Cafe Boulud - Toronto, ON: Cafe Boulud is located on the second floor of the brand new Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto. Located at the corner of Yorkville Avenue and Bay Street, this restaurant is a part of the famous Chef Daniel Boulud chain of restaurants and cafes. Café Boulud serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.

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We headed over to Café Boulud for breakfast/brunch with high expectations. To our chagrin, we found that we had missed the breakfast/brunch option by a mere five minutes. The staff informed us that we could wait for another 25 minutes and then order lunch. Since we had been wanting to try Café Boulud to open for some time, we decided to wait for the lunch service to start.

We took some pictures while waiting and also ordered some coffee. Larger tables were arranged in the middle of the restaurant while the sides featured cozier seating arrangements. We got a chance to watch the waiters flit and float around the restaurant while we were sitting and sipping our coffee. It was obvious that there were way too many staff working at the same time, as most of them seemed to just walk in circles looking for something to do. To be honest, I almost wished the lunch crowd would start coming in soon as this constant back and forth across the restaurant was bothersome to say the least.

Finally the time came for the lunch service to start and we were finally handed the menus. It had four sections: La Tradition – French Classics and Country Cooking, La Saison – Seasonal dishes (in this case inspired by the Fall Market), La Potager – Vegetable Garden and Le Voyage – World Cuisines. A fixed price lunch menu was also on offer. The options for this Prix-Fixe lunch were an appetizer and entrée ($32) or an appetizer, entrée and dessert ($38).

The lunch crowd filed in, as well as a couple of managers. And to our absolute horror, the whispers between them and the rest of the staff started. (By the end of our meal, there were at least eight employees on the floor and everybody seemed to be walking in circles! The employees were anything but invisible!)

I opted for the two course special and ordered the soup of the day and the Roasted Leg of Lamb with braised spinach, chickpeas, fall roots and Moroccan spice. My partner ordered the Nova Scotia Halibut with chestnut gnocchi, trumpet royale and sauce meurette. We also ordered sparkling water and it was delivered in a water carafe. I am not sure what type it was, but for $7.00 it sure was pricey.

My soup was delivered with great fanfare, but after one spoonful, I was left wondering what happened to the flavor! Dull and boring! Our entrees were also presented with impeccable style. Though my lamb was prepared medium rare as requested, once again this dish lacked flavor of any sort. My partner’s halibut was tender and flaky, but dull and tasteless.

I ended my meal with the Warm Chocolate Coulant (chocolate cake with a warm, gooey center) and milk ice cream... I’ve had better.

Service throughout our meal was disappointing as well. It seemed like the whole set of waiters were new to the service industry. Their sophistication was nowhere near the level that one has come to expect from a Four Seasons restaurant. Moreover, there were a few that had poor fitting uniforms on. Had I known how to sew I would definitely have pulled them aside and tailored them myself! I simply could not believe I was in a Boulud restaurant in the Four Seasons.

When the time came for us to settle the bill, we found that we were charged another $7.00 for the sparkling water. Agreed, the staff had replaced our water when it was empty. But since they had simply replaced it without asking we had assumed we would not be charged for it. Insane, if you ask me!

Overall, we had visited this restaurant with high expectations since this was a Boulud restaurant in the Four Seasons. None, other than the décor (which I wasn’t crazy about) came even close to being met. The food was not bad per se, it was just not tasty, lacked any kind of flavor and was not at all worth it considering the steep prices. Our rating for Café Boulud is Almost Not Bombastic. Is this a place I’d go to again, definitely not! One experience was quite enough.

What I liked: Nothing much

What I didn’t like: The food and the service

Rating: Almost Not Bombastic

Address and Telephone Number:
Café Boulud
Four Seasons Hotel,
60 Yorkville Ave.
Phone: 416-964-0411
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