cafe belong

i was at cafe belong for an event. my server becky was amazing. she was detailed and on the ball. thefoodwas decent, but a little over priced. my biggest issue was that i overheard the head chef swearing at the servers. i won't support a business that treats their staff that way.

the brunch was excellent. the server was very friendly and polite. thefoodwas very very good. nice relaxed atmosphere. decor is casual and tasteful. we will go back for sure.

nestled within the evergreen brickworks, café belong benefits from its proximity to the year round farmer’s market. perhaps perusing the freshfoodstalls beforehand influenced my meal choice, but their vegetarian dishes sounded fantastic and i didn’t miss an ounce of meat!

replacing ham, the sautéed kale and mushrooms eggs benedict ($23) incorporated plump mushrooms that provided a meaty bite. as the poached egg oozed over everything, the molten yolk was captured into the not overly done kale’s crevices, making for a cleaner dish. a layer of sweet caramelized onions sat on top of the doughy soft buttermilk biscuit; it was a bit sugary for my taste, but thankfully the buttery hollandaise helped to add back a savoury element.

although the frittata ($19) is listed under the “cold kitchen” section of the menu, it still arrives warm. the cubes of roasted butternut squash at the bottom makes

great experiences. i took my sister for her birthday dinner last fall and she loved it and still raves about it to family, friends and coworkers.

i just brought my another sister and her husband for lunch this week. comments included: this is among the best in the world, best three course vegetarian meal, i want to try more on the menu, the first mouthful was already satisfying, everything was perfect!

i did not know how much of a treasure we have here. we definitely need to put this on the world map of greatfoodplaces!

overpriced. thisfoodis way overpriced for a breakfast. almost $30 for eggs, toast and sausage. not worth it. latte from the counter was good.

went for a birthday dinner.foodtook a while to come out (30-35 minutes) after ordering the entrees. entree selections were small -maybe 7 or 8- ordered the fish and chips. for the price i paid for this dish i expected a little more. came with 3 small pieces of fish that didn't taste like anything but the fries were decent though. my date had the pork dish, presentation was nice but again small portions for the higher price tag and it was overcooked.
will not be going back anytime soon although the brunch menu may be worth a trip.
also, its in the middle of no where (weird stretch of road by the highway) and you need to pau for parking.

disappointed. had lunch at cafe belong for the first (and last) time today. was very disappointed! the wait staff was friendly, however, even though the restaurant was not busy, it took 50 minutes to get our lunch. the water was soup-warm and we had to ask for ice. my friend ordered a hamburger which was shrivelled and dry. menu has limited choices andfoodis overpriced.

as we entered, the place was already bustling with people busily taking samples of the generous spread offoodthat were locally sourced and was skillfully translated to an amazing meal by chef brad long.

worst customer service!. worst customer service! after a great visit to this restaurant for brunch, i chose to have my birthday celebration here. i ordered the hangar steak and found it extremely tough. i also did not enjoy seeing their staff eat in the back kitchen. i e-mailed cafe belong the next day to give them feedback. here is their offensive response:

the steak you ordered was a hanger steak (our menu changes a lot, more than most, and now we have a striploing and a ribeye) and while definitely not a tender cut, it is extremely flavourful (which is my priority as most guests have teeth and bland but tender meat is readily available all over town) and i'm sorry for two things there - one that the waiter didn't underline the cut of meat for you and explain the cut better and that (i suspect) the kitchen cut it the wrong way after cookiing - it's like a diamond and if you cut it one way vs. another it will be more tender. as for staff eating, well let me say that i would prefer that the staff actually like our food, that they don't waste perfectly goodfoodgiven them and that they are keen to eat thefoodwe make. not sure where in the restaurant this staff memeber was eating but if it was in the back of the house, well then, not sure what your concern could possibly be? if this person was walking around the dining room drinking out of a pot, then i believe i'm on your side. bon appetite

needless to say, a repeat visit is not on the menu!

good ambiance, but not the food. it is a nice restaurant, very close to the nature. servers are friendly.
we went there for bunch in last weekend. the menu didn't provide a lot of choices. we ordered french toast and a dish similar to egg benedict . the presentation of the egg benedict was good. but the taste was just general. the french toast had the baking powder smell. i didn't know how to enjoy its texture either. it was more like a bread pudding for me.
this was our second visit. the first time was in may. i remember we did not enjoy thefoodin the last visit either. i wanted to give it another try. but seems didn't work.

