Friday, March 16, 2012

Saturday Brunch at Nyood

I was invited by Nyood (@Nyood) to try their new Saturday Brunch menu last weekend. Nyood, formerly associated with celebrity chef Roger Mooking, is now under new management with a brand new chef, Ariel Coplan. Chef Coplan, who worked under Lorenzo Loseto from George Restaurant and subsequently at Café Grey (NYC) and Number One (a Michelin-starred restaurant in Edinburgh), has returned to Toronto as an executive chef at Nyood. Vittorio Colacitti (formerly George, Lucien) has also joined Nyood as chef de cuisine and the duo will be launching a brand new menu in spring (items on Nyood's current menu has been changed slightly).


I've never been to Nyood before this brunch. To be honest I never associated Nyood with "food" but more so a club or lounge. I mean if you've ever been to their Sunday Brunch or "Le Brunch" (I haven't been to one but here's a video of it) you will know why I never took Nyood seriously as a restaurant. Really, can you blame me? O_o Although it seems like "Le Brunch" is here to stay, I'm hoping that by bringing serious chefs on board with the addition of a no dancing, no extreme boozing and a no dress-code required regular Saturday brunch, Nyood will begin to appeal more to the locals...you know...regular people like you and I? I don't know about you but a tight dress with a pair of high heels will never be part of my brunch attire lol



Can't deny it. Nyood is gorgeous.


I brought a friend along for brunch. We had a tasting and tried five items from Nyood's Saturday brunch menu. I started off with their strawberry & lychee mimosa.


We tried the following:

Fresh Ricotta - Season Fruit, Muesli, Wildflower Honey.

Very simple...ricotta + fresh fruit. A lovely start.


Cobb Salad - Hard Boiled Egg, Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, Roast Chicken, Tomato.

Meant to be eaten like a wrap / taco, this was an interesting take on the cobb salad.


Bacon Benny - Soft Poached Eggs, Double Smoked Bacon, Bacon Gravy.

Although not the most visually appealing, these bennys are great for bacon lovers.


Having said that, I don't remember tasting much bacon in the bacon gravy. 


Breakfast Bahn Mi - Fried Eggs, Bacon, Cucumber, Chili, Cilantro, Baguette (I just noticed that they spelled "bahn mi" incorrectly on the menu, should be "banh mi"). 

Our server asked us what we thought of it since the banh mi is his favourite item on the menu. We told him the baguette could be softer and the banh mi gets really messy to eat because of the egg yolk. He agreed that it can get messy but then reassured us that usually thai banh mis are messy anyway. Er....Thai? O_o 


Italian Breakfast Flatbread - Nutella, Bananas, Hazelnuts, Frangelico Cream

I love banana and nutella but the flatbread could be both warmer and softer.


It is evident that under new management, Nyood has set a mission to become more of a neighbourhood destination and I think it is off to a good start by introducing Saturday brunch. My friend and I thought the brunch was decent with the breakfast banh mi being the most unique item on the menu (by the way they also have chicken & waffles and French toast on the menu).

Since I'm more a dinner type of girl, I'm looking forward to trying Chef Coplan's complete re-haul of the menu in spring!

*This brunch was complimentary. The opinions and views expressed on this post are my own*

Nyood on Urbanspoon


 Nyood at RestaurantGuideBook.com