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| - I expected this place to be good based on the Yelp reviews. But when we arrived I started to get worried -- aside from two other tables, we were the only ones in there. On a Saturday morning. In a city where you have to wait to get into a Humpty's on a Saturday morning.
But, whatever is keeping people from mobbing this place on weekends is still a mystery to me. The food and service were fantastic, well above our expectations. Our very friendly server said she thinks it's still one of the city's best kept secrets, but not for long... John Catucci has been there to film a segment for "You Gotta Eat Here," which will be airing in a couple months. So, get there fast while you can still get in the door!
Now on to the food. I had the breakfast poutine, which is fried potatoes piled with Montreal smoked meat, cheese curds, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. It wasn't too salty or overwhelmingly rich, like you'd think it would be based on the ingredients. It was really nicely balanced and flavourful. The hollandaise is rich, thick, creamy and lemony, the way it should be -- none of that packaged stuff that looks and tastes like wound seepage.
My fiance had the challah French toast and said it was the best French toast he's ever had. It's three thick pieces of challah bread covered in banana slices, whole walnuts and a caramelized sugar sauce. I tried just the sauce by itself first, and it was almost too sweet, but when I tried a bite with the bread, walnut, banana and sauce it was perfect. Again, a really nicely balanced dish.
One thing to note: the parking situation is a little whacky... we got away with it on a weekend, but you're not supposed to park in the surrounding parking lot as it doesn't belong to the restaurant. So, street parking, especially on a weekday. But whatever. I would hike to get to this place.
We're now super excited to go back and try their lunch and deli stuff, like the potato knishes, matzo ball soup and brisket!
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