Brunch is my favorite meal. (Although who am I kidding…I love all meals) I mean hearty food AND drinking booze in the morning?? Yes, please! But it’s rare to find a vegan breakfast in Boston.

I’ve previously sung the praises of Red Lentil, a “globally-inspired” vegan/vegetarian restaurant, and my favorite veg restaurant in the Boston area. Owned by the gracious Chef Pankaj Pradhan, this Watertown, MA eatery, with a new location in New Haven, CT (my home state!) is a vegan and vegetarian Mecca. I frequently eat dinner here. And time after time, the food always delivers. Now if only they served breakfast…

The BF and I decided to grab some lunch there this past Saturday. To my surprise and delight, they serve a vegan and vegetarian brunch on the weekends. Huzzah! I eagerly ordered the Benedict Florentine and the Vegan French Toast.

The Benedict Florentine is vegetarian but by swapping out eggs for their Tofu Scramble converted it to a vegan delight. They layer seasoned tofu scramble with juicy tomatoes, wilted spinach and tofu bacon, sitting on a grilled English muffin. But the best part of this dish? It’s smothered with a creamy, decadent homemade vegan hollandaise. Um, they had me at hollandaise. The last time I ate hollandaise was at Masa, a sophisticated Southwestern restaurant in Boston (years ago when I was a vegetarian), and I’ve been craving a vegan version ever since. While I wasn’t a huge fan of the tofu bacon, the light and fluffy tofu scramble was the best I’ve ever eaten. I didn’t think my meal could get any better. Until…

The Vegan French Toast! Decadent fried bread spiced with warm cinnamon, accompanied by banana slices, a walnut compote and drizzled with a sweet raspberry sauce. By omitting the eggs, I find vegan French toast much lighter than its dairy-laden counterpart. The walnuts were candied, a nice blend of salty and sweet. While walnuts aren’t usually my jam, they pair perfectly with the bananas. But omg, can we talk about the raspberry sauce? So freaking good! I found out from the server that the sauce is a mélange of cooked raspberries and apricots. Sweet, tart and simply genius. I couldn’t get enough of it. I could’ve bathed in it. Seriously.

After each bite of my sweet and savory brunch, I couldn’t suppress the audible gasps of pleasure escaping my lips. I had wave upon wave of foodgasms.