Restaurant review: Harbour Diner

The Harbour Diner

486 James St. N

Hamilton, Ont.

Reservations? For brunch? In Hamilton? Well, you may want to consider that, or getting here before 11 a.m. as we did if you want to get seated in this relatively small, extremely popular cozy mom-and-pop type diner.

I saw this place featured on that new Food Network Canada show "You Gotta Eat Here!"  and as you can probably tell from the pictures, it's not hard to see why it was featured. Most of the show focused on what sounds like an amazing dinner menu of comfort food, but their brunches are original, hearty and delicious.

The decor is the epitome of shabby chic, or maybe it just actually hasn't been updated since the late 1960s, I am not sure which. Floral wallpaper, an array of wooden wall mounted art and mismatched chairs, tables and tableware will have you feeling like you walked into your grandma's house for brunch. 

One thing to note, is that their menu actually looks quite small and standard, but when the server comes around to list of the specials, that's when the magic really happens. Both of the choices pictured above were specials off that list.

I had the Green Eggs Benedict ( I am such a sucker for the Benny, despite it's impact on my waistline). This one had a healthy portion of veggies, like zucchini, spinach, red onions, grape tomatoes, as well as those other Greek staples, kalamata olives and feta. The hollandaise didn't overwhelm and the eggs were perfectly poached.Kudos. The fruit on the plate did leave something to be desired, as it left me wondering how many different plates the brown and hot pineapple had sat on. 

My friend got the banana bread French toast. What a novel concept! How have I never thought to do that before. It was served with slice bananas, walnuts, syrup and a generous plume of whipped cream. At $13 apiece these brunches were standard Toronto prices, and definitely worth it. I am happy to see this little place in North Hamilton doing as well as it is. You may not be feeling so happy, however, if you show up without reservations.