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Toronto Brunch by BQUAD

Hotel Ocho Restaurant & Lounge

195 Spadina Avenue / (416) 593-0885 / hotelocho.com 

Year 2!!!

BQUAD begins our official second year 2 blocks north of Queen St West on Spadina Avenue. It’s a fairly bright day for February, seemingly backing up Wiarton Willie’s prediction of an early spring. No weather predictions were sought out from Toronto Troy, a local weather hipster raccoon trying to make a name for himself in the Big Smoke :) BQUAD, however, does not take much interest in groundhogs unless someone is going to serve one up for brunch.

Hotel Ocho


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Hotel Ocho Restaurant & Lounge is very spacious. It is slightly below ground with windows all around giving it an airy art gallery feel. The high ceilings, rock flooring, brick walls, and art work add to that atmosphere.

Hotel Ocho - interior

Very accessible by streetcar or Bixi bike (Bixi station directly in front), the place is empty when we arrive at 11am. 

Our server is friendly and able to give us a bit of history about the building which, like so many on Spadina, has a past a fur factory or other textile shop.
 

Hotel Ocho - Plant

Disappointingly, the information offering was much better than the service offering. We expected a bit more attention being the sole customers the entire time we were there.

We received no water or cutlery after being seated and at no time while we ate was there a “how is everything going”, “would you like more coffee”, or “can I get you anything else”. We were only asked if we wanted more coffee once we asked for the bill.
 
Hotel Ocho - Coffee
 
There was an error on one order but it was corrected in a timely and courteous fashion. 
 
Brunch plates at Hotel Ocho Restaurant & Lounge
 
Brown had the omelette with asparagus and old cheddar. She did not finish it because it was “too greasy; nice fruit though”. Once again, to our amazement, Brown did not order a beer although the choices were reasonable.
Brit ordered the Ocho Breakfast with hard boiled eggs accompanied by sausages, bacon and side of French toast. “It was pleasant, the sausages were bbq size, the eggs were well done and the presentation was nice”.
 
Black also had the omelette with old cheddar and wild mushrooms. “Kind of bland; the old cheddar did not stand out nor any herbs or spice flavours. The fruit was massive and very good”.
 
Bald ordered the Eggs Benedict with salami and spinach (although originally received the salmon version). All dishes came with fruit and mixed greens and potatoes. Bald’s quote of the month is “Say no-cho to Ocho”. The salami was very, very salty. It looked good but didn’t taste very good, except for the fruit. Bald saw a hair on our table and swears it wasn’t his! (He’s bald folks!) To be fair, it was stuck to the water glass he received.
 

Hotel Ocho - Spadina & Queen

Hey look: Banksy - one of the few still kicking in the city.
 

Banksy on Spadina, Toronto

Things we liked » Décor, space, layout, Bixi bike access, location, access to second level, washrooms were clean and modern but a wee bit dark.

Things others may like » Spacious, private aspect, Bixi bikes, access to the city, Banksy art.

Things we did not like » Coffee, service, lack of flavours in the meal, lack of basic service such as water and coffee refills.

Spadina Streetcar

Rating out of 5

Food » 2.75
Service » 2.0
Atmosphere » 3.5
Price » 4.0
Overall Summary » 3.06

Brunch Bill - Hotel Ocho

Post Brunch BQUAD Drinx » About a 5-10 minute walk west on Queen (just past Bathurst) is Tequila Bookworm. There you can enjoy tasty wi-fi- and tastier craft beers. As we sit here ‘reviewing’, the brunch on the plates at the table next to us smells pretty good. Is Tequila Bookworm a potential future brunch spot? Stay tuned brunch fans, stay tuned.

Feb 4, 2012

 



 
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