every table, knowing how much people love it. i coated my potatoes in the stuff. i also loved the addition of the slices of beautiful, ripe slices of tomato on the side. the benedict itself was excellent. the eggs were poached perfectly and oozed gorgeous golden yolk upon being cut open. this dish was certainly a take on the classic bagel and lox and they succeeded in creating the perfect interpretation. i loved the saltiness of the capers and the sweet kick of the onions, but most of all, i loved the hollandaise sauce which was lightly kissed with the acidity of lemon. i don't think that this could have been much better.
simple and clean and fresh. le vieux vélo is a safe bet for a delicious breakfast, and even if there is a lineup they're pretty quick about getting you in for agreatmeal.