Restaurants
Le Petit Dejeuner
Located on King St East, Le Petit Dejeuner is sandwiched in between the Chocolate Lounge (where I can not even afford to smell the food let alone dine) and Gabby's (where I can not even afford to expose my stomach to such horror). Affordability? At $6.50 for what I'd call the best soup and sandwich in town, one just can't go wrong.
The menu ranges from cheap delights like the soup and sandwich deal and salads to pricier items such as stuffed crepes, quiche, and eggs benny or florentine.
But back to the soup and sandwich. Every day the feature items change. Soups you may come across are Carrot & Ginger Soup, Tomato Fennel Soup, or even the hearty Potato & Leek Soup. Match that up with your choice from a pair of sandwich specials ranging from the Apple Cheddar Sandwich (my fave!) to Tuna Salad or Poached Chicken and Tomato.
Unlike next door at Gab's you won't find the Campbell's chicken noodle that was yesterday's special is STILL today's (and tomorrow's)... no no... Soups are made daily and from scratch in house. Don't be surprised if they are "out" of a particular item on busy days.. once the batch is through, it's through.. no frozen bags to nuke around here.
Until recently, Petit was only open for lunch, but they've since added a dinner menu + hours to the offerings. This, though, is a CHEAP EATS posting and dinner in no way can be seen as cheap, so we'll leave it at that.
Lunch/brunch hours on weekdays are 8am-3pm. Weekends 9am-3pm.
Mmmm.
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Le Petit Dejeuner
191 King St East
(416)703-1560
http://www.petitdejeuner.ca
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After about a 20 minute wait in a very crowded doorway, we were seated. The waitress explained that they were two hands short in the kitchen, but still managed to bring us our food quicker ... exceeding the expectations she had set for us.
In short, the service was great ... but the benny was nothing special. If i'm going to wait 20 minutes for a table, I think I would rather do it at The Midtown on College or Hello Toast on Queen East.
Jay, where's the best eggs benny.. if you had to name one.
Hello Toast is pretty good ...
Michelle was our server and she was wonderful, and when we asked for a recommendation, she steered us perfectly.
LPD has one of the best risottos I've had in a very very long time. Risotto is not an easy thing to make and LPD's, which is made with beer, beef and hot sausage, was light and delicious, and you didn't have to go searching for the meat. There was plenty.
I've even made reservations for a couple of weeks with some friends.
I've only been once but I am going to become a 'regular' at this cafe!
Our only complaint is when my friend's breakfast came out with the wrong requested toast (she asked for white, it came with brown? not a big thing to fix right?). The waiter left the breakfast on the table, so my friend could get started eating, and went back to the kitchen to notify the cooks of the mistake. A few moments later a tall and burly guy in an apron walks by our table and throws/drops a small plate with the white toast as he heads to the front bar area to get a coffee. My friend and I stared at each other surprised and then confirmed we both thought it was a bit rude. But wait, it gets better. As I had the Eggs Benny (which was lovely) I had no toast for the yoke and as the wrongly delivered brown toast was still on the table I decided to take advantage of it to soak up the yummy yoke goodness. I used two of the four pieces. Now, that burly cook was on his way back to the kitchen and as he goes by our table reaches in front of my friend (she had to lean back) and grabs the remaining brown toast on the table (I'm sure he squished it in his fingers), mumbled something and kept on going in some defiant irritable cook move (in his mind) I'm sure. We let our waiter know of our experience to which he responded, ?Yes, our cooks can be temperamental so that?s why we don?t like them coming up front.? So, not the best first-time experience and I don't think we'll be back.
Also, the food is good but it does lean towards the pretentious-side (not saying that's a bad thing, just that you should expect that when you go) but if you are looking for stick-to-your ribs breakfasts in the St. Lawrence Market area go to Shopsy's (Yonge and Front) or Sunday brunch at the Hot House (Church and Front).
First of all, the woman who was our server was extremely pleasant, and when she found out it was our first time at this restaurant she filled us in on the best dishes, and boy was she right!
We had the french toast, which was unreal! The bread is baked fresh, and we were told that they have no toasters in the restaurant, everything is toasted on a grill, which added to the experience. And the syrup was unbelievable as well, true maple syrup, not some store bought bottle.
We also ordered an eggs benny, which was reeeeeally good. And for both dishes, the presentation was exceptional.
This meal was one of the highlights of the trip, and I would recommend Le Petite Dejeuner (especially the home-made French toast!) to anyone looking for a great breakfast!
I ordered Eggs Benjamin (eggs benedict with smoked salmon) for $16. The eggs themselves were good, although I found the hollandaise sauce was too light to stand up against the egg yolk and salmon. The side of rosti was overcooked (dark brown, but not black), and on the small side. The apple coleslaw was decent; a different taste, to be sure, but nothing spectacular.
My girlfriend ordered a belgian waffle ($5.75) with a side of peameal bacon ($3.25). The waffle tasted good (why wouldn't it?), but it was a little on the crispy side, and an awful lot smaller than we're used to. The two thin slices of peameal bacon didn't seem any different from what I could cook at home.
Between these two dishes, coffee, tax and tip, we spent $35 on an unspectacular meal for two that barely fed us. I was still hungry on my way out - a foreign concept for me when it comes to brunch (it's supposed to cover two meals!).
I won't be going back.
I have eaten at LPD many times, and the food just gets better every single time. Yes, it is a pricier breakfast, but it's worth it. You could go to eggspectations or cora's or any other breakfast spot in the city and have a satisfactory eggs benny with chunky sauce for a few dollars less, or you can go to LPD and have the best! I would rather spend more money and really enjoy my food than spend less on a meal that is satifactory just because I'm cheap. You really pay for what you get. The hollandaise sauce is perfect. It's light and you never feel heavy or sick after your meal! I love that the english muffin is served upside down to soak up all the sauce! Also, the waffles are to die for! They could charge $15 for them and I would still get them!! Definitely the best in the city! AND definitely worth waiting in line! (even in winter when it's minus a million outside)
The sign in the window should have been the first indication but I was really hungry.
Today's experience at Le Petite Dejeuner was my first and absolute last. A friend and I had decided to give the place a try based on his recommendation. I ordered 'The Hungry Gal' two eggs, toast, potato rosti, apple coleslaw and your choice of one of : organic sausage, fish cakes, bacon, fruit salad or peameal; I opted for the fish cakes and my equally famished companion had Toast Champignon with a Poached Egg a halved bagel topped with sautéed mushrooms, bacon*, herbs and onions. Served with apple coleslaw and potato rosti.
The food arrived at our table in a very timely manner but O.M.G - GHETTO! I could have had a much more satisfying experience at McDonald's!
The food was fiercely NASTY! My fish cakes had so much curry and filler in them, completely lacking in fish; there was this wafer thin, burnt, crusty, dried up, tasted like it was two days old, piece of rosti on my plate accompanied by some ridiculous "Apple Coleslaw" - LORD! I was told that the establishment is well known for it. REALLY?
I will say our server was very pleasant in greeting us and taking our order - HOWEVER, could you follow up with the table once the food had arrived?
In all honesty, I ate the rosti, the eggs, toast and fish cakes; and yes I tasted the apple coleslaw - ONLY because I was HUNGRY DAMN IT!
$40 for two later - I was so NOT impressed!
PS. The apple cider and coffee were totally decent, the food is killing me with heart burn RIGHT NOW!
Generally felt they were short one waitress or something; they can definitely afford one with such price and ppl flow!
burned hashbrown...with an apple salad that tasted nothing special..and also a sausage tarterrini with eggs that was nothing special..i wouldn't go here again