Lady Marmalade

I'm pretty sure that most of the furnishings at Lady Marmalade were bought up in garage sales all over Leslieville. Sitting in there having brunch one can't help but to notice that you feel like you are at your Great Auntie Myrtle's kitchen table. I half expected my breakfast to be served on melamine plates. LM has a kitsch that is almost cartoonish but it works and it puts you into a comfort zone that is fun and laidback. It's clanging, banging and noisy but you don't notice and you don't care.

The lines ups to LM always seem to ooze right out on to Queen St. and it appears along that strip of Leslieville they are the only resto for blocks in either direction that this is happening at. We waited about 20 minutes for a table and when we left there was an even longer lineup waiting for a chance to get in the door. Lady Marmalade is a bona fide brekkie joint that has quickly found its niche among the pop spots of Joy, Lil Baci, Barrio and Sophie's, none of which I might add had a line up of any sort even though they were all open for brunch.I met up with my fella Yelptress, Shari "shut the barn door!" M. and my daughter Meg "My Mother has exquisite taste" M. for some Saturday brunch. I opted for the eggs/bacon/home fries; Shari went right for the Huevos Migas and Miss Meg was jones'ing for some Eggs Benny. Regular coffee with your breakfast is a bottomless cup (I love bottomless cups of the java on a Saturday morning!). Meg delighted in some tangy, tart, refreshing, lip smacking homemade lemonade and Shari slurped up and savoured a tall glass of some sort of Latte Machiato.My eggs were quite good, soft and buttery tasting. I hate when restaurants turn scrambled eggs in something rubbery and lumpy. I ordered brown toast and got three slices of that thin chewy rye bread which I love and I'm pretty sure it was Dimplifmier (sp?). Shari was savoring her Migas, at least it sure sounded like that with the big mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm's rolling around.

My first complaint about my breakfast is that the homefries suck. How's that for constructive criticism? The chunks of potatoes are way too large, not cooked enough and the seasoning makes them taste dry. I prefer my homefries in smaller pieces and just a tad crispier and of course since they are spuds, being cooked all the way through is a must. My second complaint about LM is that they won't do eggs sunnyside up. Hey, a girl likes her eggs the way she likes her eggs. I want them the way I want them.

All in all, I like Lady Marmalade. They rock the tunes, the joint is just humming, there is great art of the wall, the salt & pepper shakers at our table were a pair of little cowboy boots, the menu is quite large so there is something for every one (damn you vegetarians....yes there is some sort of effing tofu scrambled concoction on the menu). Next time I'm going for the french toast because it looked awesome!