I like restaurants that support local farmers, make the
majority of their ingredients in-house, and attempts to serve things fresh, so
it’s a shame that our brunch at Harvest Kitchen went poorly. It started while getting
a table – there’s no reservations and don’t even think about being seated
before the entire group arrives. Luckily, even with the two limitations, we
snagged a table for six on their pretty rooftop patio by arriving shortly after
11am.
Harvest Kitchen isn’t the only restaurant to introduce
strict seating policies during brunch, so the above could be easily overlooked,
if our meal was just served together. It’s understandable that there will
always be a delay in getting food when you have a larger group; servers need
time to go back to the kitchen and pick up further plates. But, to have half
the table get their food and the remaining parties not arriving until HALF AN
HOUR later, that’s ridiculous. It’s even worse when the neighbouring table,
arriving and ordering well after us, get their food before the last of our
dishes arrive.
Honestly, I’m not sure the food was worth the wait. Sure, the
Pingue’s peameal bacon eggs benedict ($14.95) looked good and the poached eggs were
cooked well so the golden yolk remained runny, but the vinegar from the cooking
liquid was so pronounced that it ruined the hollandaise sauce. Moreover, the
peameal bacon and home fries were lukewarm, it seemed like the dish sat around
despite being rushed from the kitchen at their peak like the waiter described.
The best part of the meal was the Florida Sunrise ($8.95), a
refreshing cocktail combining Prosecco, Stiegl Radler and Campari. The
grapefruit beer was cooling and extra bubbly from the Prosecco, a lovely drink
for an otherwise disappointing meal.
Perhaps if our waiter offered an explanation, instead of
assuring the three of us to eat first as the other dishes would be arriving in
five minutes (lying to customers is never a good thing), the long wait wouldn’t
have stung as much. Alas, there was no excuse, no offer to comp the other three
meals, not even so much as an apology. For a town that’s filled with eggs benedicts,
I’ll happily have mine elsewhere.
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 124 Harbord Street
Address: 124 Harbord Street
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Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
Is That It? I Want More!
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