Brunch & Edward Gardens

After exploring the Allen Gardens in my last post, I mentioned to Fred that I hadn't been to the Edward Gardens in a while, so he suggested we go check it out... But first, we went to have brunch at a place called Elephant Grind Coffee.


This place gives me Alchemy Coffee vibes, but I haven't researched as to whether or not they're related. Think Alchemy Coffee but with a much larger seating area and a bigger parking lot. I ordered the smoke salmon benny and liked the fusion aspects of the yuzu avocado spread that they added to it. The portions are a little smaller than what I remember Alchemy's to be, for the same price, if not a little more expensive than Alchemy.


Fred got the chicken and waffles and it was huge, and tasted much better than my dish. I'd probably order that if we ever come here again. Despite coffee being in this place's name, we decided not to order any drinks this time. The food was average (I guess I've been spoiled by Alchemy because there really is no similar brunch places up here in Markham...)

Overall, very Instagrammable food and drinks here and the atmosphere is relaxed and chill, but much much louder than Alchemy. We stopped going to Alchemy because we could never find a spot to sit because it was so popular. This place was slightly better, although we got there around noon and had to wait a bit before getting seated. There were still people waiting in line when we left so they must be doing something right!


Arrived at the Gardens and it was very different from what I remember... first of all there were these sculptures everywhere and some of them even had prices on them too?? There was a little tent where you could purchase works from the artist as well...


It was still pretty hot out so we didn't stay long. It was a lot smaller than I remember...


I do remember these streams and the bridges, but most of them were closed off for restorations. We saw some tadpoles in the riverbeds...


Saw some ducks~


Somehow made our way in a circle back to the entrance. Part of the garden connected to the woods/foresty area which was a park and bike path/trail but since we weren't familiar with the area and didn't want to get lost, we decided not to explore further... Maybe next time??


There were a few flowers but for the most part this really didn't feel like a garden to me... more like a park. Not very many flowers but then again, it was free entry.


I did manage to pause and capture this butterfly as it was feeding on some flowers though. It was quite busy so I was able to get close enough to snap these photos.


It was very interesting watching it suck all the nectar from each flower...

That's all for this post! Until next time~