Ashdale Brunch and Espresso

Chimi pork belly was the reason I brought my husband here for fathers day and it met all expectations. Fresh herby chimi sauce and three massive strips of tender pork belly. I had to steal some even though I don’t like visible fat on meat, but clearly one gets over such an aversion when you are eating pork belly!
French toast was perfect, thick smoked bacon was as delicious as the pork belly, and even the fries were pretty damn good.
Displaced Aussies will love that they have a flat white on the menu and this new mama loved that the place was very child friendly. Sporting a change table outside of the bathroom stalls means my husband gets the luxury of changing the baby too ;)
Not super speedy, but that’s not the point. If you want a delicious brunch, strong coffee and a sunny window, sit back and enjoy the wait. Its worth it.

Best bacon EVER! And fried avocado! And weirdly cheap! And they are attentive about refilling coffee and water! LOVE.

Great coffee and scrumptious brunch menu. Eggs Benny are high quality and service is always prompt and cheerful. The Ashdale is a much needed breath of fresh air in a bit of a dead zone in Leslieville.
I hear the Ashdale has plans to extend hours and potentially open up a patio. If they do, you know where to find me.

Food was delicious and different, would go back again. We both had the Chimi Pork, fries with around four slices of pork belly and two poached eggs. The churri sauce is light, not strong. And the other was the standard, came with two slices of bacon, not your regular bacon strips. Nutella mocha and latte was also delicious, one of the better drinks i’ve had. Music was a tad loud so had to speak up but didn’t really bother me. Nice little brunch spot close to home!

Great service and great food! I also like that they don’t charge excessively like other brunch places. Further, their portion sizes are filling!
Definitely a place to check out. The bacon is amazing !

Cute brunch place in the east end. Service was quick and friendly. The prices were fair. The coffee was great.
I had a grilled cheese sandwich and shared a blueberry waffle with my husband. Both were good, nothing spectacular but nothing bad. The portion sizes were fairly small. My only criticism is that everything we ate we could have easily made ourselves at home. I guess that means it really is home-​cooked food? For what we wanted, it was alright, I guess it would have been nice to have something with a bit more «pizzazz».

So rarely does a restaurant’s food quality match its service… in this case though, both were a bust. Went there for brunch and was not impressed.
Super slow service — I think one server was working the entire restaurant. Had to ask for everything from cutlery to water to coffee refills. There seemed to be a lot of employees sort of lingering behind the bar doing various, non-​essential things that didn’t improve the restaurant experience.
Basic food fare — besides the fact that not everything arrived (but was left on the bill) the food was not impressive. The BLT wrap was a very loose, small portion with very little flavor in the aioli and served solo on a white plate. The Bird’s Nest looked similarly minimalist and unappealing and came with default poached eggs because the server forgot to ask egg preference.
This place probably lends itself better to being as espresso bar than a restaurant because the coffee was pretty good, and the staff were very friendly… just not so great at restauranting.

Wow, chose this place to have New Year’s Day brunch with my eldest!!!
Was it ever delicious! I had the breakfast birds nest of kale sautéed with sesame and spicy carrots, 2 poached eggs and sourdough toast! It was divine!
I am coming back… often!

What a delightful restaurant.
First of all, it’s all homemade. From the in-​house smoked salmon to the delicious freshly baked breads that change daily.
The chef works in an open work space and was very friendly and clearly takes great pride in his creations, as he should because everything was delicious.
We tried the Smoked Salmon Benny as well as the Chimi Pork and Eggs. We concluded the meal with the Nutella Cake (Nutella cake with cream cheese espresso whip and caramel). It was sort of reminiscent of a nutty sticky date pudding but a million times better with a perfect level of sweetness.
The staff were were pleasant. The space is itself is nice.
We also stopped in for a quickly breaky. My bf and I each had a biscuit along with our espresso beverages and the biscuits were ⁵⁄₅.
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Update, there is a new chef who is nice but the place has lost what I loved about it. No more homemade bread :(Muffins are very average and taste like they’re from a mix (sorry, if they’re not!). Wait staff still friendly. Now it’s just okay and no longer delights me. Coffee is good!

I’m really sad to be writing a review like this but honesty is the best criticism to improve any establishment.
I suggested to come back here after my drop in a couple months ago because the atmosphere was good and the service was friendly.
I knew the menu was changing so when I saw their updated items through their Facebook page.. I was excited and intrigued.
Walking in here at the same time on the same day of the week, everything was quite the opposite from my first visit.
This time, it was super busy, people were not really attentive and the staff was overwhelmed.
After waiting 10 mins and the waitress serving the table that came in after us, I went to the front to order my drink… I also ordered the yogurt parfait which I was excited to see a healthier option… supposed to be topped with berries and granola.
When it came, you could’ve fooled me. What I got was a giant cup of yogurt… three sliced mini strawberries and 1 tablespoon of granola and a touch of honey. If I knew I was ordering yogurt w. Garnish, I would’ve skipped it and went straight for the Benny. At least I knew I would be getting two eggs, English muffin and sauce. This was misleading ans truly a disappointment.
Not to my surprise, I heard at least two other complaints while I was there.
Not sure what’s happening but I hope things shape up.

Quaint neighborhood restaurant with great food, coffee, and service. Our go to is the Birds Nest, and the Apple Fritters are to die for.
Friendly staff, very few lines, great for kids too!

This is a great place for coffee, or to get some lunch. I had a delicious Grilled Cheese sandwich, with fresh greens. The coffee options are good at a reasonable price. The reason I give 5 stars is for the exceptional service! I visit Toronto often, and appreciate being greeted like I’m a regular by their friendly, professional staff!

