where jess ate

The story starts with me purchasing a coupon for Goed Eten on one of those group buy sites. I swear, I always read the fine print but I must have missed the part that said this coupon could only be used Monday to Friday. Then I go to their website to check out their hours and realize they’re closed Mondays and Tuesdays… oh and they’re only open between 10am and 4pm. Pretty limiting, eh? Well, the good news is that I purchased the coupon just before the holidays and had some time to give Goed Eten a try!

Located on Ossington, just south of Dundas, Chris and I dropped by on a Friday and had the place all to ourselves during the whole meal. The space is pretty casual and seemed more like a coffee shop than a restaurant. Very low-key.

This little brunch spot has an all-day brunch menu featuring a selection of regular brunch fare, sandwiches and waffles (sweet and savoury).

Whenever Chris and I go out to eat, we always order several things to share.  The first thing I tried was the Eggs Benedict – with pemeal bacon ($12). They have two other variations of the benny – a vegetarian one and another with smoked salmon. Something else that caught my eye was a selection of eggs benny served on Goed Eten’s Brussels’ style waffles. But since we were going to order waffles, we decided to go with the classic eggs benny.

The eggs were perfectly poached with a nice, gooey egg yolk which coated the pemeal bacon and English muffin. I thought the hollandaise was decent but nothing special. What surprised me, and really stood out to us was the English muffin. At first I wasn’t quite sure if it was an English muffin so I inquired with the server who told me that they actually make them in house. I could eat a whole plateful of these toasted, buttered bad boys. Delicious!

All the eggs benny dishes come with home fries and an apple cole slaw. The home fries weren’t anything to write home about and we ended up leaving most of these on the plate. The apple cole slaw which consisted of apples and pickles, was similar to the one served at Le Petit Dejeuner, which isn’t surprising given that Goed Eten is run by the same people. I remember enjoying the one at Le Petit Dejeuner but didn’t love the one served at Goed Eten. Chris and I both found the flavour to be a little odd… maybe it was the dressing. We didn’t eat much of this either.

The second dish we ordered was the Poutine – with cheese croquettes and curds ($9). You have a choice of getting your poutine served with Guiness beef stew, bolognese chili or curried vegetables. Chris and I were torn between the beef stew and chili so we asked the waitress to help us out. She said that they were both amazing but quite different from each other. Since she noted that the beef stew was more like a traditional poutine, we decided to go with that.

The beef stew had a nice flavour and resembled gravy. When the poutine first arrived, I thought there was a generous portion of beef chunks in it, but turns out they were actually the cheese croquettes.  Since the croquettes were covered in the stew, they weren’t very crispy but the cheese filling was tasty. I think I would have preferred more beef and less croquettes!

The last thing we ate, was the thing we came here for, the Brussels’ Style Waffles – with fresh fruit and whipped cream ($9). They were incredibly light and fluffy, similar to the ones served at Le Petit Dejeuner. The waffles were topped with ripe strawberries, raspberries and bananas. While I enjoyed the waffles here, I feel like I enjoyed the ones at Le Petit Dejeuner better…

Although the portion of the waffles looked quite large when it first arrived, it only consisted of two small triangular waffles. Since the waffles here are so light and fluffy, this dish alone probably wouldn’t be enough to fill someone up.

Overall, we had a nice brunch here. The food was good but none of the dishes particularly stood out. It’s definitely a great brunch spot if you live in the area but I wouldn’t go out of my way to try it.

At a glance:
• Open from 10am – 4pm; closed on Mondays/Tuesdays
• All-day brunch menu, specializing in waffles
• Solid brunch; a great neighborhood spot but wouldn’t go out of my way for it

Ratings (out of 5):
• Food: 3.5 stars
• Service: 3 stars
• Atmosphere: 2 stars