FOOD ADVENTURE #5 – LE PETIT DÉJEUNER (191 King St. East)
This week, my brunch companion was none other than the Obiter’s esteemed Editor-in-Chief, Karolina Wisniewski. After consulting a number of sources, we decided to check out Le Petit Déjeuner (LPD), a small restaurant located in St. Lawrence Market specializing in “Belgian-Canadian comfort food,” which also apparently serves the best waffles in the city. This review will be structured a little bit differently from my other ones, with me and Karolina both providing our opinions on each of the criteria.
Brunch Hours
While LPD has an actual brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 9-3, it also serves breakfast every other day of the week and the menu is exactly the same. On weekdays, breakfast begins at 8 and ends between 3 and 6, depending on the day. If you are someone who pulls all-nighters and can’t drag yourself out of bed until the late afternoon, you should definitely check out the website before making the trek to make sure it’s still serving.
Wait Time/Service
The restaurant was nearly empty when we arrived at 11:00 on a Wednesday morning, but by the time we left at 1:00, it was packed.
Kate: While two hours for brunch isn’t unheard of, it’s ridiculous when half that time is spent waiting for a mimosa you ordered after you were finished eating. The first hour we were there, the restaurant was pretty empty so there was no excuse for the shitty service, but we had to ask our server multiple times for more coffee and milk. During the second half of our meal, we got a second server. Unfortunately, she had resting bitch face (RBF). Speaking as someone who also has RBF, I feel like I can say that the service industry is not for you if you cannot provide service with a smile.
Karolina: As an individual afflicted with a particularly severe case of RBF I second Kate’s diagnosis of our server. I expect blasé service on Queen West, but let’s be real, LPD has not earned sufficient hipster-yuppie cred to justify all the servers throwing shade like they’re American Apparel employees.
Atmosphere
Kate: I associate brunch with mornings, and generally expect brunch places to be bright and welcoming – not the case here. While it was not unwelcoming, per se, it was kind of a weird vibe at LPD. For the first hour, we were the only people under the age of fifty, but a ton of younger people came in around lunchtime.
Karolina: Yeah, the décor wasn’t working for me. It was cozy and old-school, but the juxtaposition of diner-like elements (sparkly vinyl seating in booths) with Canadiana items like banker’s lamps didn’t quite add up.
Kate: I can say with 100% certainty that this is not the place to go if you want to have a private conversation about last night or about how shitty articling is. Karolina and I are both in joint programs, meaning that the majority of people we began law school with graduated last year. They’re now articling and regaling us with their tales of woe. We were discussing this and wondering how our experiences would compare (Karolina will be clerking at the Ontario Superior Court and I will be articling at a criminal defence firm in Winnipeg), when we were interrupted by a woman sitting at the table next to us, asking if we were law students. My first thought was that she was also a student or was trying to get into law school – not the case.
Karolina: My god, that was the most terrifying moment of my entire life. As soon as we established that she wasn’t a student, my heart sank. Per Murphy’s Law, I was sure she would happen to be the principal of one of our former classmates who were complaining about having to work sixty hours a week. It turns out that there is some omnipresent, benevolent being, though, as she was a lawyer from a town far, far away vacationing in Toronto (that’s a thing?).
Coffee
Kate: I can’t remember the small amount of coffee that I actually got to drink because the service was so shitty.* I think it was pretty decent?
Karolina: I have no recollection, so it probably wasn’t fantastic or terrible.
*Full disclosure: Kate actually drank two full cups and is being dramatic.
LLBO licensed
Kate: Finally, another place that is licensed! While a mimosa will cost you $7, it will knock down the price of your coffee from $2.50 to $1 – so it’s kind of like the mimosa only costs $5.50? Trickery. Unfortunately, we didn’t order ours until after we finished eating, and the entire second hour was devoted to waiting for our mimosas to come (at least twenty-five minutes), getting attitude from our server when we asked what happened to them, and the exchange with the tourist lawyer while we drank them. Bonus (?): since our server nearly forgot our mimosas, we got our $1 coffee for free!
Karolina: No one gets excited about mimosas, right? I mean, boozy brunch is awesome, but there’s a ceiling of deliciousness for a combo of orange juice and cheap sparkling wine. My initial enthusiasm fizzled (pun intended) during the unreasonable wait, and was not resuscitated by the lack-lustre cocktail. Skip the drinks here.
Kate: Sadly, I do get really excited about mimosas…
The Food
We decided to each get our own meals and to split a waffle to see what all the fuss was about.
Kate: I got The Hungry Gal, which consisted of two eggs, toast, potato rosti, apple coleslaw, and a choice of protein; I asked for my eggs over-easy, and got bacon. I liked the potato rosti, which turned out to be a small serving of grated fried potatoes. The bacon and apple coleslaw were also good, though I have no idea what the sauce on the apples was. However, my eggs came to me over-hard, and the bread used for the toast wasn’t very good (I could have paid extra for challah, but wasn’t willing to bear the cost).
Karolina: As a recent pescetarian (en route to proper vegetarianism), I’ve been surprised to find that brunch has been the only time I have felt limited while dining out. Nearly all breakfast meats are pork, which generally leaves eggs and super-sweet options like French toast or waffles on the table (again, pun intended). As a result, I was pleased to see that the Toast Champignon could be customized to substitute bacon for caramelized onions and sautéed bell peppers. My meal, then, consisted of a toasted bagel topped with a mountain of mushrooms and the aforementioned vegetables with a poached egg on the side. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the vegetables were expertly seasoned and full of flavour. I was also an enthusiast of their potato rosti, though I part ways with Kate in my feelings regarding the apple coleslaw. I just can’t get behind a combo of pickles and apples.
Kate: In my defence, I swear my apple coleslaw didn’t have pickles in it. Also, the food was room temperature when it came to our table. The waffle was a good size as a side, but I would have been disappointed if that was my whole meal; it quite small for $7, and cold (though that was partially our fault…we ate it last).
Karolina: The fact that the food was nearly cold by the time it came to our table was a definite shortcoming, and probably a product of the restaurant being severely under-staffed until RBF came along towards the end of our meal. Sadly, her presence didn’t do much to improve things. The waffles were good, but nothing to write home about. Starving Artist’s counterparts are much better.
Cost: In preparing this review, we noticed that all of the prices listed online are slightly lower than they actually are in the restaurant (by $0.50-1.00), so beware.
Kate’s meal: Mimosa ($7), The Hungry Gal ($11), and half of a waffle ($3.50) added up to $23.53 plus tip.
Karolina’s meal: Mimosa ($7), Toast Champignon ($13), and half of a waffle ($3.50) added up to $25.79 plus tip.
Final thoughts
Kate: I wouldn’t go back – there are cheaper places with better food and without the ‘tude.
Karolina: Even considering the fact that you never ordered drinks at the other restaurants you reviewed, this place was pricier than most of them. And does anyone else find it odd that the vegetarian option was more expensive than the omnivorous meal? With poor service and acceptable (though not incredible) food, the most complimentary thing I can say about LPD is that it’s a good option for vegetarian brunchers, as long as the food arrives promptly. If an enlarged meal selection is important enough to displace the criteria of service and atmosphere, you’ll probably enjoy LPD. Otherwise, you might leave disappointed.
| SERVICE | 1/5 Dean Sossins |
| ATMOSPHERE | 2.5/5 Dean Sossins |
| FOOD | 3/5 Dean Sossins |
| OVERALL | 2.5/5 Dean Sossins |