Weekend One Hundred and Twenty Six: Rum Runner

This "brunch" was devoured pre covid. Stay safe and keep distancing!

It was a sunny day, and our friends DES and NMBL from Motorcycle Hammock Camping were in town. We planned to meet up and go for a motorcycle ride through the wilds of Saanich, ending up at the Surly Mermaid for their tacos. Everything was going well - our helmet radios worked well together, the sun was sunny, and the roads were uncrowded, and after a while, we ended up in Sidney.

However, the Surly Mermaid had a 45 minute wait. That's too long, as NMBL and DES had to catch the ferry back to the mainland. Fortunately, the Rumrunner Pub shares a parking lot with the Surly Mermaid, and it had a much shorter wait. We even got a table by the window!

It was a late brunch by our standards, and our menu selections tended more to the "unch" than the "br" of the name. I had the Cuban Sandwich with a Caesar salad, while Catie enjoyed the beef burger and yam fries. DES was particularly excited by the beer and brie soup, which he accompanied with the all-in grilled cheese special, and NMBL the fish burger and a salad. The food arrived pretty quickly, considering how busy the restaurant had become, and we settled in to eat. Good company and good eats made this a nice mid-ride stop-off, and I'm sure that it would be just as enjoyable if you, dear readers, met here after a Sunday drive.

We hope to make it to the Surly Mermaid one day, but we were happy to end up at the Rumrunner!

Rum Rummer Pub, 9881 Seaport Place Sidney

Weekend One Hundred and Twenty Five: Social Isolation Brunch

For this brunch we stayed in our secret location and shared brunch with Andrew and Jen in their secret location. This brunch takes place in the Covid-19 world where we are all asked to practice social distancing to "flatten the curve".

Dave, myself, Jen, and Andrew utilized facetime (but you can use your favourite video chatting service). This was Andrew's first video chat experience. We all prepared brunch while chatting. Catie and Jen both drank tea while Andrew had coffee (two cups!) and Dave had orange juice.

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Andrew and Jen made Andrew's famous hash: peppers, celery, potatoes, cheese, and bacon. They also had over medium eggs, bacon, and maple syrup.
Catie and Dave made Potato Pancakes with sour cream and salsa verde and bacon. Dave ate his bacon while the potato pancakes was cooking. It was super tasty.

We all enjoyed our breakfasts and the chatter over the video chatting, even River dog and Charlie dog got into it.

Stay healthy out there!

Weekend One Hundred and Twenty Four: Sunnyside Cafe

This is an unexpected brunch. We left our secret location to look at motorcycles with my Mom and Dad. My Dad is in the market for a new-to-him motorcycle and thought he might find it at Action Motorcycles. Dave and I showed up a bit early and were drawn to the Sunnyside Cafe below Action Motorcycles by the delicious smells.

It is a small and unassuming space. It is homey and cool at the same time, chalk boards and rumpus room wood paneling. The ladies behind the counter were patient while we decided our order then quickly prepared our order.

Dave ordered the Breaky Burrito ($13.50) and I ordered the Buccaneer Benny (half order $11.50) and a coffee. The food was super tasty. Dave devoured his burrito and enjoyed every mouth full. I loved my benny. I can't get enough of a hollandaise, cheese, and avacado combo. I could have used more hollandaise sauce. I really like when there is enough for every mouth full. Dave and I both agreed that the hash browns for be crispier. But over all is was super.

My parents followed their noses and found us in the Sunnyside Cafe. They decided to join us and funnily enough ordered the same meals we had. You can see them in the photo behind Dave ordering their food. They agreed this place provides a solid YUM.



Sunnyside Cafe, 101-1234 Esquimalt Road

Weekend One Hundred and Twenty-Three: Heron Rock Bistro Balboa Weekend

It was a special weekend. Friends from near and far gathered together to take dance lessons with Matt and Angie from Vancouver, and so we needed to start the day off with a good brunch. Enter Heron Rock - our go-to noshing spot. We've been a few times before, so it's time to see what else is on the menu!

Blurry Dave has the Huevos Cubanos, as always. As always, they were very tasty. There's not much to say that I haven't said before! Blurry Catie enjoyed the Stilton and Bacon Benny (hold the mushrooms, please), which was a nice change from her usual Classic Benny. We were not on our photo A game.

Matt selected the Chorizo Sausage Hash ($16). Spicy, but not too spicy, was the verdict.
Andrew's choice was the Pulled Pork Hash ($16). He and Matt were also very enthusiastic about the peanut butter for their toast - something about it being smooth, not crunchy.

Tyler chose the Blue Collar ($16), which gave him the power he needed for a full dancing day. Sunny Side of the Street indeed!    

Angie fueled up with the Classic, ($13), which she says was just what she wanted.
Holly, obviously a devoted reader of our blog, chose the Huevos Cubanos ($16)! As is obvious from her photo, she loved it!

After our breakfasts were finished, we went off to dance class. A mighty brunch was the start to a great day!

Heron Rock Bistro, 435 Simcoe St Victoria