While the food was good, my review is focused on the chef. With an open kitchen, costumers can hear what’s happening in the back of the house. The chef was disrespectful and rude to many of the staff members. Some of his direction to the staff went beyond ‘bad boss’ and into violations of employment standards. Who’s in charge at the Ashdale? Should not be that guy. I will not return because of chef’s attitude toward staff. Too bad, the food was pretty good — just left a bad taste…

I love the open kitchen, so you can see the chef and sous chef hustle and bustle away. The food here are made with love and very delicious, they bake their own bread, cure their own pork belly just to name a few.
The Standard:
Huge portion and love their home made bread.
Chimi Pork:
Huge portion and comes with at least 5 good strips of pork belly, and the chimi chirri sauce is spot on.
BLT Wrap:
It is a really good wrap with all the tastes you want and prepared fresh.
Say «Cheese» Burger:
Juicy and flavourful.
The staff are friendly, but just make sure you have time to spare during peak brunch hours because you really have to be patient to wait for your food to come. But it’s worth the wait for it’s scrumptious and affordable.

Excellent breakfast sandwich and inexpensive too. A bit of a wait, but worth it. Nice staff. Cool vibe.

LAWD HAVE MERCY, this place is actually fantastic. I’ve had nearly everything they’ve ever offered and I can’t say anything was just ok. It was all delicious, even the menu items that sounded questionable turned out to be amazing. The chef is extremely talented and obviously took time with the menu. My recommendation is go with a friend and get the avocado fries and two mains, you won’t regret it!

The wait and service is ridiculous. A new place yes, but they need to figure out their work rotation because waiting an hour for a plate of food is not acceptable.

Fantastic meal! My hubby and I went there for a gathering of friends, we live in Milton… this was a far drive, it better be good I was thinking.lol. It was. Great Indie restaurant, so charming inside but the food was amazing! Deconstructed burgers, watermelon vodka soup and ribs, awesome sauce. Thanks folks for an awesome meal. We will def be back.

I’m shocked that given the kind of service, price and very low standards of cleanliness that anyone would have given this more than 2 stars. I tend to trust reviewers who’ve got a lot of reviews under their belt, and, granted most of the reviews thus far (except one) were first time reviews (which always make me skeptical because, of course, no photos of reviewers which leads me to think it’s written by the owner/​chef/​staff). So, here it goes — 1. First thing we see on a hot day Sloppy writing on the chalk board out front. We walk in, it’s a hot morning, doors and windows closed, no a/​c, room is stuffy. No one greets us, all of the staff are standing around at the cash, so we figure that there’s no table service. We stand at the door for a few minutes — still nothing. I go up to the cash and ask and we’re told there is table service. We seat ourselves (extremely uncomfortable chairs). Our server is friendly but the water glasses are half of a standard sized water glass in any other food establishment in the city — so, even more dependance on the slowish servers and more waiting for water refills. We were given menus — because of the cavernous ceilings, and irritating hipster electronica (better suited for an after hours bar than a neighbourhood/​family friendly breakfast/​brunch place) we can barely make out what’s being said (to be clear — none of us have hearing issues). Unfortunately the menu doesn’t offer information that would be useful when deciphering ingredients (for the average meal-​goer) such has explanations of what harisa and chimi churri are. There are typos («poach eggs»), which for such a small, ingredient specific (and overpriced) menu are really unacceptable (I tend to overlook this in many restaurants where English is not a first language, however, this doesn’t appear to be the case here, just laziness). No drinks (coffee/​tea/​juices) are listed? Nothing to indicate if they’re licensed or not. Lame-​o common table in the centre — hell, if I’m paying that much money for a meal then I’m not sharing a table, unless it’s with my group of friends/​family. We both ordered the exact same dish and one was brought out and the second came 5 (!) minutes later. Really? It wasn’t busy or crowded, so what gives? Portions are RIDICULOUSLY small. The english muffins on which the eggs benny come (they must also be house made because no self-​respecting baker would sell these) are more akin to slider size and the salad (I asked) was said to have a ‘light dressing’. And by ‘light’ it was completely non-​existent. Never in my life (amongst many continents and multiple countries) have I walked away hungry from a breakfast/​brunch — until now. I paid $ 11 for a miniscule (below average tasting) eggs benny with a tiny amount of salad (not free range eggs, not organic greens, nothing notable except the disappointing portion size. The servers are friendly but clearly inexperienced and unseasoned. I feel like the chef here just watched too many cooking shows on tv and through osmosis decided he was actually a chef. Oh, and while you’re eating? You get the distinct smell of dirty mop water wafting across the open kitchen, cash and onto the restaurant floor. Why is that? The dishwasher is doing dishes directly beside where the food is being prepared and cooked. Our dirty dishes sit untouched until we finally just get up to go pay the bill. The bathrooms are filthy. Paper towel dispenser completely empty first thing in the morning. The steps leading down to them are steep and unsafe (God help anyone with a toddler or over the age of 20 trying to navigate them. Or anywhere else for that matter. I feel utterly ripped off, taken advantage of and disappointed. Pity the poor souls who think this is the next manna from heaven. This place feels like they’re just trying to take advantage of people, over charge, under deliver and get away with it. It incenses me that establishments like this exist. They’ve been open long enough to have ironed out any initial problems, so no sympathy here. Ashdale Brunch & Espresso, I’m sad to say that you truly disappoint. Go anywhere else but here — please! Frankly (and anyone who knows my tastes can tell you I’m not a supporter of corporate/​chemical/​GMO foods), you’re better off going across the street to the (conveniently located) McDonald’s. You’ll get your own table, better service, and a better portion size — all at a more reasonable price.

Outstanding espresso — ruffino beans. And the brunch puts the leslieville staples to shame. Skip the lines at lady marmalade or bonjour brioche and come here instead.