where jess ate

This was actually our second attempt at coming to Insomnia for brunch. On our first attempt, we arrived at noon with a group of 6, but unfortunately it was completely packed, so we went elsewhere. On our second attempt we arrived as a foursome at 11am, and were lucky to get seats immediately. We were seated at the back of the restaurant on couches with a coffee table to eat off of; it was a nice and cozy space at the back.

For my meal, I went with the Eggs Isabelle – Two poached eggs with house made hollandaise, fresh tomatoes and avocado spread, served with homefries and baby greens ($10). I almost always get the eggs benny for brunch, and this time was no different. After taking a bite out of the dish, I immediately regretted ordering it. The hollandaise was extremely bland, so the entire dish really didn’t have much flavour. The one thing I did love, however, were their homefries. These were smothered in their special sauce without them being soggy. The sauce, which tasted like a tomatoey-bbq sauce, was amazing – we all loved this!

Mike went with the Traditional – 2 eggs any style, peameal bacon or sausage, served with homefries, baby greens and toast ($10). It came with two pieces of thick toast and the entire dish was nothing special. It was just a standard breakfast. But again, the homefries were to die for!

My friend Chris ordered the Heaven on Earth – Wild berries, cream cheese and honey sandwiched between lightly tanned french toast, dusted with powdered sugar, served with a side of pure Canadian maple syrup ($10.50). I had a bite of this, and it really was heaven on earth! Although I love French toast, I hardly ever order it at a restaurant (unless I order it as a side) because I’m usually craving something more on the savoury side, but Insomnia does this dish pretty darn well.

We also wanted to try one of their pancakes, so the four of us decided to share the Chocolate Banana Pancakes – Fluffy pancakes with chocolate chunks and bananas served with a side of pure canadian maple syrup ($10). Since our server asked us if we wanted the pancakes for dessert, we expected them to come after our meals. However, after waiting a long time for our food, we realized they were probably waiting for the pancakes. Sure enough, everything we had ordered came at once. We dove into the pancakes immediately since we wanted to try them while they were still hot. These pancakes were definitely not the light, fluffy kind. They were dense and tasted more like a cake. Overall, these were just decent, although I enjoyed them a lot more when they were soaked in syrup. Mike and the others enjoyed this. I think I would’ve preferred the apple cinnamon pancake instead.

Overall, I was a little disappointed with the savoury dishes we tried, aside from the homefries, which are some of my favourite in the city. In general, I think they do their sweet dishes better.

At a glance:

Some of the best homefries in the city!

The savoury dishes we had were a bit disappointing, but the sweet dishes were pretty good

Like most brunch spots in the city, Insomnia gets pretty busy, so the waits can be long