Windsor – Brunch

This restaurant named for the Phoenix District area and is a favorite among the culinary adventures that make the trek. Once you get to the property you will enjoy the friendly interior or the more spacious backyard patio style dining. The dishes are in the style of an upscale pub, and have loads of flavors and unique combinations. Located right next door is Churn, which has an indoor back entrance past the unique wall feature of old cassette tapes. Churn is a delightful trip back to the old candy and Ice Cream shops. So a return visit for Dinner and Ice Cream will be necessary soon, but today we enjoyed a sun drenched morning for Brunch. We luckily could be seated out on the covered patio, which allowed for a shaded meal in the beautiful Arizona morning.

They have a Bloody Mary ($5), which in itself is not that unheard of for a Bunch venue. The twist here is that you have a large Bloody Mary cart just to the side of the patio area that allows you to fashion the Bloody Mary to your specific taste. So you can add spices and other toppings to create the exact Bloody Mary that you want.

We decided to have a sweet treat prior to tackling the menu, so we ordered the Beignets ($6). There are six to an order of these light and fluffy French pastries. They are served in a nice bowl and then dusted lightly with Powdered Sugar. While they are very tasty on their own, the addition of the provided Strawberry Jam or the Caramel sauce can add an extra flavor too. They were a fantastic starter to enjoy while sipping a beverage and deciding on the main dishes. The menu is not too overwhelming, but even though it is not a vast amount of options, it might still be difficult to narrow done to one item to order.

The first entrée we ordered was the Zim Zam Waffle ($10). This is a large corn meal waffle that was topped with sliced almonds, fresh strawberries, and whipped cream. It has a beautiful taste from the corn meal batter and was the perfect crispiness. The toppings are seasonal so you may get a different topping depending on when you visit. It is a very large waffle, but it benefits from adding on from their Side dish menu. I think either the Tender Belly Bacon or some locally sourced Schreiner’s Sausage would round out the meal.

The next dish was The Matador ($11). This is a very creative dish that is packed with flavor. It is two eggs served over easy on top of griddled cheddar potatoes. Then they cover that with a Salsa Verde sauce. That sauce has a bit of heat to it, so be cautioned. They then garnish with an avocado relish and some crispy tortilla strips. When you dig into the entire dish and the lightly cooked egg yolk mixes with the sauce and the potatoes, all the flavors sing together. The added texture of the tortillas and the cooling affect of the avocado tie the whole dish together.

You better have a real empty stomach for the next entrée. The Egg Man ($11.50) is an amazingly delicious and amazingly large breakfast sandwich. It starts with a large toasted Brioche bun that is accented with an Sriracha aioli. Then piled on top of the bun is radish sprouts and spinach. But then the heavy items start to make an appearance, first is the Tender Belly bacon, Cheddar cheese, a few slices of tomatoes and two eggs that are cooked over easy. Then the top of the bun is smeared with avocado mayo before being rested on top of this gargantuan sandwich. If all that wasn’t enough you also get to select one item from the Side dish menu to accompany the sandwich. We selected the griddled cheddar potatoes to anchor the plate. If you order this dish, be very thankful that they give you a hefty sharp knife to slice it in half or even maybe quarters, as it would take a very adventurous person to try and heft the entire sandwich to their mouths in one piece. All that aside, it is a very flavorful and tasty sandwich as well as being a tremendous value on the menu.

The last entrée but no less worthy was the Windsor Eggs Benedict with Lox and Spinach ($15). It is also available more traditionally with smoked ham for two dollars less. It is served classically on a split and toasted English muffin, then the sautéed spinach and sliced lox are applied. It then has a perfectly cooked soft boiled egg, and finally finished with their silky hollandaise sauce. It is served with a few baby Roasted potatoes on the plate to help soak up some of the flavor. If you like smoked Salmon and eggs benedict, I highly recommend you try this dish. The entire dish was perfectly made and it was difficult to put down the fork.

The combination of the great food and atmosphere makes this a place you will want to consider for many more Brunch meals in the future. It also will make you consider coming back to have lunch or dinner, and a scoop of Ice Cream. You don’t have to be a member of the Royal Windsor family to feel like royalty when enjoying your meal at this great spot, but feel free to wear your crown or tiara.

Location and Website – 5223 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85012  http://www.windsoraz.com