Who doesn’t love a vintage diner? On the busy street it is named after, you will find the Wellington Diner, which is where I met an old university classmate for breakfast. Many restaurants have their take on breakfast, but the Wellington team is confident that it has the best one in town. From new tastes to the old classics, the menu was quite impressive.
The Wellington Diner specializes in all things related to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and everything in between. They use the freshest ingredients to handcraft a distinctive and unique menu in a casual, family-friendly environment. Their unique blend of locally sourced products and innovative takes on classical dishes has helped us craft an environment that flawlessly combines the bold and traditional. I
I was pleased to meet owner Jeff Frost. He purchased the place in 2015 and truly placed his stamp on it. The restaurant has a cool vibe, with seating for 88 people over two floors on the inside and 24 more on a most beautiful season patio. Frost constructed it during the pandemic for $120,000. Inside there is a lot of memorabilia and framed photos on the wall. A lot of the local professional athletes from the hockey Senators and football Redblacks can often be spotted here.
You can order breakfast all day and I must say it took me quite some time to review the selections. I downloaded the QR code at my table and voila, there was the menu.
My dining partner chose one of the many Eggs Benny options, which feature two poached eggs atop an English muffin and smothered in savoury hollandaise. This is served alongside house homies (home fries) or a house salad. I chose the smoked meat hash: juicy smoked meat, sauteed peppers and onions, three cheese blends with two over-easy eggs and chipotle hollandaise. Before I left I also ordered a hot chicken sandwich to go: oven-roasted chicken stuffed between two slices of bread and smothered in-house beef gravy. It is served with fries, a side of peas, coleslaw and a tangy dill pickle.
When Frost bought the place almost a decade ago, he wanted to ensure that the menu had a lot of variety. There is a drink menu and weekly specials. On Mondays, kids eat for free. There is an endless array of egg combinations (some accompanied by sirloin steaks), pancakes, French toast, breakfast poutines, grilled cheese, wraps and clubs, as well as lighter dishes such as a smoked salmon platter.
The daily menu has tasty appetizers, fish and chips, burgers, chicken, Mac ‘N cheese combos, more poutines and a kids menu.
Frost told me he absolutely loves Montreal and visits our city often, always checking out local diners. He is a fan of the iconic Cosmos in NDG. That is why he has a poutine menu item called The Montrealer, with loads of juicy diced Montreal-style smoked meat. There is also the Quebecer: two eggs, a choice of three pieces of bacon, ham, or sausage, served up with a side of pork beans.
“I was in property management before I bought the restaurant,” he said. “When I was young I worked for a busy restaurant in the market. So this turned out to be the right move for me.”
For more information log on to www.wellingtondiner.ca or call 613-798-7800, They are located at 1385 Wellington Street West and open every day at 9 am.