Cast your ballot: Elgin Street Diner vs. Fraser Café

After a long month that included 30 brunches, tough decisions, weight gain, occasional self-loathing, and incredible food, we’ve made it to the championship round of our Brunch Bracket.

Haven’t been following along? Here’s a refresher:

The Citizen’s mobile team pitted 16 Ottawa brunch destinations against each other in a head-to-head bracket format. In the first round, we had eight separate “brunch battles” where we asked each competing restaurant to give us what they felt was their best brunch item. Then we picked a winner based on the strength of the meal and the experience.

As we moved into second and third rounds, we followed the same format, making sure we ate a different meal each time. Our premise was that the eventual champion would win on the merits of its menu depth and its ability to consistently provide a stellar experience.

However, we weren’t the final arbitrators of a restaurant’s fate. We asked you to vote on which restaurant you thought should advance, and your votes ultimately decided which restaurant moved on.

And boy, did y’all vote. More people voted in our last matchup (10,000 plus) than voted in the 2010 municipal election in the Somerset ward, where matchup winner Elgin Street Diner is located. (Thankfully, a Big Hollandaise lobby doesn’t exist in Ottawa).

So, here we are, cast your ballot and crown the city’s best brunch spot.

Normally, we post all of our reviews on the Citizen’s mobile app, but for the championship round, we’ve posted our review below. And if you go down further, you can see the results from all of our previous matchups, along with links to our reviews.

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Fraser Café

Price: Main dishes are between $12 and $17.

Address/Hours: 7 Springfield Rd. Brunch is served Sat. and Sun., 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.

Accessibility: A ramp on the side, but no accessible washrooms.

Ambience/Service: A neighbourhood bistro with modern but unstuffy decor and attentive yet laid back service.

Fraser Café has gotten to the Championship Round by the skin of its teeth.

The hip New Edinburgh bistro narrowly beat out both Baker Street Cafe in Round 1 and Art Is In Bakery in Round 2 with identical voting scores of 51 per cent. Round 3’s matchup between Fraser and the Scone Witch was this Bracket’s closest yet — Fraser squeaked by with 50.39 per cent of the vote right before the polls closed.

Below, what we’ve eaten from Fraser Café up until this point in the competition, including the Championship Round dish.

Round 1: Poached eggs and hollandaise with tomato and porchetta ($15).

Round 2: Huevos Rancheros with a side salad ($13.50).

Round 3: Breakfast Sandwich, or egg, bacon, cheese, and tomato on a multigrain bun ($14.50).

Championship Round: Hot-smoked trout, with olive oil, sourdough, capers, tomato, onions and greens ($17).

How it tasted: We were surprisingly disappointed. The dish looked decadent — the fish, which took on a ruby-orange gleam, was drizzled in sauce and garnished with delicate blue flowers — but perhaps the trout was smoked too hot. Coupled with the toasted sourdough, the whole thing tasted dry as a fish bone. The crisp bread did nothing to help along the over-cooked trout, and the red pepper sauce added flavour but little moisture.

What the dish had going for it was its salad sides, which were light, refreshing and uncomplicated.

Why you should vote Fraser:

• The food: Despite our less-than-stellar final visit, there’s no arguing Fraser does excellent brunch — it’s gourmet without the pretension. The bistro has gotten to this point in the competition on the back of some delicious dishes that offered a great mix of flavours and textures.

• The service: Fraser has had bright, friendly and attentive service every time we’ve visited. Even though it was often crowded during brunch time, the atmosphere never felt congested or claustrophobic.

• The prices: Most of the brunch items are reasonably priced at around $15 each — just a titch above this Bracket’s average. But the cost is worth it — what the menu lacks in size it makes up for in depth.

Why you shouldn’t vote Fraser:

• The availability: We phoned ahead to book a reservation every time we visited — there’s none of the easy availability of a greasy spoon bistro you can stumble into after a drunken Friday night out. In that sense, brunch at Fraser becomes more of an event and less of the leisurely meal it should be.

• The prices: We know we just said the prices are reasonable. But they’re reasonable for the quality of food you’re getting. Otherwise, paying $17 for the meal — plus tip, plus whatever beverage of choice you order — puts an unwelcome dent in your wallet.

• The kitchen location: Fraser has an open kitchen, which means if you’re sitting close to the cooking flames, it can get uncomfortably hot. But that’s a minor quibble.

We’re scraping the barrel here.

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Elgin Street Diner

Price: Main dishes are between $8 and $15.

Address/Hours: 374 Elgin St. Open 24 hours. Special brunch menu, Sat. and Sun., 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Accessibility: A few front steps make it unaccessible.

Ambience/Service: The speedy service and retro turquoise booths make this a go-to greasy spoon.

This bracket’s Cinderella story

When this started, none of the Citizen’s reviewers thought ESD had a chance.

But in Round 1, ESD cruised to victory over Carmen’s Veranda with 56 per cent of the vote. Then, over powerhouse the Manx (and our pick), ESD crushed with 62 per cent of the vote. It wasn’t even close in Round 3 over Stoneface Dolly’s — ESD grabbed a whopping 70 per cent of the vote.

