Montreal Brunch Spots

1. Cosmo's

Cosmo's lives up to the legend: amazing service, the best in greasy breakfast fare, cheap prices and the spatial ability to listen in on any conversation in the diner, right in the heart of N.D.G. With ten stools, one counter top and modest terrace space out front, customers are served fast and with family-run warmth that should never go out of style. Be aware, weekend lineups are probable by 10 a.m. and guaranteed by noon but they wind down by mid-afternoon before closing time, between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Be sure to order Cosmo's Creation Sandwich, made with eggs, cheese, bacon, thick salami, tomato, lettuce AND the bread of your choice.

Location: 5843 Sherbrooke West, corner of Draper; (514) 486-3814
Get there: Vendôme Metro

3. Leméac

Looking for a chic, polished, hoodie-free ambiance for your next brunch? Try Leméac, a French bistro on Laurier known for consistently getting it right. And try the poached eggs, smoked salmon and Spanish caviar on blinis. Also, consider getting a fruit plate to share as it comes with a pleasantly unusual assortment of produce, including doughnuts and soft cheese reminiscent of labneh. Count on sleek, skilled service, albeit cold and haughty at times. Prices are high: expect to spend $15 to $30 per person, but the product (and experience) delivers in turn.
Location: 1045 Laurier West, corner of Durocher; (514) 270-0999
Get there: Place-des-Arts Metro; Bus 80

5. The Sparrow

Trend hunters aching to be scene (all pun), here's a bar/pub/brunch spot for ya. One part British pub, one part hipster haven, Mile End's The Sparrow has peeps buzzing about its laid back vibe adorned with scones, crumpets, homemade doughnuts, and an all-you-can-eat brunch menu for $18 (includes coffee and taxes) with items varying by weekend. Previous offerings include caramelized Norwegian whey cheese and grilled asparagus with poached egg on brown toast with hollandaise sauce. Anticipate lineups and a crowd leaning heavily towards twenty and thirty something. Brunch served weekends only, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Location: 5322 St. Laurent, corner of Maguire; (514) 690-3964
Getting There: Laurier Metro

6. Lawrence

Barely a block away from Sparrow is another brunch buzz generator, Lawrence. Must-haves? The lemon doughnuts, french toast, and an authentic English breakfast with bangers, blood sausage, bacon, beans, potatoes, eggs, etc., courtesy of Gordon Ramsay trained chef Marc Cohen. Other options, depending on the week, may include lobster roll and smoked mackerel with sauerkraut. Prices are on the high side: count on spending roughly $15 to $25 per person, taxes included. As with Sparrow, anticipate lineups and a crowd leaning heavily towards twenty and thirty something. Brunch served weekends only, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Location: 5201 St. Laurent, corner of Fairmount; (514) 503-1070
Getting There: Laurier Metro

8. Kam Fung

A nice alternative to traditional brunch, some of Montreal's best dim sum used to be at Lotte, the once Days Inn Furama Hotel restaurant, but they closed shop in 2009 even though weekends were a full house. What to do? Consider another Chinatown dim sum institution five blocks west: Kam Fung. In addition to requisite dim sum regulars -- shrimp, pork, scallop varieties -- Kam Fung also offers fried counterparts, chicken's feet (don't knock it til you try it), meatballs with tangerine, assorted sweets, you name it. Get there before 11 a.m. for a prime table close to push-cart action. Dim sum available every day 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Also in Brossard.
Location: 1111 St. Urbain, corner of René-Lévesque; (514) 878-2888
Get there: Place d'Armes Metro

9. Le Cartet

With foodie friends from out of town? Bring them to Old Montreal's Le Cartet. Offering sleek interior design and a mini-food market with jams, chocolate, specialty goods and meals-to-go, Le Cartet brunches scream freshness and trend, plates complete with complimentary extras you don't see every day, like sides of stuffed figs, sweetbread and fresh-squeezed orange juice. At roughly $15 a platter, smaller à la carte options like croissant with ham or french toast range from $6 to $12. Steep, yes. But you get what you pay for, though portions won't have belts unbuckling. Add a mimosa to the mix for $5. Brunch weekends only, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Location: 106 McGill, corner of Wellington; (514) 871-8887
Getting There: Square-Victoria Metro

10. Benedicts

A staple on the western edge of N.D.G.'s Monkland Village, Benedicts typically attracts a mix of what you'd expect from the social mashup that is Monkland Avenue: families dressed in dockers and designer yoga pants, couples in crisp denims, maybe a hoodie here and there and twenty/thirty somethings opting for an ever-so-slightly upscale breakfast at a fair price. Their specialty, eggs, monopolizes the breakfast menu with green eggs and ham, 14 omelette varieties, and six different eggs Benedict, from smoked salmon to Florentine to mushroom and Brie -- the Hollandaise sauce alone is worth the trip. Brunch every day, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Location: 5950 Monkland, corner of Royal; (514) 481-6075
Get there: Villa-Maria Metro