Fantastic breakfast, we tried the Simit toast with gravlax and the French toast and both were delicious! They don’t do espresso style coffee but the Turkish coffee was great. Staff were friendly and very attentive. Overall a fantastic experience!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Brunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Tahini French Toast
TLDR- yes you should absolutely dine here especially if you love mediterranean spices and experiencing joy. Today was my first time at Grey Jay and I think the best course of action for this review will to proceed in the order of the food we consumed. My dear friend and I split one sweet and three savory dishes because sharing food is the best way to eat.
It started with the crispy potatoes with hot pepper labneh. A familiar breakfast item, but even when placed in the middle of the table you could smell they were Special. They were coated in herbs and spices, which actually didn’t find their way stuck between our teeth, but absolutely coated our palettes with cumin, za’atar, and other deliciousness. They were crunchy on the outside and warm in the center like any self-assured breakfast potato should be. Hot pepper labneh is a misnomer to those afraid of heat. It was warmly spiced but not spicy hot. The labneh is delightfully tangy and can also be found on Honey Road’s current menu.
Speaking of Honey Road, broccolini. These two restaurants have made broccolini my new favorite vegetable. At Grey Jay, it comes on a plate with crispy garlic and is lightly dressed in something that I would bet has labneh in it. Its perfectly cooked with a little bit of smokey char. I would order it again and again (for breakfast!!).
Next up was the deviled eggs. These deviled eggs are very traditional, save the spices sprinkled on top. The best part though? Capers. I think three gently placed capers are what deviled eggs have been missing. And deviled eggs are otherwise nearly perfect. The whites were cooked perfectly (no rubber here) and the yolks were whipped to be light and airy.
Moving on to the tahini and halvah french toast. Did you know french toast could get better? Because I did not. My friend and I literally and metaphorically held back tears as the halvah dissolved into the orange blossom syrup and made its way into our mouths. The toast itself was light enough that you wouldn’t need a nap after eating it, even with its sweet toppings. I never want french toast without halvah ever again.
We had to get some pastries to go, and we went with the special- chocolate urfa donut holes- in addition to the chocolate orange blossom donut, the honeynut squash and ginger old fashioned, and the tahini chocolate chip cookie. Donut holes had a rich and earthy flavor but their texture wasn’t our favorite. The chocolate glaze on the orange blossom donut was rich, smooth, orangey, and a classic raised donut. The honeynut donut was our favorite. The squash was both sweet and savory. It would have been delicious as a soup but it was remarkable as a donut. Moist interior, with a light outer crunch, as all old fashioneds should be. Lastly, the tahini cookie. Its very difficult to get tahini to come through in a baked cookie (I have probably made 5 or 6 tahini chocolate chip cookie recipes in an attempt to achieve this feat), and Grey Jay’s cookie achieves the impossible. The texture is PERFECT— crispy outside, chewy inside. Melty soft chocolate even hours after we brought it home, and the taste of tahini in every bite.
We will be back for breakfast next week. With additional people, so we can try even more of the menu. We heard two people raving about the egg sandwich, so that and the chicken shawarma are on our list.
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Had a lovely breakfast here I had the shakshuka and my husband had the braised lamb. Both were very good, we also got the coffee specials and the Turkish coffee (orange flavor this time) was fantastic. We also got a couple pastries to go and have been enjoying those as well.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Breakfast
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Shakshuka
Came on a busy afternoon, and everything about our experience was great! The service was excellent. The food and drinks were incredible. It was so hard to order because everything sounded good and looked amazing as it came out of the kitchen! I ended up loving the apple mint tea and shakshuka. My sister got the tahini iced coffee and grilled eggplant pita. The potatoes were also perfectly spiced and the ideal shareable for brunch. You can expect a beautiful and flavorful meal here!!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Shakshuka
Great selection of interesting Mediterranean themed dishes. Went on a Saturday around noon, was busy but timing couldn't have been better and only had to wait 10 minutes. Had a little bit of everything.. the fried hot potatoes with Labne dip, lamb sausage, Tahini Spiced Iced Coffee, Turkish Coffee, Berry Rose Glazed Donut, Maple Date & Hazelnut Sticky Bun, Simic Toast w/ Gravlax, Shakshuka, Braised Lamb Fatteh, Fried Fish Sandwhich. All of it was nicely seasoned and well done.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Brunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 4
Recommended dishes
Shakshuka
Top tier food. So glad to have middle eastern food of this caliber in Burlington. As a party of 4 we ordered the Grilled Chicken Schwarma, the Kale salad, Eggs Benedict, and the Falafel. Everything was cooked to perfection and the spices and herbs were on point. We put off going here as we had heard it had the same owners of Honey Road, a delicious but expensive restaurant on the other end of Church Street and we thought things would be pricey. Turns out the prices are very fair for a brunch place in general and in some ways cheaper than competing brunch venues in Burlington. All in all the food was wonderfully made and the atomosphere was idealic for a brunch trip with family or friends. If you want a yummy meal with some Mediterranean flavors look no further.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Brunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Sandwich
Wow!!! What an amazing meal. Everything was incredibly delicious - the falafel eggs benedict was a real standout. We also shared the delicious Turkish mezze and some amazing pastries for dessert. The place itself is super cute and intimate, with a great atmosphere. Attentive and friendly staff, too.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Brunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Shakshuka
Delicious food, excellent customer service!
They really go the extra mile to make our meal enjoyable and we will recommend this place to all of our friends.
Favorites : Lamb burger , Braised Chicken Shawarma, Shakshuka, & Bloody Mary’s!! (Pretty much everything- you can’t go wrong here)
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
I'd definitely recommend ordering off the snacks & pastries section! We ordered the deviled eggs, halloumi biscuits (BIG BIG hit), potatoes, doughnuts, etc. And they were all phenomenal. We also ordered off the normal menu (egg zoug sandwich I think) and wasn't super impressed, but everything else was so good.
The coffee wasn't great, it was very very acidic which none of us were crazy about. The chairs are also small, so if you have hips they can be very uncomfortable. The food is totally worth it though!
We ordered doughnuts to go the next day too! Definitely recommend.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Brunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 4
Recommended dishes
Tunisian Deviled Eggs
So good! Wow. Everything was absolutely chock full of flavor. The simit toast with lox was sweet, salty, briney, creamy. A little bit of everything in each bite.
The old fashioned donut was the bomb! Very heavy/dense and HUGE but it was also soft and such a unique taste. Round out your meal with some coffees-you cannot go wrong!
