le petit dejeuner

le petit dejeuner...has been a part of the st. lawrence market neighbourhood for the last decade, serving up plates of comfort food, belgian-canadian style. they have quite a reputation for themselves as a good brunch spot. on a lazy sunday afternoon, the place was crawling with brunch diners and we waited for about half an hour for a table for three. i think the fares that were served up compensated for the long wait...

le petit déjeuner is a popular little restaurant located right across from george brown college downtown toronto.

it is always a battle to find authentic food for any cuisine represented in the greater toronto area. people who don't know better will be happy with the offerings and assume that they have tasted the real deal while others from the homeland will have more discerning tastes. in the end, toronto seems to have a majority rule mentality and that is why it's hard to find the authentic cuisine.
belgian cuisine might not be familiar to most people partly because it is such a small country. it's a hidden gem in the heart of europe that only true cosmopolitan travelers will appreciate.

one a few occasions, i tried one of my favorite dishes composed of mussels and fries. the mussels are steamed with just a few vegetables in a giant pot. as they quickly cook their juices make up the wonderful brine that is essential to the dish. sometimes it all depends on the season and what kinds of mussels are available. during a recent visit, they were fairly small but that is okay for an all you can eat feast. you didn't have to wait too long to have your empty shells removed and a fresh serving delivered to the table.
one area of concern are the fries (or frites). ideally they should be crispy and golden brown. for some reason, most restaurants in toronto fail miserably in this regard because they are either served burned or undercooked. at le petit déjeuner they tend to be slightly undercooked and even with the skin still on. at least the mayonnaise looked homemade.

nevertheless most people will enjoy the restaurant that seems to be very busy for the weekend brunch judging by the lineups outside.
the waffles, a mainstay specialty of the house, taste great although served in a strange way compared again to "the way it ought to be."

torontonians will enjoy the original selection. be sure to keep the real belgian away :)

cozy, casual and familiar cafe in downtown east. they have one of the best breakfast in town! all the classic stuff: waffles, creeps, omelettes, sandwiches, etc fair prices and solid quality. i recommend you to try their brunch on the weekends, it's abundant and inexpensive.


there is no wifi and light is no good for reading, this is more a place to enjoy food and company ;) a classic northamerican dining experience!

line up for bad service. i don't quite understand why people would line up outside for appleslaw? food style and quality is seriously outdated and overpriced
plus their service is worst in the neighbourhood. this restaurant needs major makeover and all the servers are not customer friendly.

you had me at benny. after a slow start, needing to return my coffee because of floaties and taste the eggs benedict arrived. are you ready? forget the coffee experience the breakfast of champions blew my mind plus took my breath away. i have travelled the world searching for the best benny and it is right here in my own backyard. my recommendation bring your own brew and leave the benny up to this fine establishment.

i quickly decided on the special of the day which was either the thigh or breast of chicken; served with a side of mushroom cream sauce with salad and fries. i liked it, but didn’t love it.

i was in toronto for two days for some work-related matters. i wasn’t quite in the mood for sight-seeing or checking out restaurants, but a girl still has to eat.

i walked around for twenty minutes and then decided on le petit dejeuner randomly.

i came all the way from montréal to eat at a place called breakfast in french.

go figure.

anyways, the decor is kind of random, all over the place and hipster-ish. so you’ll feel right at home if you like that kind of thing. the table i was seated at was sticky when i first arrived (eeek!), but the waiter took care of when he brought me some water.

all i really wanted was to eat a warm meal and then go to sleep.

so i quickly decided on the special of the day which was either the thigh or breast of chicken; served with a side of mushroom cream sauce with salad and fries.

i liked it, but didn’t love it. it was good but it wasn’t satisfying.

it was also a little expensive for what it was so i don’t think i’ll be back there anytime soon.

but this restaurant seems popular enough so i’m sure i won’t be missed.

bon appétit!

left unsatisfied. let's start off with i don't normally write reviews.

sunday afternoon rolls in and my friends and i decided we want to get brunch. my friend looks this place up and it's in walking distance of where we were at.

we stroll on down and there is a line up passed gabby's. i read reviews and they were quite positive so we all agreed on waiting.

we waited 45 minutes to get to the door and then another 10 to get seated since we were a party of 3.

i'm so excited to be sitting and hungry like nobody's business.

service is pretty awful, took forever for someone to take our order but the food came out promptly.

i got the egg's veronique because i have a soft spot for carmalized onions and i love poached eggs. we also decided to split a waffle to see what the fuss was about.

the egg's benny just fell flat. nothing special and no great flavour. the waffle's were a bit more impressive but nothing to write home about.

would i recommend? probably not. it wasn't worth the wait at all and came out to be a tad too expensive for brunch.

the menu has a lot of choices even a section dedicated to benny and friends, but i knew i couldn’t pass up the special of the day – eggs benny with boneless baby back ribs. and just like that me and my tummy made a new friend. the ribs were tender and smothered in sauce. i hope that the restaurant makes this a regular benny. it was that good.

when rachel invited me out to the sunday antique market, i immediately followed that up with an invite to sunday brunch just around the corner at le petit dejeuner. one of my favourite brunch spots in the city, it’s a small and cozy establishment that focuses on providing belgian canadian comfort food.

there’s usually a line outside, but on this sunday were lucky and we managed to snag a two seater just in front of their bar.

he menu has a lot of choices even a section dedicated to benny and friends, but i knew i couldn’t pass up the special of the day – eggs benny with boneless baby back ribs.

and just like that me and my tummy made a new friend. the ribs were tender and smothered in sauce. i hope that the restaurant makes this a regular benny. it was that good.

rachel decided the day called for sweet and went with their authentic belgian waffles with strawberries.

now i don’t know what makes a waffle authentically belgian (is it the deep pockets? does a belgian person have to make them?) all i know is that this was delicious and had everything you would need on a waffle – fresh strawberries and lots and lots of whipped cream.

dear petit dejeuner,

thank you for always taking care of us.
can’t wait to darken your door again!

here’s to more tender ribs, delicious waffles,
and lots and lots whipped cream.

yours,
brunchosaurus

ps. don’t worry! we didn’t forget the bacon!

lined up for about 20 min for saturday brunch but was well worth it!! i had the brussels melody.. the waffles were amazing! the beet juice was a bit weird.

maybe we should have had waffles.... because everything else was not good!! i had eggs benedict and my boyfriend had crepe. we waited outside in line for so long, at first i thought this meant that the food must be amazing but then i noticed that people who were sitting next to the window were still waiting for their food. i mean literally no one was coming out of the place and it looked like no one was being served. our food came out pretty fast but there was nothing special about it. the place is overpriced and not a french bistro at all. there was today's music of the radio playing which did not suit the place at all. the staff was not the nicest. overall, it did not make any sense to us in terms of food and the atmosphere. maybe we should have tried their waffles cause that is probably the only good thing on the menu.

over rated. eggs benny under seasoned and ridiculously over priced. the smoked salmon omlet was too salty. portions are small, the hash browns taste like nothing. don't recommend the place!

best waffles. perfect light, yeasty waffles. the best i've ever had. everything we ordered was good.

you can’t leave le petit dejeuner without ordering their brussels’ style belgian waffles ($7) which was served with maple syrup. they were just as good as i had remembered – light, fluffy and they’ll leave you wanting more!