A few favorite brunch places

The weekend is here!!! My husband and I are relaxing by watching the movie Inkheart. I'm really looking forward to brunch tomorrow. Since I love all things breakfast, I have many favorite places that I frequent for brunch.

My most favorite recent brunch is the Sourdough Slam from The Hi-Life in Ballard. The Hi-Life is one of the Chow Foods neighborhood restaurants. It has a rotating "food festival" menu, which means they feature a different global cuisine every season in addition to a standard menu. Currently, Columbia Gorge is the theme and it brings back fond memories of college. I absolutely love how the Sourdough Slam mixes savory with the sweet, the fresh berries, sweetened sour cream, sourdough pancakes, eggs and sausage. It is 100% truly amazing! I also stole bites of my husband's Walla Walla Wakeup which is a whole wheat crepe with scrambled eggs, Walla Walla sweet onions, corn, goat cheese and salsa. It was soo totally wicked.

We also regularly go to Dish on Leary in Ballard (practically Fremont) for brunch. They have great specials like Huevos Rancheros. The Eggs Benedict and Biscuits and Gravy are my favorite things to order. My husband loves to get the Slacker Especial which is enchilada sauce, chiles, and scrambled eggs on tortilla chips with cheese, sour cream and onions.

Last weekend, we went to Alexa's Garden Cafe in the middle of Swanson's Nursery. It was a pretty decent breakfast, but the atmosphere is really why I want to go back soon. We sat in an atrium filled with a multitude of tropical plants and a huge koi pond. The koi were very interested in people going by and some were up to 3 feet long!

Louisa's Cafe on Eastlake Ave E is a old childhood fav, and it's really expanded with the new management. (They now serve dinner, along with wine and beer!!) My favorite thing to get there are the McTio's. They're a fried egg with tomato and bacon in a bagel. It's very messy but very delicious.

Volterra has the best french toast that I've had in town. It's egg dipped challah bread topped with bananas flambe! I've yet to try the "Ultimate Peach Thyme Bellini" but I've heard several rave reviews!

Portage Bay Cafe in the University District is a very charming breakfast place with it's exposed beams and old crew boats but it's quite small. We've enjoyed the newer South Lake Union location much more with it's spacious and industrial looking motif. I've heard the third location, near the Ballard Locks, just opened! I recommend the Migas which are awesome although, I always love to get something that includes the toppings bar. The toppings bar has fresh fruit, nuts, and syrups that you can apply to your breakfast galore!

Mmm, it's a good thing I've already eaten dinner. I'm salivating thinking of all these yummy breakfast items!