The menu amused us with unique features such as a complete deletion of the salad section (yet puzzlingly leaving the “Salads” header) and the confusing payment method description. The importance of proper punctuation is illustrated in the final words of the menu, featured in the picture above.

The restaurant opened at almost 10 minutes after 10, so luckily I had a car to keep me warm while I waited. To the single server’s credit, he didn’t even flinch when he realized there were 19 of us filling the place. Yes - 19 - a new record for breakfast attendance! Even though we trickled in, we all ended up waiting a bit before our drink orders were taken. When our server did take everyone’s food orders, it was orderly and exact. Luckily I was seated near the head so I received my order quite quickly while the people across from me got to watch me eat. I was almost done by the time the last person got served. The Campsie apparently does not expect large crowds for Sunday breakfast, but they handled themselves as well as they could with apparently one chef. 

The meal was pretty good. I opted for the three-egg plate with garlic sausage. The eggs were perfectly over-easy as I ordered, the garlic sausage was excellent and the hash browns were grated and tasty. The potatoes were a little dry, but a quick splash of their homemade Chinese-style hot sauce fixed that glitch. The rye toast was discreetly buttered and came in large slices. The meats were all excellent, the sausage in particular was uniquely tasty and nicely slit in the middle to ensure thorough cooking.

The bacon came in varying degrees of crispiness but never disappointed. The garlic sausage was sliced thinly and, whether it was named kielbasa or not, were wonderful. The only weak point of the meal was the coffee. While being poured, a few of us noticed that it was actually translucent in the pot instead of the rich, dark flavour we were craving. It was wholly reminiscent of tap water mixed with brown crayons. One patron even felt so strongly about it that they actually ran to the corner store to pick up better coffee and smuggle it back in. Bad coffee seems to be a trademark of a lot of breakfast eateries. I am now forced to surmise that there is a huge reservoir of crappy coffee lying underneath the city that everybody siphons off of. It’s bad, but hey, it’s cheap right?

This breakfast review comes with “no trans-facts.”

- Thank-you dad for that one, and for joining us this week.

The food is good and the décor interesting, but something about the location and atmosphere puts me off a bit. The coffee tips the scales. It’s a fairly decent place for breakfast, but with the Nook just a block away and a Stella’s opening up across the street, this restaurant faces some stiff competition...

January 20 2008

The Campsie Restaurant

In the Sherbrook Hotel

685 Westminster Ave

Breakfast Special - $2.75 for 2 eggs, 2 bacon (or 3 garlic sausage)

hash browns and toast.

$3.25 for 3 eggs, 5 garlic sausage (or 4 bacon or 3 ham), hash browns and toast.

Coffee $1.05. All + tax

(Take-out add $0.50)

The Campsie Restaurant has sort of an ambiguous cultural heritage. While ostensibly a Chinese restaurant, Canadian food is prominently featured on the menu, it’s named after a town on the outskirts of Sydney Australia and it features a line of tables with cattle and cattle brands adorning them. I almost mistook the brands as runes, which just confused me more. The decorations inside are mainly Chinese, with tassled paper globe lamp shades, a discreet Buddah near the ceiling (always higher than man), etchings and even a Canadian flag-esque display of Chinese characters which I neglected to ask the meaning of.

Hey Google! Breakfast reviews in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada by Leif Norman and Andrew McMonagle. We are the  Breakfast Connoisseurs Join us for Restaurant Reviews!

Weekly breakfast reviews in

Winnipeg Manitoba Canada

since July 2007