Wednesday, April 22, 2009

57. Belgium: Le Petit Déjeuner

Le Petit Déjeuner
191 King Street East
(East of Jarvis)
416 703 1560

This restaurant has an authentic continental atmosphere with somewhat incongruous green sparkly leatherette upholstery. We showed up about 6:30 on a Wednesday night. The waitress asked us if we were with "the party". We answered no and were seated at the front near the entrance and ordered drinks. They have several Belgian and Belgian style beers on the menu and we sample the Stella Artois, $5.50 bottle and the Mill Street Wit, $5.75 pint. The later is a locally brewed wheat beer. They also have an extensive list of loose leaf teas at $2.25 and we opt for the orange pekoe and masala chai rooibos.
Before ordering meals, we were told that they had no steak. For our main courses we choose: Flemish style beef stew - lean beef stewed with brown beer, served with a side salad and Belgian fries [pictured here], $14; Flemish Savoury Crêpe - filled with mushrooms, spinach and peppers served with apple slaw, $13; mesclun green salad served in a crispy poppadom cone with balsamic dressing, $5.50 and the soup de jour - which was a tasty blend of cauliflower, endive and cheddar, $5.00. The food was good but not exceptional. We order desserts - crème brûlée about $6.00 and Brussels style waffle with strawberries, organic maple syrup and chantilly cream $8.65 and waited. After some time, the waitress returned and told us that our dessert would take up to half an hour and suggested that we would not want to wait. We asked to our bill and then she returned in a few minutes saying that the desserts were now available and the chef was offering them to us gratis. We felt sorry for the waitress who was doing her best in difficult circumstances. Total for four dinners $73.40 plus tip.

Rating: Ambiance (4)
Service (1)
Food Presentation (3)
Food Quality (3)
Value for Money (3)