The iconic Westboro brunch spot, Baker Street Cafe is known for plus-sized cinnamon buns, which are also morphed into a French toast dish. With benedicts and egg plates piled up with sausages and more, the menu is on the classic side, with great ingredients as the selling point. They also serve it all week long.

There’s one major downside to chef Marysol Foucault’s Gatineau brunch spot, and it’s that it’s too damn small. A hearty Dutch Baby filled with seasonal fruit and maybe topped with meat, or other clever but frequently-shifting creations are the draw — and if you have to wait outside in the cold, the staff will at least bring coffee and blankets.

With a menu that’s equal parts Spanish and Latin American, Soca freshens up the eggy standards with options like a citrus pulled pork with scrambled eggs and an arepa, or octopus with a potato salad on the lunchier side.

Unpopular opinion: Stoneface Dollys isn’t as flawlessly perfect as some Ottawans would argue (often lengthy line-ups don’t help that). The eggs benedict variations (for example, with South African chicken bobotie) are popular, and a fun option, though, and they do brunch on weekdays, too.

Concert venue by night and café by day, every brunch dish at Pressed is served on a waffle. Toppings run the gamut from sweet to savoury, from apple-cheddar-bacon-maple, to smoked trout and hollandaise or slow-cooked brisket, cheese curds, and gravy.

This all-scones, all-the-time spot keeps a limited brunch menu — every order comes with a scone, jam, fruit, and eggs, and a choice of toppings that include mushroom ragout and smoked salmon. They also have a breakfast scone-wich. It’s all available weekdays too, but only until 11 a.m.

Cooking everything from scratch, Wilf & Ada’s is technically more of a diner than a brunch venue, but crowds still flock there for options like eggs florentine, spicy eggs in purgatory (pictured), and the poutine galvaude, with roast chicken and peas. Watch out for line-ups, though.

Open nearly 20 years from French import Jérôme Mantel, Benny’s is a long-running local favourite with refined dishes like confit albacore tuna with a soft-poached egg, and roasted mushrooms with potato-cheddar dumplings.

For whatever reason, Ottawa’s higher-end restaurants mostly shy away from brunch service, but lovely Fraser Cafe is one exception. It’s more down-to-earth than the evening service, and creative options for the weekend meal like a panzanella salad or okonomiyaki pancake are a plus.