People have told me that I must go eat the The Highlevel Diner, that even though there will be lines it will be worth it. So when Liana and Sean invited us for a brunch date we could not say no. Parking was hell and thanks to our back up camera once again we were able to secure a spot in residential. We than walked over to the diner shivering from the wind.
Upon arriving we see that there is a line that was OUT THE DOOR. In my mind I tell myself, it must be good it must be good there is a huge line. The waiting area is through 2 sets of doors and down a narrow hallway before you get to the front. Dustin who hates the cold immediately wished we could be heading somewhere else.
We finally got into the two doors and thus began our long journey towards BRUNCH. The walls were lined with art without any color scheme and advertisements of their success and their specials on each day. It definitely had the diner feel to it. I overheard other people waiting in the long line go on and on about how it is worth it.... I was getting excited.
Surprisingly the wait was only about 25 minutes and we were seated at a table right outside the kitchen beside two oil pieces hanging off the wall. We started looking at the menu and realized THERE WASNT MUCH OFFERED in terms of variety unlike your usual DENNYS IHOP or RICKEYS
These two pictures show the menu that they offered. They focus on how LOCAL all their products are. YEAH support Alberta? Because of how local the ingredients were, the prices were also SKY HIGH and the portions much smaller than your usual brunch servings.
Here are the two pieces of artwork we sat beside that Liana kept rubbing her hair on.
I decided to splurge and order their hot chocolate which had chocolate whip cream and chocolate sprinkles. I ordered it with skim milk in attempts to balance the UNHEALTHINESS. The whip cream was really good but other than that the hot chocolate was powder based and once you get past the whip cream it was nothing special. In FACT there was unmixed powder still in my mug. $3.95
Sean got their chai which he said was good but was super hot so he had to pour cold cream into it. I wasn't able to take a picture but their original cream just sat on the table top.... EWW room temperature cream... and there was little hairs in it. I asked the waitress to get me a new one and she gave us fresh (cold) cream. At this point I was already a little turned off and hungry. (It was around 11:45 am at this point and I had only had a small tuna salad in a pack to tide me over) $4.95 ... I think or around there.
Since it was so close to lunch we requested the lunch menu as well. In the end Sean decided to get nachos and paid $2 extra for the house made guacamole.
The nachos were EH, nothing compared to the ones you can get at a pub and the bean dip was homemade too but was not appealing to me. There was not many toppings on it either. The home made guacamole got a lot of lime action in it.
According to Sean and Liana they watched a YOU MUST EAT HERE show (probably on a channel like TLC) but for Canadians. They had an episode at the HIGH LEVEL DINER and they recommended eating their famous cinnamon buns. So off course I had to have one and I dolloped generous amounts of butter on it. First of all I would rather eat a Cinnzeo with cream cheese whip cream. This had no whip cream and was a lighter affair. The bread was fresh and light but overall it was not worth paying the amount of money we paid for it. $3.95
I ordered from the lunch menu and went for the cheapest thing I could find. At this point I was flabbergast by the prices and tiny portions. I got fries and grilled cheese with chicken. I actually quite like the sandwich. It was creamy and flavourful but not really worth $13
Dustin tried to go for the BIG BREAKFAST or a version like it. His big breakfast turned out to be three pancakes, some bacon and small fruit to garnish. I had his buttermilk pancake and it didn't taste any different than the ones you can make from THE BOX. It wasn't super fluffy or even close to what you can get at other brunch or breakfast geared restaurants. The bacon was so dry and crispy it was NOT ALIVE at all any more =P
Perhaps the only good thing was the three types of syrup they offered you. I wish they had the saskatoon version though. (WE HAVE IT AT HOME and its the best one)
Liana went for a Turkey burger which had too many onions. The pattie had cranberries in it which is suppose to stimulate your taste buds the same way as a turkey dinner. When Sean had it, he said it was not very good, well not good enough to be memorable.
Next Sean ordered a dish that he saw off of the TV SHOW and it cost $19 dollars I believe. The beans were ok, definitely not from the can. The rice was mediocre. The cheese sauce on it was good but the spinach inside was horrible. It was over boiled and as if to cover how nasty the consistency is they put too much spice. The garnish did not complement the taste, it just got in the way.
Our ridiculously expensive bills for a brunch that I was not even full from. WASTE WASTE WASTE.
I don't think I would ever come back again.
Horrible service, horrible food and so crowded and no quality.
The waitress (ours) didn't even come back to give us refill for coffee I had to grab a waitress walking by.
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