I Tried Améa Café’s Mediterranean Brunch & It's Setting A New Downtown Montreal Standard

This Opinion article is part of a Narcity Media series. The views expressed are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.

As soon as the weekend rolls around, you better believe I am brunchin' — and chances are if you're reading this, so are you. While Montreal is bustling with must-try brunch spots, Améa Café should be at the top of your list.

The Montreal café officially launched a weekend brunch and has lifted the bar really high. The menu includes loads of decadent Mediterranean options that are bound to satisfy your taste buds from shakshuka and Jerusalem bagels made in-house to an impressive scrambled eggs dish.

As I walked in, I could immediately feel the bustling atmosphere and vibrant vibes Améa Café has to offer. The space is bigger than you'd think, we're talking a bar section, casual seating, workspace seating and tables big enough to fit the entirety of Améa's delish menu.

The modern and colourful interior certainly enhances the experience but the food is where all the magic truly lays. I opted for a few stand-out menu items that just sounded too good not to get. The order? Burrata crostini, scrambled eggs, stracciatella and truffle, gravlax bombolone, French toast with strawberries and a gravlax avocado smash crostini.

I decided to leave the sweeter dishes for last, and dove right into the gravlax and avo smash crostini. Made up of gravlax salmon, avocado, pickled red onions and dill on top of toasted sourdough, the crostini was everything and then some. The ingredients blended together brilliantly, and Améa Café doesn't play around when it comes to the portion of salmon. The mixture of creamy and crunchy really did it for me, which is why I wasted no time going for the second crostini.

The burrata crostini is made with roasted red peppers, white anchovies, and burrata all on top of toasted sourdough. This one was the true winner. The subtle flavour from the anchovies meshed incredibly well with the creaminess of the cheese and red peppers. And you could taste the freshness of the ingredients with every bite — only making you want more and more.

The gravlax bombolone was enjoyable but doesn't hold a candle to the crostini. The lemon and chive cream cheese was a nice touch. However, there wasn't enough salmon to create a good enough balance of fish to cheese. As for the bombolone portion of the dish, it was fluffy and fresh.

When the scrambled eggs arrived, I was slightly worried that the runniness would be off-putting, but turns out, it's the only way I want to prepare my eggs from now on. Served with stracciatella, basil, oven-roasted tomatoes and truffle butter, this scramble was nothing short of phenomenal. The eggs and truffle butter atop a toasted sourdough will undoubtedly excite your palate.

Now, the brunch dish of all brunch dishes… the French toast with strawberries. A simple name, yet such an intricate culinary moment. Served with whipped pistachio ricotta, and macerated strawberries atop a brioche soaked in vanilla custard — you'll never be able to have French toast any other way ever again.

The brioche was moist and bursting with flavour. I made sure to get a bit of every ingredient with every bite, and it delivered every. single. time. The whipped pistachio ricotta offered a subtle earthy yet sweet savour that blended superbly with the strawberries. It's safe to say I left the French toast my number after that sesh.

Chances are, once you visit Améa Café, you're bound to keep going back.