SubscribeBREAKFAST August 11, 2007
I had noticed Le Toaster on my trips to Tri Express and the few times I had been by in the morning it has been packed. Unable to return to Spice Safar following a particularly nasty breakfast (folks, if you charge $20 for breakfast it better be good EVERY time), I was again searching for a breakfast place to call my own and thought this might just be the place.
The restaurant was packed with a line-up when we arrived. Naively, I took this as a good sign. With its open windows and packed little dining room, Le Toaster seemed like a nice, bright place to eat breakfast. And it is, but the breakfast didn’t live up to the surroundings.
Where to start? I ordered the scrambled eggs with cheese and spinach, hash browns, fruit (so-so) and toast. The scrambled eggs were watery (not undercooked but watery from the spinach) and lacking in flavour except for the bits with cheese. The hash browns were disastrous: undercooked, under seasoned hunks of potato surrounding a piece of onion the size of a man’s fist (OK… a small man’s fist). The JJ ordered the healthy breakfast. The fruit plate was immense (same so-so fruits) and came with toast and Yogurt. The yogurt had gone sour and was accompanied by nothing but chopped walnuts that looked like they came from the no-name baking supply section at Provigo. I realize that this much fruit has to cost a little money, but paying over $10 for each of these plates is very disappointing.
I would like to say something good about Le Toaster but cannot. The best I can say is that some things were not bad (the coffee, the fruit plate, the toast and the service) but my visit did not unearth anything really positive. I did notice that El Zazzium (home of the practically unfinishable Moé Le Monstre hamburger–which, yes, I did finish) had a big banner announcing that they were serving breakfast as well. I don’t know what Tex-Mex breakfast tastes like, but will give it a shot if I’m in the neighbourhood for breakfast again.
Cost with tip and a big old glass of grapefruit juice: $35
Rating: One-and-a-half stars. Unlikely I’ll be back but never say never.
Le Toaster
1310 Laurier E.
514.526.5111