mixed. after all the hype and recommendations, i was eager to try this place. overall, the feelings are mixed as much as the delivery in the meal. the service was attentive and friendly - top marks. thefoodwas ok, delicious and disappointing. ok in the fact that it was just that... ok. nothing to really write home about. there were elements that were delicious. and then there were elements such as the poorly cooked eggs which were disappointing. you would hope the chef knew how to cook an egg! and it is with something as simple as eggs which disappointed my overall visit here. i would come back again for a second try, but not for a while.

huge dissapointment. we were nine of us at brunch. took forever to get service. when thefoodcame it was over seasoned - very salty. portions were ridiculously small. very little choice in menu. eggs and pancakes were undercooked, the slab of bacon was almost entirely fat - unappealing. bowls were so deep it made it uncomfortable to eat with a fork and knife. extremely overpriced for brunch, portions so small we left still hungry. never left a restaraunt before without an impression of at least some redeemable qualities, until now. love the brickworks. here is hoping for either an overhaul of this restaraunt or another eatery to take its place.

horrible service. our group of 8 had brunch at cafe belong, and while we found thefoodto be generally quite good, the service was horrible.

we ordered our drinks and meals together, but half the cocktails arrived with the mains (which took over half hour), and half after the plates had been cleared. one frittata was very undercooked, and they took it back to the kitchen with no apology, so that guest had to wait another 20 minutes, while the rest of us finished, to have her meal. then we ordered coffees; the people to order theirs first received them after the person who ordered belatedly, and the espressos were cold. we were told by our frazzled waitress that because there had been such a delay for our drinks, etc. that our desserts would be comped. so half of us ordered dessert (which we wouldn't normally), only to be told later that only one dessert would be complimentary. very aggravating.

after we complained, the manager did take the additional desserts off the bill, which was appreciated. this is an 8-10 table restaurant, with 4 waitstaff, 2 bartenders and a hostess working, i'm not sure what the delay was. we love the brickworks, but we won't be going back to cafe belong, at least not the seated portion.

review. i like to start off with telling you all that i'm such a foodie i go to all the new restaurants and try them out and almost 85% of time i am fully satisfied with the food/service/ambiance.

brand long, the chef of belong cafe has a fairly good reputation in toronto, so i gave belong cafe a shot, here is how it went:

went for lunch, the prices were ridiculously high for a cafe specially for lunch, no variety no panini no sandwiches... nothing... all very expensive dishes that are just really big plates and just little tiny bit of food! ($30 for half a chicken...or $28 for a tiny slice of fish with 3 pieces of gnocchi and i'm not kidding). the service was okay everyone seemed a bit confused and sketchy to be perfectly honest.

after tasting two different dishes and $85 later, i concluded never to go back ever again!

on the way back to the office i actually had to stop at mcweans super market to grab a sandwich to go because i did not eat at cafe belong only cause thefoodwas so disappointing, forget the price!

here is a list of really great restaurants that will satisfy all your taste buds and get you to leave the restaurant with a big smile on your face (even if you pay a little more you get what you pay for, you will never get jibbed at any of these restaurants i promise you that;

1.george-www.georgeonqueen.com
2. by mark- www.bymark.ca/
3. fabrica- www.fabbrica.ca/
4. north 44- www.north44restaurant.com

5. grazie- www.grazie.ca/ - i love grazie!!! there is reason why they have been in business for 30 years!!-

6. lindas- www.lindarestaurant.com/
7. beer bistro - www.beerbistro.com/
8. any of oliver bonacini restaurants- www.oliverbonacini.com
9. origin - www.origintoronto.com
10. spledndido- www.splendido.ca/

sorry to say will never go back and will never try anything that has brand long's name attached to it.

i want my money back!!

better restaurants in toronto. the service andfoodwere terrible!foodwas served cold to four of the diners. fish dish was bland and lukewarm. french fries had a box of salt poured on them! and they have the nerve to charge 4.00 for a small basket of bread and butter. save yourself the trip and don't go to cafe belong.