Going out to eat and trying out new restaurants is one of my favourite ways to socialize, but as someone who loves to cook, I can tend to have high standards about what I’m paying to eat. For example, I love trying out foods from different cultures, and fancy things I could never make on my own. Brunch, to me, however, has never been a choice meal to dine out for.

That’s not to say I don’t brunch, I just prefer to make my own at home if I can. Paying an arm and a leg for two eggs, bacon and toast? It has never seemed worth it to me unless I was painfully hungover. So order some eggs benny you say? Well, I do, but it gets boring ordering the same thing every time. I’m also not a huge lover of eggs in general.

A few weeks ago I was invited to King West’s trendy new (ish) Spanish restaurant, Patria, to try out their newly launched brunch menu alongside a select few Toronto bloggers. Although we regularly see each other at events, it was so much fun to sit down together to eat, drink and gab for a few hours without distraction. I especially loved getting to sit and catch up with my homegirls Nelia of Style Blog and Hawley of Sidewalk Hustle (both pictured above)!

It isn’t often that I get to eat good Spanish food in Toronto, in fact it is very very rare. Unless my dad decides to treat our family to his delicious homemade paella on a special occasion, eating Spanish food only occurs on annual trips to Marbella with my family.

Patria‘s arrival in downtown Toronto has changed all of this. Although I have frequented the restaurant for dinner, I was blown away by their brunch menu. It was so refreshing to explore a variety of tapas that were the furthest thing from eating eggs and bacon on a Sunday afternoon. If you, like me, seek traditional brunch alternatives, I highly recommend exposing your palate to the wonderful flavours and foods you will find at Patria.

Take a browse through what we ate, there was a lot!

Aceitunas! Aka their house marinated olives. I LOVED their use of orange zest, it added a wonderful fresh flavour.

mmmmm jamon!

Alemendras Saladas aka salted Marcona almonds (on the left) and Pan Con Tomate aka bread with tomatoes (middle). Pan Con Tomate is one of my favourite things to eat in Spain, and Patria’s version is just as fresh and tasty. It is simply toasted pieces of their house made bread with fresh tomato and olive oil, you can also have Manchego cheese, jamon or anchovies added on top – delicious!

Coca De Boquerones Y Piquillo – this is a Spanish flat bread with anchovies, peppers, and green olives.

A wonderful large salad to share helps keep things light.

Tortilla! The Spanish’s version of an omelette is light on the eggs and heavy on the potato. A very tasty snack.

Salmorejo Cordobes is a chilled tomato bread soup with boiled egg and jambon iberico.

Sangria!!

The incredible Chocolate Con Aceite Y Sal is a chocolate pudding with olive oil and sea salt. Perfect for anyone with a savoury tooth!

Churros Con Dulce De Leche – these Spanish doughnuts with cinnamon sugar and dulce de leche are irresistible!!

 Patria is located at 480 King Street West. Brunch is served on Sundays from 10:30-2:30, view the full brunch menu HERE.

 Love it? Hate it? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!