Happy 2014 to all our readers and welcome back. A short regroup and here we are, writing about what’s important: food and especially where to eat it in Toronto. Our last meal out on the town was just yesterday morning and it honestly was so disappointing that we rushed over to our computers to do what every new age consumer does and blog the crap out of it.
We found ourselves at Bloor and Dovercort, hungry on a Sunday morning and ready for an amazing brunch. We will admit that we entered through the doors of The Whippoorwill Restaurant with high expectations as it was recommended by some dear friends of ours. The warm and surprisingly large space was buzzing with excitement. The restaurant featured a pretty eclectic decor with red vinyl diner booths, chalkboard menus and all the Hipster paraphernalia you could ever require.
The service was just plain horrible from that point on. They were way too busy talking and laughing with each other to ever pay attention to their tables. My pint of beer came with a side of mayo (or some other mystery “sauce”) sprayed all over the side of the glass. Although I am known to be a big fan of the 50 second rule (5 seconds is too little time!), I will definitely complain about conspicuous stains on the objects going into my mouth! Our lovely server made no effort to apologize for the dirty dishware or to remedy the situation altogether. An empty cup of coffee sat on our table waiting to be refilled until we had to call her over and receive what she called “the bottom of the barrel” coffee sludge while “she was brewing a new pot”. This hot and fresh coffee never made its way to the table as our waitress had to entertain the bartender with witty commentary on the outrageously bad song they were both really into.
Now let’s talk food. This is obviously the most important element of a restaurant and most people will put up with bad service if the meal is above par. Well…. this brunch wasn’t! My tablemate’s “Two eggs any style” came with side of half cooked beans, one piece of butterless toast and two over easy eggs both sprinkled delicately with pieces of eggshell. The beans were hard, as in not really cooked and served in a bland tomato sauce that really didn’t change things into the better. Oh, and to make matters even better, the whole meal was barely warm by the time it made it to our table (there’s nothing worse than a room temperature greasy breakfast!). My “Frittatti” was essentially an omelette cooked in a dirty cast iron pan with aged cheddar, bacon bits and mushrooms sprinkled on the top. Although it sounds delicious, the whole thing had an underlying metallic flavour profile and generally lacked all other seasoning. Both dishes looked very nice but that was about all that the kitchen was able to get right during that whole meal. It’s a shame since brunch is such an important meal of the week.
Overall, I don’t have any other thing to say but save yourselves the headache and keep away from Whippoorwill. I hope for their sake that we were the only duds in their life as a resto but for the sake of enjoying a meal, keep yourself away.
