Anyone who lives in Toronto knows that brunch in this city is no joke. If you want to secure a seat at one of the coveted brunch destinations in town, you’ll likely have to add your name to a lengthy list, or visit first thing in the morning. These are generally the places that live up to their hype and serve crave-worthy dishes that will keep you coming back for more. Mildred’s Temple Kitchen, located in the heart of Liberty Village, is definitely one of those spots!

I had heard of Mildred’s Temple Kitchen a few years ago as one of the places to go for brunch, particularly for their blueberry buttermilk pancakes. I finally had the chance to visit last year, and was thoroughly impressed with the food and atmosphere. Last week, I was excited to be invited to return to enjoy their brunch, along with their Walter Craft Caesar. I arrived early at 10:30 am on Sunday with my boyfriend and the place already had a line out the door. If that isn’t a sign of food that’s worth the wait, I don’t know what is!

We started the meal with a round of the restaurant’s “Canadian Caesars” which feature Stoli, curly celery, horseradish, and the star of the show, Walter’s Caesar Mix – Canada’s first all-natural, premium Caesar mix. I’ve loved Caesars as long as I’ve been legal, especially as my beverage of choice to pair with a yummy brunch. There’s something about having that spicy, savoury, slightly sour drink with your meal that just makes it that much better, maybe because it almost seems like another dish in itself.

When the drinks arrived I was pleasantly surprised by the unique presentation, with heaping mounds of curly celery serving as a garnish. The wooden chopsticks were a cute and useful touch to help you pick up the strands while drinking, and you could really taste the difference in the mix. The drink had a bold tomato flavour that I crave from a great Caesar, and didn’t taste diluted at all. The only thing I thought was missing was a strip of the restaurant’s delicious Rosemary Bacon!

As far as the food goes, here’s what we ordered:

• Veda’s Choice – Mildred’s classic poached eggs on a flakey croissant with your choice of smoked salmon or bacon, topped with Béarnaise sauce & served with mixed greens
• The Manhandler – sliced flat iron steak on toasted garlic sourdough with arugula, two eggs sunny & a side of MP sauce
• Mrs. Biederhof’s Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes – served with a wild blueberry compote, Lanark County organic maple syrup & whipped cream.

Mildred’s Temple Kitchen specializes in refined comfort food with a focus on locally sourced and seasonal ingredients. Everything we had was absolutely delicious, and you could truly taste the quality in the food. Veda’s Choice (which we had with bacon) was luxuriously rich with the eggs cooked to runny perfection. The flat iron steak was tender, well-seasoned and a perfect medium rare. Our favourite however had to be the restaurant’s claim to fame blueberry buttermilk pancakes, which were on another level of fluffy.

The restaurant offers a weekend brunch menu on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, and a “B’Lunch” menu (which offers a mix of brunch and lunch items) Monday to Friday from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm. All of the dishes we had are served on both menus, and I highly recommend them all. I’m also a big fan of the restaurant’s scones and biscuits, which are baked fresh every morning! If you’ve been wondering if the wait it worth it for brunch at Mildred’s Temple Kitchen, I can personally vouch that it is. And if you’re planning a visit soon, make sure to wash it all down with a Canadian Caesar – I promise you won’t be disappointed!