I’ve had it with you peasants. All I want for breakfast is a couple of eggs and some cured pork belly. Is that so much to ask? Instead I show up at the diner at the crack of sunrise and it’s a hunk of bread and a jug of that wine you love so much. That stuff looks like a tongue. And that’s not how bread should look, under any circumstances, ever. Okay, I went back in time again and invented the following for you: brunches, buffets, eggs benedict and Interac. That last one makes paying for breakfast way easier. /Chiron Batchlett
Best Basic Breakfast
Gold
Fresh & Sweet
2500 Victoria Ave. 306-751-2233 valleygirlscatering.ca
Silver Mr. Breakfast Bronze Nicky’s Cafe Honorable Mention Breakfast Bistro
First off, there is nothing basic about Fresh & Sweet. Their ability to create complex sweet and savoury dishes is a gift to Regina. But as someone who’s last meal on Earth would likely be bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, toast and coffee, I would order it from Fresh & Sweet — mostly for the side of red velvet pancakes. Fresh & Sweet always makes breakfast delicious. The bacon is served up thick and crispy, the eggs (mine are always easily-over) are yolky enough to sop up with toast, and their hashbrowns are shredded for flavor — the way all good hashbrowns should be. Of course, no basic breakfast is complete without a fresh cup of coffee, and their baristas pour them as high-test as required. /Mike Shiplack
Best Fancy Breakfast
Gold
Hotel Saskatchewan
2125 Victoria Ave. 306-522-0275 hotelsaskatchewan.ca
Silver Fresh & Sweet Bronze Fireside Bistro Honorable Mention Breakfast Bistro
What does it take to be a fancy breakfast? It’s all about variety and quality. Is there someone making omelettes? How about a juice bar? Is there shrimp? What about eggs Benedict? An array of fancy cheeses? And does the dessert section have its own table? When it comes to fancy breakfast, Hotel Saskatchewan checks all the boxes. The weekend breakfast buffet is a thing of wonder, but their regular breakfast menu is just as glamorous. As someone who used to work the banquet halls at the Hotel Saskatchewan, I can attest to their attention to detail and quality of food. At the end of the shift I’d sample as much as humanly possible, and I never waddled home unsatisfied. /Mike Shiplack
Best Breakfast Buffet Under $20
Gold (Tie)
Casino Regina
1880 Saskatchewan Dr. 1 800-555-3189 casinoregina.com
Houston Pizza
2815 Quance St. East 306-585-6888 1126 Albert St. 306-569-8888 houstonpizza.ca
Bronze Theo Bill’s
It’s good to hear we’ve got choices for affordable breakfast buffets in this city. First up, Houston Pizza. the Quance and Albert St. restaurants both serve brunch buffets every Sunday from 9-2. The Albert St. buffet is $14.99 for adults; Quance is $20.99 (technically over $20, I know). As for Casino Regina: there’s a Sunday brunch every week in the Show Lounge from 10-2. It’s $17.50 with a Player’s Card (which is free); otherwise, $20. Also: my mighty fact-checking kung fu (making a phone call) alerted me to the fact Casino Regina’s buffet contains lunch items as well as breakfast goodies. So there you go. Happy brunching! /Stephen Whitworth
Best Brunch
Gold
Fresh and Sweet
2500 Victoria Ave. 306-751-2233 valleygirlscatering.ca
Silver Fireside Bistro Bronze Sprout Cafe Honorable Mention Flip Eatery & Drink, Table 10
Fresh and Sweet is my favourite spot to grab brunch. The menu and the cooks who create the food go well beyond the trusty yet tired combination of eggs, bacon and toast. Don’t believe me? Here are two examples: the strawberry goat cheese waffle and smoked salmon panini. Think those are easy to conceive and execute? The cunning cooks throw in sugared almonds, raspberry balsamic vinaigrette and whipped cream with the waffle; and the salmon comes with dill cream cheese, red onions and pea shoots, all on marble rye. Fresh and Sweet occupies the southeast corner of a downtown office building, lending itself to easy weekend eating with direct sunlight from early morning through late afternoon. Then there’s Fresh and Sweet’s take on French toast: which features white chocolate banana bread topped with whipped cream. It’s served as a side item. Remember to add maple syrup. /Evan Radford
Best Eggs
Gold
Sprout Café
2625 Victoria Ave. 306-545-5505 sproutcatering.ca
Silver Nicky’s Café Bronze Breakfast Bistro Honorable Mention Mr. Breakfast, Fireside Bistro, Table 10
I was once at a restaurant with a friend (who has since become a renowned Canadian poet) and, while reading the menu, I asked her, “What’s a Quiche Lorraine?” Without missing a beat she replied, “It’s an egg dish. And don’t call me Lorraine.” That is the only egg story I have and I’ve waited years to find the right moment to use it. Probably should have kept waiting because, as far as I can tell, Sprout Café doesn’t have Quiche Lorraine on the menu. What they do serve is a wildly fantastic array of breakfast and lunchtime meals — and that includes an awesome traditional breakfast that includes awesome, traditional eggs. Seriously, everything Sprout serves is better than wonderful so it’s no surprise their eggs would be declared “Best” by Prairie Dog voters. Sprout’s one of the best things to pop up west of downtown since… well… ever. /Paul Dechene
Best Omelette
Gold
Sprout Café
2625 Victoria Ave. 306-545-5505 sproutcatering.ca
Silver Nicky’s Café Bronze Breakfast Bistro Honorable Mention Fireside Bistro
Readers are perhaps familiar with the parent operation of Sprout Café. That would be Sprout Catering. Owned and operated by sisters Haley and Jssel Blackmore, it’s been around for a couple of years and is located at 3241 Saskatchewan Dr. Sprout Café is a few blocks east on Victoria Ave. Reading the address, some of you might have trouble placing it, but it’s in the Viterra head office (formerly the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool) at Albert and Vic. That building’s been a bit of a construction zone for awhile as the façade gets some much needed care and attention. But the refurbishment is looking great, and the addition of Sprout Café to the tenant list makes that corner all the more attractive. Open weekdays from 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Sprout serves breakfast, lunch, take-home meals, specialty coffees, smoothies and a whole lot more. /Gregory Beatty
Best Hash Browns
Gold
Nicky’s Café
1005 8th Ave. 306-757-3222 nickys.ca
Silver Sprout Café Bronze Mr. Breakfast Honorable Mention Perkins
Potatoes play a critical role in fried egg breakfasts. Shredded, chopped or cubed and crisped-up in a frying pan, they’re perfect for corralling wayward yolk slicks. Case in point: a couple of days ago near the end of a meal at Nicky’s I realized stray yolk from my soft-basted egg was congealing on the north-east sector of my plate. I’d already eaten all my rye toast (and a couple of a friend’s slices) so bread-dabbing was out. Thinking quickly, I used the side of my fork and Nicky’s excellent browns to scrape-up the nutritious yellow substance and get it into my mouth before it became inedible. Victory! /Stephen Whitworth