Review: Blue Chair Cafe

The Blue Chair Cafe at 9624 76 Avenue.

The Blue Chair Cafe at 9624 76 Avenue.

I’ve really been into brunch lately. I’ve always liked going for brunch but since the sunshine’s been peeking out and the fabulous summer weather, I feel brunch is just something that must be done on Sundays! So this week Mike and I joined our friends Rob and Nicole for brunch at the Blue Chair Cafe 9624 76 Avenue. Our friend had been recommending we go to Blue Chair for awhile now because the restaurant is also a venue for live music. It was definitely the live music aspect to accompany brunch that won me over! (The other option for Sunday brunch was Culina Muttart but they didn’t have a table for 4 available when we tried to reserve late Saturday night).

Inside the Blue Chair Cafe. Really cute space.

Inside the Blue Chair Cafe. Really cute space.

We arrived at the Blue Chair at 11 a.m. and it was fairly busy but no line-ups and no wait – which is a big perk. Blue Chair is a very cute space. Nice, bright open window, cute, coloured lights hanging off the ceiling and a small stage in the back corner. That’s where we were seated – right in front of the stage where The Cramer Brothers were performing for Sunday brunch!

The Cramer Brothers - playing live music during Sunday brunch at Blue Chair Cafe.

The Cramer Brothers – playing live music during Sunday brunch at Blue Chair Cafe.

I think the seat was a bit too close to the stage – it made for a very loud brunch and it was hard to talk to one another while they were playing, but they did take a break during our time there so it wasn’t non-stop music. The jazz music itself was very nice! I really loved the atmosphere at the Blue Chair Cafe.

Blueberry Yogurt Pancakes - big, light, fluffy blueberry pancakes with butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit and bacon. ($15)

Blueberry Yogurt Pancakes – big, light, fluffy blueberry pancakes with butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit and bacon. ($15)

The Blue Chair has a set brunch menu. There’s not a whole lot of breakfast variety but there’s an ‘Other Chair Fare’ section that has some options to offset the lack of different breakfast options. Mike went with the Blueberry Yogurt Pancakes – big, light fluffy blueberry pancakes with butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit and he ordered a side of bacon for an additional $3. The pancakes were HUGE. I took a bite and thought they were very tasty but the thickness made me full fast. Mike thought the pancakes were just okay. He couldn’t finish the pancakes because he says he got filled up quite quickly (I think because of the sheer size of the pancakes!)

Banana Bread French Toast - with fresh bananas, served with maple syrup, fresh fruit and bacon ($15).

Banana Bread French Toast – with fresh bananas, served with maple syrup, fresh fruit and bacon ($15).

Our friend Rob ordered the Banana Bread French Toast – with fresh bananas, served with maple syrup, fresh fruit and additional bacon for $3. He thought it was tasty but also wasn’t able to finish. He got full on the fresh fruit – which included pieces of mango, pineapple, watermelon, longan, blueberries, raspberries, apples and dragon fruit (great variety!)

Crab Cake Benny - three kinds of crabmeat, cod, potato and herbs, served on spinach. ($15.95)

Crab Cake Benny – three kinds of crabmeat, cod, potato and herbs, served on spinach. ($15.95)

Nicole and I both ordered the same benedict – Crab Cake Benny, which features three kinds of crabmeat, cod potato and herbs, served on spinach. Our server told us that ordering the Crab Cake Benny was the “best decision we’ll make all day.” I was pretty excited for it because it was something different (I’m a big eggs benny fan in general, and that’s my typical order for breakfast/brunch), but I was underwhelmed. The crab cakes themselves were okay… I’ve had better. It just didn’t have a lot of flavour. Breaking the egg so the yolk covers the crab cakes made it a bit tastier but eating the actual egg I got a sort of sour taste which was surprising (and disappointing). The fruit was great, as written above, good variety with the different kinds, but overall the dish was just okay (Nicole agreed) and certainly not the best brunch benedict I’ve had.

Envelope to give musicians money for their performance during brunch!

Envelope to give musicians money for their performance during brunch!

At the end of our meal, we were given envelopes to tip our musicians. Overall, I loved the atmosphere at the Blue Chair Cafe. Live, local music while you eat is an experience that can’t be beat! The service was great – friendly and quick. And the price points were very reasonable for brunch. It cost about $35 for two people.

But from a tasty standpoint, we’ve had better brunch for sure. I wouldn’t likely order the Crab Cake Benny again. I would like to come back and try the Blue Chair Cafe’s dinner menu/dinner live music performances. They’ve got a lot of musical guests booked each month (Calendar here!) If I did come back for brunch, I may try their ‘Other Chair Fare’ options (which included pad thai, burgers, soup salad and steak) but I’ll likely try other local places for brunch before returning! Still, the atmosphere is lovely.

So have you have been to the Blue Chair Cafe? For brunch or other? What did you think! ;)

Linda

Blue Chair Cafe on Urbanspoon

2 Comments

  • Linda Li says:

    Thank you for sharing your experience. I live in Vancouver but will be visiting Edmonton end of June. Will definitely put it on my to try list.

  • BigAddie says:

    I love the whole live music Sunday brunch thing at the Blue Chair. Wish the food was a tad better – I’d then be there every chance I got. It’s not bad but definitely not memorable enough for a frequent visit.

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