When I heard that we were going to the Windsor Arms Hotel for Doug McNish’s new vegan menu on my birthday, I was overjoyed. I have eaten Doug’s amazing food before at Raw Aura in Port Credit (where he used to work and make the best ravioli and kale chips) and also at our house. It is fresh, always so good and very, very healthy.
You can find the menu by scrolling down (all the way to the bottom) right here. Because my sister has a severe nut allergy, and there are normally lots of nuts on the menu, Doug specially altered the menu to accomodate my sister so we could all come. (He’s awesome!)
When we got there, we were seated in a beautiful room, with very comfy chairs and nice tablecloths. My little brother ran in with the cutest smile on his face and ordered an apple, orange, kale juice as soon as the waiter came over to our table. There is a full juice and smoothie menu, and I did not order one (I have those at home every morning so it’s not very special for me), but my mom, sister, dad and cousin all got green organic juices and were very happy. Next time, I am going to get some tea – they had a great selection!
The second I looked at the menu, I knew that I was going to get “The Works” which includes Bean Chili, Scrambled Tofu with greens, tempeh bacon, potatoes and toast with miso butter (wow, I LOVED that miso butter, I wish it was up for sale in the store – but there is the Zen Budda from RawFoodz now in stores that is nut-free and raw, vegan). My favourite part was the tempeh bacon, which, lucky for me, I got 3 orders because I had mine, my sister’s and my cousin’s since they don’t really like tempeh. Even an adult will be full after eating “The Works” – there is so much food on the plate and it looks and tastes amazing.
My cousin and my dad both got the stuffed french toast, which I would only get if I could leave out the strawberries (not a fruit I like), but they thought it was amazing and ate every last bit. My mother also got The Works but had to give away her potatoes to my younger brother, who was pestering her constantly until he got them. She also gave her bean chili away to my sister who loved that. It’s good to have a mom who shares. And speaking of sharing, my sister gave me her tempeh bacon and gave my dad half of her order of pancakes with blueberry infused maple syrup. Our family tends to try as many things as possible and the dish that we order always end up getting shared.
After we were all full of the insanely yummy vegan brunch, (or the I.Y.V.B., for short), because it was my birthday, Doug brought me a little chocolate birthday cake and had written in chocolate sauce on the plate, “Happy Birthday Ryan”. My brother ran over and took a huge forkful of it, it was really so good. It was vegan and gluten free.
All in all, I think that this is the best place for Sunday brunch in Toronto. Let me know if you go for an I.Y.V.B. anytime soon and what you think of it. 🙂
