Onna Café sits in the heart of downtown Montreal, a short walk from Place des Arts and McGill, and does one thing with real conviction: breakfast, brunch and lunch, made in house from local ingredients and served alongside specialty coffee, tea and matcha. The kitchen works to order and to the season, favouring fresh, light dishes and handcrafted sandwiches, and the room is built for the kind of unhurried meal you share with friends or family rather than eat standing up.
The brunch menu is short and well judged. Scrambled egg toast piles three eggs over avocado on sourdough with chives and a red-pepper basil oil ($15.95); avocado toast comes with feta, a poached egg and a green salad ($17.95); and the Bagel Tower builds a local bagel into turkey, homemade herb mayo, tomato, red onion and Emmental, with a smoked salmon version for those who prefer it ($16.95). The pita breakfast pairs slow-cooked chicken with schug hummus, labneh, red cabbage and herbs; the prosciutto salad brings peach, mozzarella, walnut, arugula and basil; and both are available in vegetarian versions. Best of the savoury dishes may be the homemade sweet potato waffle, served either with miso mushrooms, labneh and a poached egg or with cream cheese, smoked salmon and avocado ($19.75). On the sweeter side there are thick pancakes with seasonal fruit, whipped chai cream and maple syrup, a Belgian waffle with chocolate and cream, and a granola bowl of yogurt, homemade granola, nuts and seasonal fruit ($13.75). The pressed Alpine turkey sandwich with Savoie cheese and caramelised onions holds the value end of the menu at $14.50, and a different sandwich appears each weekday. Anything can be extended with add-ons — poached or scrambled eggs, avocado, halloumi, smoked salmon, bacon, a green salad.
The drinks list is the other half of the argument. Espresso, americano, macchiato and cortado, filter and cold brew sit beside a full range of milk drinks — latte, flat white, cappuccino, mocaccino — and a good run of alternatives for those who don't drink coffee: chai and dirty chai, matcha, London fog, golden latte, chestnut latte and hot chocolate, all available iced. Non-dairy milks, extra shots, homemade syrups and decaf are on hand, along with a rotating selection of green, black, white and herbal teas, fresh orange juice, and smoothies. Warm, unfussy, and quietly good at everything it does, Onna Café is where downtown Montreal slows down for an hour or two in the middle of the day.