This is Maple’s first entry blogging from fair Toronto, as part of her foreign assignment :)  More K/W reviews, as well as other Toronto reviews, to come! – Dariusz

I love crepes. They are like pancakes’ mysterious cousin – there are always hidden treasures in them. Even just a simple sweet banana and Nutella crepe, or the savoury ones with cheeeese, I love ‘em all. After trying out numerous crepe restaurants in Waterloo, Toronto and Montreal, I have yet to find one that is better than the The Art Square Cafe & Crepe, which is located right in downtown Toronto.

Located directly opposite the Art Gallery of Ontario, this cafe doesn’t have the look of a typical modern downtown restaurant. The signature red patio umbrella and crepe sign board with information of weekly specials is what I look forward to everytime I head over to Toronto.

Crepes with Illys coffee

Walking into the cafe, the outer half is an art gallery while the inner half is a cafe. There are many unique art pieces for sale for the art lovers. The cosy place only holds about 8 tables so reservation is recommended if heading there during the busy weekend brunch hours. There is also a nice enclosed patio which will be open when it is not -20 degrees.

Chef at work

Art Square Cafe has an open concept kitchen. You can see your order being freshly prepared with high quality ingredients. Having gone there countless times, I am proud to say that I’ve tried most of their menu items. With a wide variety of savoury and sweet crepes, I shall recommend two of my ultimate favourites.

The smoked salmon & goat cheese buckwheat crepe ($11.95) and chocolate fondue for two ($16.50).

You have a choice of white or buckwheat but I usually opt for the latter, which is nuttier and flavourful.

The smoked salmon is served with goat cheese and a small organic salad. There is a mystery green sauce spread between the crepe layers, which is made from dill, parsley, olive oil, lemon zest and garlic. I love how the dish comes with a whole chunk of cheeeeese!

The Art Square Cafe has various  dessert crepes with fruits, nuts or berries. There are also special desserts like the homemade truffles, profiteroles as well as Tiramisu with vodka flambe. However, the chocolate fondue still remains as my favourite. Made with rich dark chocolate, I was initially worried that two of us will not be able to finish the generous serving. However, that wasn’t a problem at all. It was SO GOOD!

What sets the crepes here apart from the rest is its texture. With savoury, the crepes are crisp and thin, yet not dry and too crunchy. With the sweet fondue, the crepes are extremely chewy and soft. Every bite feels like heaven (to me!).

Wow. Just wow.

Compared with other establishments where crepes are pre-prepared and stacked, waiting for orders, or where crepes are just made mindlessly without sincerity, this place shows them what a good ole’ crepe should taste like.

Anyway, off on my hunt for new crepe places!

]]> http://loudlunch.com/2011/02/art-square-cafe-crepe/feed/ 6 http://loudlunch.com/2011/01/little-bean-coffee-bar-and-its-special-daily/ http://loudlunch.com/2011/01/little-bean-coffee-bar-and-its-special-daily/#comments Sat, 29 Jan 2011 17:11:18 +0000 dariusz http://loudlunch.com/?p=384 While it’s not every day I get excited about the success of a coffee place, but today is one of those days. If you haven’t been there for lunch yet, I’d like to introduce to you Little Bean Coffee Bar. It’s one block south/east from Victoria St on King St W, kitty corner from the new McCabe’s. The street signage leaves something to be desired, so look for Ziggy’s Cycle first :) If nothing else, look for trendy people working on laptops in the comfortable space, complete with stage and sound equipment for their evening events.

Daily Dose of Greatness

I’ve been going there for lunch for a few months now, and with the exception of one time where I forgot my wallet, I always get the same thing: the “daily special” for $9.85. It’s perhaps the most well-rounded lunch special in the `hood, with a hearty sandwich, soup or salad, veggie snack, and some chips, as well as a mug for coffee or tea. All of the coffee is fair trade, there are many organic options, and as of my last visit they carry Stone Hammer beer. Stone Hammer is brewed by F&M in Guelph, so it’s nice to see the local connection there!

The sandwich is always a little different, from turkey and roasted red peppers to pastrami and sauerkraut. Check out the details of the special on their menu, which doubles as a take-out order sheet (genius). There are different daily gluten-free soup as well! The variety here is excellent.

Generous, fresh, and tasty.

I’ve heard great things about the breakfast sandwich, but not having tried it myself I don’t feel right commenting (it’s probably just as fresh and satisfying as the rest of the menu, and yet another reason to go visit).

Ordering Made Easy, Please

If you’re not ordering the special, or the breakfast sandwich, the ordering process is a bit arduous. Kind of like Vincenzo’s when you’re in a hurry. I’d love to see more pre-packaged lunch or breakfast combos, so I can just say “number two with beef on rye”, rather than itemize each feature one by one (I often don’t care and would rather have the food wizards in the back office decide on some recommendations). When the serving staff was new, I’d find myself in an awkward silence contest followed by “and then?” … so I just stick to the special now.

As I hope you will too.

I’ve heard mixed reviews about the service.  Well, they weren’t mixed, they are universally so-so.   To be quite frank, it’s a cafe that deals mostly in dessert and sandwiches, so I don’t expect much in terms of service.  I’ve had coffee at a cafe in France and wanted to knock the server out with a punch to his mouth. I’ve dined in the Southern US where I wanted to hug everyone that worked at the diner.  Symposium falls somewhere in the middle, and that’s about right.

All Day Breakfast and Burgers, Together at Last!

