I was beyond excited to try out the famous Starving Artist, I was reassured by many that this resto is worth its weight in gold. Well it did and didn't disappoint. Me and my companion arrived around 2 ish on New Years Day craving a hearty breakfast. We didn't quite anticipate the hearty line outside it's doors.
After about 20 min of trying to figure out another place to eat the line slowly dissipated and we decided to join. Enter our lovely hostess, a woman who had the demeanor of a cranky old retiree. I didn't think people actually existed like this outside of quirky sitcoms. She was pretty "direct" (bordering rude) and said that the wait would be about 30 min.
I can't imagine the type of privileged brats that she encounters on the regular, but what irritated me the most was the blatant lies she spewed to patrons who decided to join the line after us. She declared that poached eggs and hollandaise sauce would not be served after 3 pm. It was nearing 2:40 (panic now setting in) so I was wondering what the hell else was left on the menu that I could eat? We stood our ground since we were the next people in line to be seated.
As patrons kept exiting the restaurants, we were again annoyed by the fact the group behind us was seated first because they we're a table of 4 and our table of 2 I guess didn't add up to more tips? Hungry, cranky, and just overall irritated more patrons left yet we weren't seated. Did the hostess not think we could count?! There were enough seats for us and the people behind us; however, since it was nearing 3 pm and almost closing the hostess didn't want another line to accumulate so we were kept waiting to deter others from joining the line. Hence the no hollandaise & poached eggs tactic.
As we were finally seated after 3 pm, our lovely waitress was glad enough to accommodate our eggs benny request. She was probably the best thing about that place. Very informative and just overall nice! Seriously is that so hard to come by nowadays?! Our eggs benny arrived on a potato waffle probably about 30 min later. They seemed to have a problem with keeping up with the orders because most people didn't have food on their tables.
FOOD REVIEW:
The potato waffle was VERY salty. I was actually quite disappointed because it seemed like someone accidentally knocked over the salt shaker into the batter. Now judging from the reviews it doesn't appear like that is the norm, so maybe they had an off day. The poached eggs and hollandaise sauce was pretty much the norm. The standout item would have been the beans and potato salad.
I think their spin on the waffle for breakfast is very cute and innovative for Toronto. But overall it's just okay and it wasn't worth the wait. I mean I can do what they did in my own home with a waffle maker. Although I'd give it another shot with a normal waffle and not a potato one. Can you really ever justify being in a restaurant for 2 hours and within that time frame less than 30 min is spent eating a meal? My love hate relationship with brunch in the city continues.
PS. Feed your damn fish and clean the fish tank!!