The largest morning crowds on the corner of Pasadena’s Washington Boulevard and Hill Avenue are outside Millie’s Cafe, which everyday serves big platters of pancakes, omelets and devil’s messes. Saturday lines also emerge from the coffee bar Lavender & Honey, where its namesake lavender-sprinkled goat cheese toast is drizzled with good honey. But the most intriguing weekend morning eating from this emerging Pasadena brunch hub is across the street at the Chinese cafe Woon, which opened just a week before the Eaton fire. The original Woon in Los Angeles’ Filipinotown recently began weekend lunch service with a standout orange chicken sandwich, but the Pasadena location is all in on brunch. It’s become my favorite menu from the Woon team, which has devised several delicious ways to serve eggs — starting with tender, soft scrambled eggs topped with Chinese chives alongside milk bread toast, butter and excellent house-made jam. French toast made with milk bread comes adorned with squiggles of oolong tea custard and black tea maple syrup on the side. A bowl of comforting congee or rice porridge is served with a jammy tea-marinated egg. And it’s hard to resist what Woon calls “bacon n’ eggs” fried rice. One of my new favorite additions to the brunch menu is charred Chinese broccoli with preserved lemon XO sauce, fried shallots and Sichuan cured egg yolk grated on top. Five-spice chicken wings from the dinner menu are usually available at brunch along with a pork chop sandwich served on Woon’s take on a pineapple bun. Don’t ignore the pastry case before you finish your order — an orange spice roll gives off cinnamon roll vibes, but is flavored with Sichuan peppercorns, five spice and orange zest. There are also five-spice doughnuts, black sesame cookies and pineapple buns, sometimes topped with matcha and filled with cream.
