Café Landwer & Bobbette and Belle on Queen Street E., Toronto. Beautiful places with delicious food and desserts. Perfect date plan with no cars. You move by TTC train and streetcars!
Getting there
Around one Friday noon, I decided to start the day with a nice dessert. (There’s no better thing than sweets to start a day, especially when you got so tired during the week) Browsing around blog posts on downtown Toronto cafés for 20 minutes, I came across the Bobette and Belle; it had beautiful photos so I decided on this place!
I took TTC from Finch to the queen station. Then, Google map said to take a streetcar so I got on TTC bus #501 Northbound near Queen St. and Victoria Ave, just outside of queen station. (It took one minute to go up the stairs and grab one, literally.) After 11 stops, I got off at Jones Avenue and there it was. I was amazed how nice the inside and outside looked. It was clean, organized and light-pink toned. As you can see from the photo, there are so many desserts… Cupcakes, tarts, cake, macaroons and more. Amazing displays and welcoming barista.
Dessert Review
After a long time contemplating on the menu, I decided to have three cupcakes and the a cup of matcha latte. I thought they are a nice color collaborations. It was just right amount of sweetness and looks were extraordinarily neat. My favorite cupcake was raspberry chocolate. I wished pina colada one was a much pineapple tasting-it taste more like coconut. Matcha Latte was nice and warm with cute latte art, which does not show on the photo but it was there. I read a book for an hour and left because there were no power outlet there. The place was mostly wedding cake shop not a typical café , where people study. A lot of people picked up cakes they reserved for while I was sitting there reading the book. Wi-fi was still available though, if you asked the password. The place has nice seats and antiquely designed couches around to sit for a short time and take photos. So princess-like designed so if you are a girly girl, you would definitely love this place! The barista offered me a box to take out my unfinished cup cakes which was very nice of her. Great place and you can take beautiful photos so perfect for date or tea-time with your girls.
Moving to next place
Okay, then I got really hungry so I opened google maps again and found a really nice restaurant, Café Landwer. It was very famous already on the google and I heard about it so I got curious. It was even close to where I was, I just had to get the same bus I took the other way around and drop off three stations after Queen St. The stop was called University Ave./St. Andrew Subway station. Nice weather and it was a free transfer within 4 hours of TTC so extra saving there. Also, nice way back because it was right near the subway station.
As you can see in the picture, it is very casual looking restaurant. (I would call this a restaurant+ café or a bistro.) There was a long line up. I waited 20 minutes to get in and get seated. They put you on the waiting list and they text you in as soon as a seat is empty. Many servers were there so there was no long wait for food, at least. You can eat indoor or outdoor. I chose indoor because of too much sun that day. I recommend going there after reserving online.
Food Review
It looked like a nice family restaurant overall but they served some unique foods. I ordered the famous menu of the restaurant, Halloumi Schakshukas. (I still don’t know how to pronounce it.) It is served with two eggs, cheese, spinach and tomato-based sauce in a hot pen. It was amazing, better than pasta or pizza. The cheese taste so good, just like mozzarella, but better. The bread that comes with the dish, called challah was just bread that was pretzel looking and it tasted so good with the sauce. Salad dressing was sesame and mayo tasting.
It was great. The mood was very cheerful. It was a busy place, very fast-moving and not messy at all. I want to go one more time and get Smoked Salmon Benedict. I regretted not going here first by going to the dessert place the second because it is a brunch place and I was so starving. I definitely recommend going there between 1-2pm to get nice brunch with your date or friend. The restaurant volume was not so loud so it is great place to eat and talk. Great food and nice atmosphere. I did like it a lot!!!
I went there on Friday and I had a great time and I hope you can feel my excitement. Enjoy food and wonderful atmosphere of the two cafes I visited yourself! I think it would be a great day-off or dating plan for people who do not own a car or look for nice places to eat downtown. (It is just perfect for college students who go to campus downtown and want to eat on Friday-Sunday.)
Thanks.
Links
Google map from Bobette and Belle to Cafe Landwer: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/1121+Queen+St+E,+Toronto,+ON+M4M+1K9/165+University+Avenue,+%ED%86%A0%EB%A1%A0%ED%86%A0+%EC%98%A8%ED%83%80%EB%A6%AC%EC%98%A4/@43.6556337,-79.3953707,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x89d4cb9d643eee31:0x3234c92c707daa45!2m2!1d-79.3348378!2d43.6621237!1m5!1m1!1s0x882b34d21af3d6a9:0x152947bffd63e23c!2m2!1d-79.3850074!2d43.6487716!3e3
Café Landwer menu: www.landwer.ca/our-menus/