Belong Cafe

Belong Café 550 Bayview Ave. 416 901 8234 Belong Café is regarded as one of the fine restaurants in Toronto. The menu is creative and a little too esoteric for my taste. The ambiance is charming. I was a guest at lunch and therefore find it a bit unkind to be negative. Personally I think the prices are excessive. I had trouble finding something on the menu. My dish was tasteless. The service was delightful but the numerous nose rings on our server were a little offsetting. The restaurant is situated on the premises of the former brickworks. The location is in the midst of the city but not in an urban area. It is being developed as an eco friendly spot and is worth the trip to see the grounds. It felt a little hypocritical to drive to this eco friendly spot because there is no public transportation. It is situated in the midst of the Bayview extension. The restaurant carries on the theme of eco friendly and the former brickworks by using bricks in the bar area. One wall of windows looks out to the yard area. Students can be seen walking around doing science studies. On Saturdays there is a farmer’s market. There is a gift shop with some delightful products. Cruesset pots are on a shelf on top of the bar and on display at the entrance of the restaurant. The bright colors add to the décor. I wonder if anyone actually purchases them. Visit the office of the electric car on the site and see the video. It makes for a lovely excursion. The restaurant tries to use organic and local products and I applaud the effort. The Faux Pho sounded great. I ordered the Vegetarian one with herbs and vegetable broth.($18.00) It was tasteless. It was filled with a variety of mushrooms and chard.( both of which were hard to chew) My host had the Faux Pho with garnishes and meat broth Thankfully hers was delicious.($22.00) I couldn’t find any noodles and the advertised herbs were lacking. In addition our host ordered two Chopped Salads.($10.00) Our server promised us they were small. A large bowl of vegetables was placed on the table. Tomatoes, cucumber, white beans and red peppers were dressed with a tasty mint buttermilk dressing. It was tasty but we were too full and left most of it. My host was actually taking a dear friend from Paris out for lunch before her return trip home. The guest ordered the Grilled Hanger Steak.($24.00) Because of language difficulties it was hard to tell if her meal was enjoyed. The meat actually looked to be cooked to perfection. It was red in the middle and served with roasted potatoes and fiddleheads. Potato & Egg Tart is served with apple, micro greens and dressed leaves.($14.00) Spring Lobster Salad is served with fingerlings, amaranth, mint, tarragon aioli, radishes and roe.($20.00) The St Lawrence Salad is a nesting of greens, grains, nuts, frits and cheese with browned butter vinaigrette.($15.00) Even the desert was lacking. A Tapioca Pudding was ordered. There was a little tapioca at the bottom of the dish but you had to look for it. There was ice cream on top and a cup of hot espresso was poured over the concoction. The cappuccino was perfect. I feel terrible because I suggested the place as a wonderful venue for an out of town guest. This was my second visit and I found it to be disappointing. The place is open for 3 meals a day, 7 days a week. I would give it another try for a breakfast.