Bon's Off Broadway

Sometimes it's foolishness to try something new. Sometimes it's just smarter to stick with what you know. Such was the case with breakfast one morning. We should have gone to our weekly favourite, Paul's Omelettry, but since it wasn't Sunday yet, Hubbs thought perhaps we should try something different.

Using Urbanspoon on his iPhone, we located Bon's, which seemed to have a number of good reviews. There was also a line up that went out the door. Both, we felt, were positive first signs. How wrong we turned out to be!

We waited a long time for a table, then to get our order taken, then to get food. The whole ordeal lasted well over an hour from line-up to departure. Not only that, but the line-up wasn't exactly a nice collection of elderly folks. There were some pretty rough lookin' individuals there waiting to get in on the $2.95 breakfast, and these are the type of people who've seen a lot of life on the other side of the tracks, if you get my drift.

Bon's was also pretty dirty and run down, and had the looks of a place that doesn't care much about upkeep. My coffee cup saucer had a big chip on it. The whole feel was...dingy. The food wasn't much better. Hubbs' pancakes were huge but I far prefer IHOP's. His bacon tasted like some cheap no-name bacon, rather than something organic or locally-produced or Maple Leaf, even. My perogy breakfast was icky too. They pan grilled the dumplings and stuck them on top of a mound of half-grilled onions. The sour cream was stiff like cream cheese. My Ukrainian sausage slices (they were round and flat) tasted stale and slightly freezer-burnt.

The service was slow, but only because the poor girl serving was one of only two servers covering the entire place. Now this restaurant is probably nearly twice the size of Paul's, and Paul's usually has 3-4 servers working the floor; that gives you an idea as to how understaffed they were at Bon's.

The price was right, of course...cheap cheap cheap. No wonder there were so many rave reviews; I should really keep in mind that for a lot of people, quantity, when inversely correlated with price, is directly correlated with favourability. That is, if you get lots and lots of food for the dollar, you'll give a rave review even if the food is crap.

We originally thought the place would be funky, sort of like Sophie's or Joe's Grill, but whereas those other places had some alternative-culture funk to them, this place just seemed grimey and cheap. Maybe in its heyday Bon's was a hip place to go, but times, they are a-changin'. So maybe I'm missing it, but I don't see the appeal.

Conclusion: don't go. Stick with what you know. If you do go, be warned; it's not for the clean or the sheltered.

Service: 2.5 out of 5

Food: 2 out of 5

Slickety Jim's Chat & Chew

Hubbs & I came here last weekend for some breakfast. We didn't want to look loserish and hit up Paul's Omelletry two days in a row, so we opted to try this place for one of the mornings, having seen a review for it in the dining guide.

Slickety Jim's Chat & Chew is one of those hipster breakfast places that aims for a retro-funky feel. It reminded me a lot of Sophie's Cosmic Cafe, complete with old toys (think disembodied doll heads on mantle pieces) and weird photographs covering the walls. The cafe is also quite small, with line-ups that run out the door 10-people deep.

We waited about 15 minutes before we got seated, and lucky for us, we got a booth! The party of 2 ahead of us ended up at a table that was situated literally 3 inches away from the table beside them. In our booth, we had some privacy to converse.

Hubbs ordered eggs benedict with prosciutto and gorgonzola and I had french toast and hash with a side of bacon. We also ordered coffees that tasted not nearly as good as the stuff at Paul's.

When our food came out (it took a while because of the busy-ness of the place and the lack of servers - there were only 2 working), I was ravenous. Unfortunately, my french toast was only mediocre and the maple syrup they poured over it had run all over my potatoes, which were also only mediocre. Hubbs loved his eggs benedict, and even at the mention of it now he begins to salivate. I guess the lesson learned is to order the benny and not the french toast.

In the end the breakfast cost was comparable to Paul's, the service was friendly but slow, and the food was okay. If you're into eggs benedict and you have free time to spare in the morning, come here. If not, you may wish to try a less popular breakfast joint.

Service: 3.5 out of 5

Food: 3.5 out of 5