There are only 10 days until Christmas morning! I hope everyone is getting their shopping done and decorating their Christmas tree! This time of years is the time for non-stop holiday music in the department stores, ringing bells and staff holiday parties. We recently had our staff Holiday Party at Strathmere (post coming soon!) but my amazing supervisor thought it would be a good idea for our team to go out for a staff brunch to celebrate all of our hard work. One of my super cool colleagues suggested that we go to Jak’s Kitchen for brunch. I am still not sure if they suggested Jak’s because of the great food or because they only live a few blocks away. Needless to say it was a great recommendation, the people I work with are the best! We all met up at Jak’s Kitchen for 9:00am on Tuesday. Jak’s Kitchen is located on the corner of Bronson and McLeod, just north of the 417, it’s the old location of Stoneface Dolly’s. I think that having brunch during the week was one of the best times to eat at the restaurant. There aren’t a ton of tables, so I could see it getting very busy on the weekend. The space is warm and welcoming, it feels like a place where you’d be welcome if you were dressed up or dressed down.
Brunch was made up of a selection of omelets, Benedictines, Macs (Macs are egg sandwich type creations with cool toppings), and the standard eggs, homefries, toast and your selection of protein. (If you want to see the whole menu check it out HERE.) The omelets and Benedictines aren’t your normal breakfast fare they have some pizzazz. I had the Don Francisco, which was a poached egg on a black bean cake with salsa fresca and topped with roasted red pepper coulis. While this wasn’t traditional eggs benedict with a butter sauce, it was amazing! The red pepper coulis gave the dish a little bit of a bite, while the salsa fresca brightened the dish with its freshness. The plate also came with homefries and a salad. My personal preference would have been if the greens were a little more bite size. Sometimes I felt like a brontosaurus trying to stuff huge leaves into my mouth. That being said the dressing on the salad was great and there was a good collection of different greens.
One of my colleagues got one of the omelets. (She was nice enough to let me take a picture of it!) She got the Gruyere, which was made up with capicolo ham, roasted red peppers, caramelized onion and Gruyere cheese; it also came with toast and fresh fruit. She really enjoyed it!
One of the things that makes Jak’s Kitchen really good is that they bake their own bread. They bake different kinds of bread like molasses-oat, rye bread, sourdough and buttermilk biscuits. With my Don Francisco I had the sourdough roast with some of the great strawberry jam that was on the table.
I thought the brunch was a huge success! Not only did my colleagues and I have a chance to have a good time but we also had a great brunch. I just want to say again that I work with some super awesome people and I can’t wait for our next brunch together! If you’re ever looking for somewhere to go for breakfast, checkout Jak’s Kitchen.
Jack’s Kitchen on the web: jakskitchen.com
Adventures of an Ottawa Foodie 