where jess ate

Thinking that Aunties and Uncles was located right on College, Mike and I almost missed this place! It’s actually located just off of College, one block west of Bathurst on Lippincott Street. Since we had a late start to the day, we arrived just before two, one hour before it closed.

There was a line with a few groups ahead of us, so I went up to the front of the line to put our name down on a list, but the guy at the front of the line pointed to the back of the line and informed us there was a line… Oops, guess it doesn’t work that way here. Anyways, soon after we arrived, someone who worked there came out to see if there were any groups of two since a table was free, so we were able to get seated right away. But I imagine the waits can get pretty long on the weekend since the place is pretty small.

Aunties and Uncles has a patio at the front of the restaurant filled with picnic tables with umbrellas. However, we were seated inside, which has a retro-style vibe and is filled with various knick knacks from the 50’s and 60’s.

Mike and I both started with fresh orange juice ($3). The server informed us of the specials for the day which included a soup, an omelette and a turkey burger. None of them really appealed to me, so I went with the Breakfast Pocket – Scrambled eggs, peameal bacon, cheddar, tomato and caramelized onions with Dijon and aioli on focaccia ($8.75). The wait was actually pretty long for the food. I think we waited about twenty minutes before it was finally served, but it was definitely worth the wait. This was basically a breakfast sandwich on onion focaccia bread. The scrambled eggs were perfectly cooked – nice and fluffy. The Dijon and aioli gave the breakfast pocket a great flavour and the caramelized onions were a nice touch which gave the sandwich an extra bit of oomph. Easily one of the best breakfast sandwiches I’ve ever had!

The breakfast pocket was also huge, which really surprised me given the price of it. Half of it probably would’ve been enough for me. I felt extremely full for hours after this meal. It also came with a choice of potato salad, hash browns or greens. I was torn between the potato salad and hash browns, but finally settled on the hash browns. They were really large and chunky and also contained some sweet potatoes. I asked for some ketchup and was brought a side of house-made ketchup, which had a bit of a kick to it. The potatoes on their own weren’t anything special, but they tasted amazing with the ketchup.

Mike decided on the Banana Oatmeal Pancakes – with fruit and maple syrup ($7.50). When they were served, I was envious because they looked and smelled amazing. They were topped with powdered sugar and loaded with mashed bananas. I think there was even more banana than pancake, so they weren’t exactly light and fluffy. They were nice and crisp on the outside and tasted decent dipped in the maple syrup. This was my first time having banana pancakes, and I thought these were just decent. But maybe I’m just not a huge fan of banana pancakes. Mike really enjoyed them though.

When the bill came, we discovered that they take cash only. We didn’t have enough cash to pay for our meal, but the server informed us there were a few ATM’s close by. So, Mike left me to pick up some cash… and luckily he came back!

Overall, despite the long wait for the food, I thought this was a great brunch spot. Our server was really warm and friendly, the prices are very reasonable and the food was pretty good – the breakfast pocket is definitely a must-order!

At a glance:

Located on Lippincott St, near Bathurst and College

Reasonable prices (nothing over $8.75)

Food takes a while

Cash only

Closes at 3

Ratings (out of 5):

Food: 4 stars

Service: 4 stars

Atmosphere: 3.5 stars