Ain't Yo Mama's Pancakes at the Caledon Family Restaurant

What: The Caledon Family Restaurant, previously known as ‘Flapjack’s’, but recently changed after the original owners sold it. Google Maps doesn’t even know this, and I am told the name change was about the only thing that was made different here – same staff, food and service that has attracted people for years.

Where: On Highway 10, about 45mins North of Toronto and close to the terminus of Highway 410. Literally in the middle of a farm. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: this isn't even in Toronto, to which my response is simple - close that blithering trap of yours and fill it with food at The Caledon Family Restaurant. You’ll see why I wrote about it.

 

Ohhhhhhhhh sweet sweet God. 

Eats: Three words: All. Day. Breakfast. We had Eggs Florentine, a Spanish Omelette and the ‘Breakfast Special’, complete with home fries and pancakes to cure our hangovers. The portions were generous and they even gave us an extra pancake after the kitchen ‘accidentally’ made more than the order. This was a very good thing, as we found out.

Best Parts: Holy Gods of the batter kingdom unite; these pancakes are off the chain. Easily the best flapjacks I've eaten, and I’m not a huge fan of them.  The homemade mix is buttery, light and fluffy beyond my wildest dreams. Combined with their homemade strawberry jam compote, I think I died and went to a very delicious world of country breakfast foods. The rest of the meal was also rather appetizing – rich hollandaise topped poached, runny eggs, fried potatoes and perfectly brewed coffee.

What really added a tone of goodness, though, was the atmosphere. This place reminded me of the mismatched breakfast spots in middle-of-nowhere locations along the Trans-Canada Highway, despite its close proximity to Toronto. Genuine country hospitality presents itself in the friendly service, oak furniture and tacky wall decorations. I was taken back to rural Canada and the places I miss when in the city.

Go Again? Absolutely, but I probably won’t get to because I don’t own a car. The only drawback of The Caledon Family Restaurant is it’s inaccessibility to commuters, but a getaway to the Greater Toronto Area’s wilder places would make a perfect excuse to stop here. For nature lovers, the restaurant is close to great conservation areas and parks worth exploring like the Cheltenham Badlands, Mono Cliffs and Forks of the Credit. You can even visit after a night of camping illegally, which is totally not what I was doing.  Regardless, this place has garnered a reputation well beyond Caledon and has even been featured on You Gotta Eat Here. Next time you're cruising rural GTA, make sure you stop by The Caledeon Family Restaurant.