Below, what we’ve eaten from the Elgin Street Diner up until this point in the competition, including the Championship Round dish.

Round 1: The Hangover Breakfast, or eggs, bacon, beans, poutine, and toast ($12).

Round 2: Breakfast Special, or two poached eggs, bacon, toast, potatoes, and beans ($8). We added a slice of french toast ($3.50).

Round 3: The Farmers Benny. Potato hash, sausage, spinach, tomatoes and caramelized onions. Topped with two poached eggs, hollandaise and avocado ($14.99).

Championship Round: Fruit Waffle, with strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, banana and maple syrup ($13.99).

How it tasted: Pretty damn good. The sweet, crunchy waffle is complemented by sweeter, succulent fresh fruits.

Why you should vote ESD:

• The simplicity: A common theme throughout all our ESD visits is the straightforward, brunch-y goodness of our meals. We’ve been pretty harsh on the longtime diner, but that’s only because we’ve been measuring it against the lofty standard of a few fancy pants, hipster haunts. That’s not what ESD is and you, faithful reader, seem to understand that.

• The service: It’s speedy and to the point, but not dismissive. You feel like you fit right in at Elgin, no matter who you are. That would seem to make sense, seeing as the entire joint has been family-run for 21 years straight.

• The atmosphere and availability: Unlike Fraser Café, ESD is open 24 hours with a ton of seating — it’s rare you’ll ever wait longer than five minutes for a table, if at all. On top of that, the atmosphere alternates between a home-y, comfortable diner by day, and a jumping, rowdy, drunken party by night.

Why you shouldn’t vote ESD:

• The competition: Depending on your brunch expectations, ESD can be either a godsend or a complete letdown. The diner doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t — but that might not be the greatest thing either. In this Bracket, we’ve lauded restaurants that serve innovative, interesting dishes that separate themselves from the brunch plebes. ESD hasn’t done that.

• The food: ESD is a diner, and their main fare is basic, straightforward diner dishes. With a little effort, you could probably make this stuff at home. The dishes are void of red pepper emulsion and tiny blue flowers as garnish, à la Fraser Café. There’s little in the food that catches you by surprise — and that’s not a good thing.

• The service: We’ve mentioned how we love the speedy and friendly staffers. But you’re never going to get an experience from the service — the waiters are there to turn and burn tables, not discuss the finer points of poutine with you. You never eat at ESD to relax. You’re there to get in and get out.

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Our reviews:

The Championship 

Brunch Battle 1: Fraser Café versus Elgin Street Diner

Readers’ winner:  ?

The Final Four 

Brunch Battle 1: Fraser Café versus The Scone Witch

Citizen winner: Fraser Café
Readers’ winner:  Fraser Café with 50.39% of the vote

Brunch Battle 2: Stoneface Dolly’s versus Elgin Street Diner

Citizen winner: Stoneface Dolly’s
Readers’ winner: Elgin Street Diner with 70.96% of the vote

The Elite Eight 

Brunch Battle 1: Urban Pear versus Stoneface Dolly’s

Citizen winner: Stoneface Dolly’s
Readers’ winner: Stoneface Dolly’s with 65% of the vote

Brunch Battle 2: The Manx versus Elgin Street Diner

Citizen winner: The Manx
Readers’ winner: Elgin Street Diner with 62% of the vote

Brunch Battle 3: Wilf & Ada’s versus Scone Witch

Citizen winner: Wilf & Ada’s
Readers’ winner: The Scone Witch with 56% of the vote.

Brunch Battle 4: Art-Is-In versus Fraser Café

Citizen winner: Art-Is-In
Readers’ winner: Fraser Café with 51% of the vote.

Previous results from the Round of 16

Brunch Battle 1: Fraser Café versus Baker Street Cafe

Citizen winner: Baker Street Cafe
Readers’ winner: Fraser Café with 51% of the vote

Brunch Battle 2: Wilf & Ada’s versus the Daily Grind

Citizen winner: Wilf & Ada’s
Readers’ winner: Wilf & Ada’s with 78% of the vote

Brunch Battle 3: John’s Diner versus Stoneface Dolly’s

Citizen Winner: Stoneface Dolly’s
Readers’ winner: Stoneface Dolly’s with 70% of the vote

Brunch Battle 4: Jak’s Kitchen and Scone Witch

Citizen Winner: Jak’s Kitchen
Readers’ winner: Scone Witch with 51.34% of the vote

Brunch Battle 5: The Manx versus Murray Street

Citizen Winner: Murray Street
Readers’ winner: The Manx with 56% of the vote

Brunch Battle 6: Elgin Street Diner versus Carmen’s Veranda 

Citizen Winner: Elgin Street Diner
Readers’ winner: Elgin Street Diner with 56% of the vote

Brunch Battle 7: Urban Pear versus Fresco Bistro Italiano 

Citizen Winner: Urban Pear
Readers’ winner: Urban Pear with 56% of the vote

Brunch Battle 8: Art-Is-In versus Pressed

Citizen Winner: Pressed
Readers’ winner: Art-Is-In with 74% of the vote