Our table ordered two breakfasts, and I had the Symposium burger.  Everything was good-to-go, nothing to write home about, but the burger was much bigger and tastier than I expected. The fries come with some garlic mayo, and it’s a great touch.  I should’ve asked for more.  Jeff ordered a side of sausage, and he got a really tasty treat.  It’s not the lame, pinky breakfast sausage you get at most places, it was some sort of large, tasty, spicy sausage that he had wrapped up to go.  Get the sausage, skip the bacon, if you’re ordering breakfast!

The cafe is, of course, popular for its fancy coffee.  The cafe mocha I ordered was not what I expected .. much sweeter and richer (more rich?) than I was ready for.  If I can make one suggestion to the barista: unsweetened chocolate would take it down a notch and make the drink less Tim Horton’sy.

Cafe Mocha, Half-eaten Burger, Jeff with Breakfast

But yeah, overall the experience was positive (it has been every time I’ve gone).  Decent food, decent prices, decent coffee, decent service … the whole being more enjoyable than the sum of its parts.

The Loss of a Close Friend

As some people in real life (irl)  know, I have this favourite mug that I stole from someone some time ago.  The mug has a picture of Spongebob Squarepants going to the office, all disheveled and unshaven, toting his little briefcase.  He’s all fucked up, obviously had a big weekend.  On the other side of the mug, it simply says: Mondays.  This mug is perfect.

Correction, was perfect.  Until I dropped him down the stairs at the office, trying to get my stair-ercise in for the day.

Obviously, it happened on a Monday.  Have a great week everybody!

Rest in Peace, Spongebob Monday Mug

We got in the cars, called ahead to make 10-minute-ahead reservations (none needed), and found the place which arguably has one of the worst street-fronts I’ve ever seen for casual dining, but some of the best Greek food in Kitchener.

Location Location Location?

Not to be a jerk, but this place has a hilarious location. It’s in the basement of an mid-century office “tower”, sharing its space with the YWCA Resource Centre. Inspiring.

Once we took the elevator to the back door (there’s a much more inviting front door actually, as we found out later) and got into the place, my mood and approach to the place changed entirely. It’s great. It’s big, loud, tall, friendly, and accommodates a group of ten or more comfortably. The menu is serious but  not overwhelming, the wine selection is reasonable, and there were many  lunch-sized things that came out in good time. It’s not cheap nor expensive, with many meals available for under $10.

Oh There It Is, Hurray! White Sign, Left.

Greek Coffee and Salad. Oh something else.

With no offense to the kitchen, I regret getting the vegetable moussaka. Everyone else’s meals looked more interesting and from the sound of it, were delicious.  The moussaka was … bland and tasted like they used powder potatoes. The Greek salad was very nice, simple, tasty, and fresh. Easily the toast of the whole meal was the drink. The Greek-style coffee, with very fine grounds still at the bottom and lightly chalky texture, was delicious and got me in the mood for more Greece.

Moussaka, meh, salad, nice, coffee, amazing.

Despite the outer shell, Three Kretans is very much worth a visit, especially with a large lunch group.  On a related note: next time you’re at a Greek place, ask for a glass of retsina to start your meal. It’s wine that tastes like tree sap. Seriously, don’t judge until you try it ;-)

Burger at Bobby’s

So as many downtown drinkers know, there used to be this really popular pub called The Still in downtown Kitchener. It got taken over by those London/Guelphites at Partytown, renamed Bobby O’Briens, and boasts some pretty great daily specials!  The special wings are tiny, but the burgers on Wednesdays are a huge hit.

Their cheeseburger is called the Shanahan Burger, and at $4.99+ with fries it’s the best lunch burger ever a refreshingly great deal. The salad-substitution is a reasonable $1.50. Order a Rickard’s White to accompany and you have yourself some lunchtime conversation.

Six Burger Specials, Please!

Nougat Bakery, One Day

The Nougat Bakery and Deli, for those that are lucky enough to live in the Victoria Park area of town, is the hidden treasure on Queen’s Blvd that is not only popular for lunch, but has a solidly stocked Polish deli, a great cafe, and a wicked sweets selection.

I stop in for Illy coffee for take-out every once in a while and highly recommend it for a stop-over on the way home.  This blog will feature something about their lunch special at some point, I’m sure.  The KW Record published a great review of the cafe last spring.

Cross Cultural Food Love

My friends at the Toronto Review published a really great photo essay on food in Palestine.

TorontoReview.ca: Mana'eesh in Palestine

The attention to aesthetics and the social nature of eating is a nice change from Canadian working lunch reality, and the pictures remind me of street food at its finest. We need inspiration for more street food, and street vending, in this country.

I come here for coffee and business meetings, so I decided to try it for lunch when my lawyer was in from out of town (no joke).   Their box lunch special is super flexible:  pick a sandwich, a salad, a drink, and some dessert.  The only thing I was disappointed with is that coffee isn’t an option on the drink choices menu for the lunch special!  Juice, milk, pop, water, basically anything but.

Options, Options

So I ordered the boxed lunch because it was 7.99+, no lie. A complete lunch for  under $10 is a blessing.   My choice was the turkey, with a mexican bean salad, and a brownie.  The standout was the bean salad, and I’d highly recommend it; cilantro with bean and light tomato, nice.

Boxed Lunch from Kava Bean

They apparently also have great chili, and the tuna wrap is solid.  I wish their cafe mocha used a slightly less sweet hot chocolate, but that’s a matter of preference, and probably more inline with the needs of the clientele.

One thing that I like about the Kava Bean (broad, sweeping generalisation) is that the people who eat there look like they work for a living.  The hurrying, the uniforms, the auto shop next door – the pace is human, and it makes lunch feel communal.