No explanation as to why they only serve breakfast on Sundays, but when we arrived at 10:00am it was full, so obviously people consider it worth waiting for. They have had new owners since November ’09, according to the server, and they also own Kristina’s on Corydon (who do not serve breakfast as far as I know).

I got the standard special, and it was just that, standard. Definitely worth the $3.99 but the other features looked much more exciting. My eggs were cooked to order – nothing surprising there – and my two pieces of bacon were actually quite gamey and gross. (Tasted like grill. Leif) I didn’t finish mine. Good thing I ordered sausages on the side ($2.99 for five pieces of extra meat) but unfortunately they were standard breakfast links, which always make me sad.

On the other hand, the hashbrowns were spiced lateral potato slices and were very tasty, if not a little underdone in places. The coffee was weak, and we’ve begun to generalize that Greek restaurants all have the same unimpressive coffee. Most certainly they all tap into the underground reservoir.

My eye was fixated on the Greek special – a skillet-like mix of scrambled eggs and Greek sausage with feta cheese on top, served with a pile of tomato chunks and hashbrowns. The Greek sausage easily kicked the breakfast links’ asses. The Greek omelette also looked promising, but not as much as the Special.

Our service was slow and the servers seemed to know nothing about the menu, but the Greek special is worth coming back for. This might be one of the only places for breakfast in Charleswood – anybody know of any place else????

May 30, 2010

White Tower

3670 Roblin Boulevard

7/10 (regular breakfast special)

8.5/10 (Greek special)

Breakfast Special - $3.99 before tax (before 11:00am, $8.99 after 11:00, with three eggs).

Coffee $2.29.

Breakfast served Sunday only.

White Tower wins the award for trying to impress us the most. It’s nondescript strip-mall exterior belies the overbearing mural-ensconced décor inside. In fact, there is not one inch of wall space not taken up by pseudo-photorealistic scenes of Greece in mural form. It was tricky – the first thing I noticed were the three framed paintings which looked like exact copies of the typical photos of Greece most Greek restaurants sport (like Santorini and Pete’s Place). Upon closer inspection, the “frames” were cleverly painted on and nothing was 3D. This was an effective illusion on the east wall, but the western mural failed in a few ways. There were serious perspective problems with the sailing boats on the lake and the far off hills, but it was framed by meticulously painted bricks, which from far away look like actual parts of the edifice. This faux-stone went around the entirety of the modern dining room. Even the ceiling was painted to look like sky. I wondered what was painted under the carpet! We have S. Betto (most likely Sergio Betto, painter of other murals in Winnipeg) to thank for the illusion, even if it was only successful half the time.

(Andrew was much more taken with the wall art than I was. Leif)