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| - Nobody can deny they make good pastry. The atmosphere is nice and the staff at the counter are always pleasant. I would recommend the coffee, or sitting down with a couple of pastries, but not to order from the menu. My family has had several very disappointing experiences with their breakfast/lunch menu.
On more than one occasion they have apparently lost or forgotten orders, such that you have to go up and remind them you're waiting several times. This will go on for 30-40 minutes, so that if one of the orders does arrive promptly, that person will have started and finished eating before another receives their meal.
Most recently, i made breakfast plans at Manuel's with my mom. Our coffees and her rosti arrived quickly (and she really enjoyed the rosti). I had ordered the croque madame and after 30 minutes and two trips to the counter to ask what the hold-up was, it arrived with a raw poached egg. To be clear, I like poached eggs runny. When I say 'raw' I mean that part of the egg white was completely transparent, and halfway through eating a glob of mucus oozed out from under the yolk sack. Irked by this time, I took the plate back to the counter and complained. The waitress took the plate into the kitchen and a few minutes later, appeared without the plate, saying the chef refused to give a refund. What she told me sounded like it had been politely paraphrased from a more curmudgeonly rant about people not knowing anything about poached eggs, and accusing me of trying to get (one third of) a free meal.
So next time you are looking for a nice place to have breakfast, I wholeheartedly recommend l'Epicerie next door, or eat! eat! in Inglewood, or Wake in Kensington, or the Laurier, or one of the other myriad restaurants in Calgary that serve an excellent brunch.
If you are looking for delicious French pastries and only know of Manuel Latruwe, I recommend Yann just off 4th street, where everything they touch seems to turn to gold, including their croissants, bread, gluten-free brownies, and most importantly their macarons.
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