I have been to Fresh a number of times before. They have three locations in Toronto, of which I have been to the ones on Bloor and on Spadina. Although the place started as a juice bar, I have never been disappointed with the food. I have tried the yam fries, the Baby Buddha, the Baby Warrior and the black bean burrito.
It's all vegetarian and they are really great about accommodating food allergies. None of the staff give you attitude if you have questions about ingredients and you can substitute out dairy and soy and gluten. One of the things that I love is the 1 L carafe of water with lemon slices which automatically appears when you sit down at every table.
Last weekend, I went for lunch with a vegetarian friend and we both enjoyed our meal. To be honest, I don't remember what she ordered. I had the egg-free banana pancakes. I haven't eaten pancakes for years and I was so very happy to be able to eat them at Fresh. I ordered the kids portion (2 pancakes) but my order arrived with three. I didn't say anything to the waitress but she realized her error and corrected the bill. She didn't bat an eyelid when I said I wanted to take them home. (I don't have maple syrup at home so I ate them the next day with Nutella and oh they were so good fresh out of the toaster oven). And their take out containers are biodegradable! I also ordered the decaf latte with soy milk and it was excellent. The entire meal made me feel very happy.
I always leave feeling full and wishing I could sample more of the menu in one sitting. In fact, I know what I'm having next time I go back.
Caveats: the place is always busy and it's not where you want to go if you want a quiet, romantic ambiance. Also, I always spend the afternoon feeling a bit gassy, which is only to be expected if you substitute meat protein for beans! Lunch for two was less than $40 after taxes. Don't linger, there is always a line up of hungry people waiting for your spot.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Niche, 626 Queen Street West, Toronto
On Saturday afternoon, I had lunch with a high school friend who recommended Niche on Queen West. Other than very high bucket-style bar stools which were impossible to navigate in a lady-like fashion, the place did not disappoint.
We both ordered the 16 0z masala chai lattes and they were gooood. My friend had the Niche Benedict (eggs benedict on cornbread with peameal) and I had the smoked salmon on a bagel. My meal came with a salad which was yummy, if a bit overdressed. The salmon was fresh and the cream cheese wasn't overdone, as it is in so many places. My friend at her entire portion of eggs so it must have been good because she rarely does that. The place is small but we weren't rushed. And the waitress was new which, combined with the busyness, meant things took a bit longer than they should have. But we weren't in a hurry and she was very helpful with our questions.
All of their coffees are available in decaf and they have a good selection. They also offer skim milk and soy milk. Finally, I brought home a cranberry chocolate scone which was to die for. I ate it plain, that's how good it was.
The total bill was less than $40 for both of us, with my scone to go. Single bathroom but it was clean. I will be going back, hopefully soon.
We both ordered the 16 0z masala chai lattes and they were gooood. My friend had the Niche Benedict (eggs benedict on cornbread with peameal) and I had the smoked salmon on a bagel. My meal came with a salad which was yummy, if a bit overdressed. The salmon was fresh and the cream cheese wasn't overdone, as it is in so many places. My friend at her entire portion of eggs so it must have been good because she rarely does that. The place is small but we weren't rushed. And the waitress was new which, combined with the busyness, meant things took a bit longer than they should have. But we weren't in a hurry and she was very helpful with our questions.
All of their coffees are available in decaf and they have a good selection. They also offer skim milk and soy milk. Finally, I brought home a cranberry chocolate scone which was to die for. I ate it plain, that's how good it was.
The total bill was less than $40 for both of us, with my scone to go. Single bathroom but it was clean. I will be going back, hopefully soon.
The Sweet Gallery, Bloor West Village, 2312 Bloor Street West
I had a very bad tea experience today at the Sweet Gallery in Bloor West Village. It's unfortunate because I should be happy when I get together with my friends but I was hungry and cold and angry. The service was not just bad, it was terrible. I was a little bit late arriving but my friends were already seated and had ordered so maybe the woman thought I was rude and wanted me to know that she disapproved of my timing. I suppose I could have skipped yoga class, or left early (the teacher was late this morning) or taken a cab or driven instead of taking the subway. The woman was downright bitchy.
