Martini's

2980 King Street East
Kitchener, Ontario

519-893-6570

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In her opinion:
Brunch is my favourite meal of the week...I've been reading that a lot lately...I would agree...except, I don't have Sunday brunch every week. It's an occasional treat. A special for no reason type of meal to make a long winter much more bearable. So after Mass, what is better then Martini's for brunch...not much.

We were fairly early and basically had no problem getting a table...basically we can the restaurant to ourselves for a while until the after church crowd started to arrive.

I ordered a much needed coffee...free-trade organic coffee which tasted absolutely amazing. We then checked out their brunch menu.

After carefully reviewing the menu, I decided on the "Steak and Eggs". It is described on the menu as "a 6oz. Flat iron steak, russet homefries, caramelized onions, poached eggs and hollandaise."

I wasn't sure when I ordered this dish...you see their sister restaurant, Bauer Kitchen has a very similar dish. In fact, I had ordered it last time I had brunch there...so I was concerned that it would be the same dish...but it wasn't. Martini's has caramelized onions and hollandaise sauce. BK has confit mushrooms and bernaise sauce. Both are equally delicious. This was an excellent take on steak and eggs. Absolutely delicious. Well balanced and full of flavour.

It seems impossible that I would have room for dessert but after such and amazing meal...but there's always a little room for dessert. And today would be no exception. After checking out their dessert menu, we decided on two to share...one from the regular dessert menu...the "Triple Layer Pecan Carrot Cake". Described on the menu as "brown sugar cream cheese frosting, candied pecans, ginger cookie and spicy ginger sorbet". The other was from their "small indulgence menu" - their "Oatmeal Coconut Custard Slice" served with "house-churned vanilla bean ice-cream". But since I basically had the carrot cake...that is what I'll focus on...I will say that for $2.75 the Oatmeal Coconut Custard Slice is absolutely amazing.

This cake was so so good. The cream cheese frosting was perfection. I really enjoyed it...it was extremely refined for a carrot cake! It tasted amazing. The spicy ginger sorbet was very spicy and the ginger cookie was so delicious. Carrot cake is one of my favourite desserts and this one did not disappoint.

Overall, this was an excellent brunch. The menu offers a lot of choice. Martini's is one of the original jewels in the Charcoal Group's lineup and it continues to be a winner. Just a great place with great food and service.

In his opinion:
There was a time when brunch buffet at Martini's/Charcoal Steakhouse used to be a weekly event for me. Without dating myself, let's just say that it was a while ago. Fast forward a "few" years and we have an equally appetizing brunch but this time on a la carte.

We arrived early to an empty restaurant that soon would be filled with the crowd that likes their brunch slightly later. Serving staff was extremely pleasant and welcomed us graciously. Without knowing if my brunch meal would be more breakfast or more lunch, I opted for coffee since I had skipped my usual Starbucks run. The coffee was very good and helped open the appetite.

I then decided that my brunch dish was going to be more lunch and opted for the "Steak Frites". It consisted of Perth County medium cooked bavette steak, Yukon fries, charred onion & tomato relish and five herb butter. I opted for the larger 9oz portion and I'm glad I did. The steak came cut in slices, perfectly cooked and of a top quality cut of beef. The Yukon freshly cut fries were delicious and lightly seasoned.

For dessert I chose the Oatmeal Custard Slice. This dessert is only $2.75 and coming from the "small indulgence menu",  I expected a "bite" that would quickly depart into my mouth as fast as it was served on the table. Instead, I was served a full size dessert and a very tasty one at that. The Oatmeal Custard Slice was soft, chewy and very full of flavour. It was served with house churned vanilla bean ice cream and whip cream. Deal of the week type dessert...

The Good: Good food with generous portions and friendly staff.
The Bad: Too many restaurants owned by the Charcoal group to be able to visit them frequently, okay so maybe not such a bad thing.
The Verdict: Martini's still has it in the brunch department. It may not be buffet like in the ol' days but a good selection and great service makes the visit worth it.

I gave it 3 1/2 out of 5 Olives as rating