Anyway, when I sat down and she asked me what tea I wanted, she didn't even offer to bring me a menu. They didn't have darlingjee so I accepted orange pekoe. When it arrived, the tea bag was from McCullagh Coffee. That was my first indication that things were not going to go well. If you were a coffee snob, would you accept coffee that was packaged and distributed by tea wholesalers? No, I didn't think so.
Then, our tiny tray of desserts and "scones" arrived. The total after taxes was just under $40 but I don't feel that I ate $10 worth of food. Part of the problem, of course, was that I am no longer eating desserts and pastries that might contain eggs. As a general rule of thumb, I will eat up to an eigth of egg but that only works when I am at someone's home and they can tell me the ingredients they used in recipe. So I didn't eat anything on the top tray and obviously didn't eat the egg sandwiches. I ate all three of the cucumber sandwiches but they weren't very good. They consisted of a thin slice of cucumber on a slice of baguette with cream cheese and smothered with pepper. Unimpressive. The scones weren't real scones. They were basically raisin buns. We didn't get enough cream and were only given individual packages of raspberry jam. I was starving from the gym and had planned to have a sandwich (smoked salmon on a bagel is my standard egg-free brunch food) but the waitress didn't come by to check on us so I decided that I didn't need an additional reason to tip her more.
The place was busy and, if I had felt that complaining would have improved our experience, I would have done that. We did complain about getting green tea instead of mint and the waitress brought the correct tea and apologized but she totally passed the buck. She said "oh she gave you green tea?" No woman, you took the order and you brought the tea pots. Therefore, you brought the wrong tea.
I can't stress enough that I will not be returning there. Fortunately I didn't pay for lunch because my tip would have been virtually non-existent. I suppose the place was pretty but I couldn't appreciate it. The entire experience was very upsetting. I didn't realize until a few minutes ago how much it has affected my whole day. basically haven't eaten anything since then and have been cranky and exhausted all afternoon. I hope the next tea will make up for today.
Anyway, when I sat down and she asked me what tea I wanted, she didn't even offer to bring me a menu. They didn't have darlingjee so I accepted orange pekoe. When it arrived, the tea bag was from McCullagh Coffee. That was my first indication that things were not going to go well. If you were a coffee snob, would you accept coffee that was packaged and distributed by tea wholesalers? No, I didn't think so.
Then, our tiny tray of desserts and "scones" arrived. The total after taxes was just under $40 but I don't feel that I ate $10 worth of food. Part of the problem, of course, was that I am no longer eating desserts and pastries that might contain eggs. As a general rule of thumb, I will eat up to an eigth of egg but that only works when I am at someone's home and they can tell me the ingredients they used in recipe. So I didn't eat anything on the top tray and obviously didn't eat the egg sandwiches. I ate all three of the cucumber sandwiches but they weren't very good. They consisted of a thin slice of cucumber on a slice of baguette with cream cheese and smothered with pepper. Unimpressive. The scones weren't real scones. They were basically raisin buns. We didn't get enough cream and were only given individual packages of raspberry jam. I was starving from the gym and had planned to have a sandwich (smoked salmon on a bagel is my standard egg-free brunch food) but the waitress didn't come by to check on us so I decided that I didn't need an additional reason to tip her more.
The place was busy and, if I had felt that complaining would have improved our experience, I would have done that. We did complain about getting green tea instead of mint and the waitress brought the correct tea and apologized but she totally passed the buck. She said "oh she gave you green tea?" No woman, you took the order and you brought the tea pots. Therefore, you brought the wrong tea.
I can't stress enough that I will not be returning there. Fortunately I didn't pay for lunch because my tip would have been virtually non-existent. I suppose the place was pretty but I couldn't appreciate it. The entire experience was very upsetting. I didn't realize until a few minutes ago how much it has affected my whole day. basically haven't eaten anything since then and have been cranky and exhausted all afternoon. I hope the next tea will make up for today.
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