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Littlefish
Categories: Food Coffee & Tea Restaurants Breakfast & Brunch Coffee & Tea, Breakfast & Brunch [Edit]
3080 Dundas St WToronto, ON M6P
Neighbourhood: The Junction
(416) 604-3474
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Brunch
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Ambience:
- Casual
20 reviews for Littlefish
20 reviews in English
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Review from Luna L.
Toronto, ON
5/8/2012
What a great find!
After a relaxed Sunday noon workout, the man and I were hungry, and very ready for a solid lunch. We are new to the area, and decided to go up to the Junction instead of continuing on Bloor West.
(Un)fortunately, the restaurant that we actually wanted to try was closed on Sundays. Discouraged, we turned around and made our way East on Dundas. I noticed a couple eating by the window and at the last second realized that it was a restaurant.
We looked at the menu and it was The Stinky Frenchman that caught my eye.
Since it was almost 2pm, there was no wait time. Booonus!
Much to my dismay, they were out of The Frenchman, but I opted for The Skinny B*tch, and added a side of peameal bacon, and of course had my coffee. The Man had something that had crepes in it, only because they were out of crepes, he substituted them for home-made crumpets. I stole some, and yes, it was delicious. It was thicker than I expected, but delicious. And I chose caraway toast. I was very impressed with their selection of "breads" as sides. White, whole wheat, caraway, muesli, crumpet, and I forget what else, but as impressed.
The eggs were cooked just right (not too hard, not overly runny), the avocado was creamy, the coffees were decent...but it was the dessert that won my heart! Man had a lemon fillo pastry tart topped with blueberries, I had their heirloom purple-carrot cake, with cream cheese icing. If you aren't hungry, please, at least get the cake!!
All in all, a great food experience, cute casual decor with exposed brick walls, high ceilings, and very friendly, attentive staff with a cute sense of fashion!
Recommend and will come again. -
Review from Cat B.
Toronto, ON
3/24/2012
I love Littlefish and try to get there as often as I can. My favourite item is the daily scramble. How they get the eggs so soft and melt in your mouth, I don't know. I've been trying to recreate it at home with no success. And the combination of ingredients is always interesting and delicious.
Other items are great too and I really like the coffee. The service is always friendly and prompt and they're great about always making sure your coffee is topped up.
I think the atmosphere is great too. A nice mix of couples and families and people of all ages. You always feel welcome there.
If I had to improve anything, I'd say maybe expand the menu a little and maybe the prices are just a tad high. But if you take the prices at Littlefish combined with their quality and compare them to the other offerings on that strip of Dundas, you quickly forget about the prices because there's just nothing else that compares. -
Review from Kent P.
3/6/2011
Quaint little spot in the junction.
Notable menu item: Smoothie.
Step 1) Pick one of four milks
Step 2) Pick one of two yogurts
Step 3) Pick one of four juices
Step 4) Pick one of 6 fruits (or espresso)
According to my calculations, there are 192 versions of smoothies to get here (not including flavor shots). This is a gift and a curse, as some make for awful tasting drinks. Like my chocolate milk/low fat yogurt/grapefruit juice/espresso blend. Big fail there. I was just testing the theory though. The regular smoothies at the table were very nice.
To eat had the "Jen's Choice" which is a BLT+Avacado+2 Fried eggs. It was good, but way too tall to fit in my mouth and a little too bready.
If you're in the area, this place is an OK choice. Maybe 20% too expensive. -
Review from Joanna L.
Toronto, ON
2/3/2011
Littlefish is such a charming little café with exposed brick walls, cool tunes, friendly staff and most of all good eats.
I stopped in this past Sunday by chance with my Dad as our original brunch destination was now a brunch buffet place = way too much food.
Littlefish, our Plan B restaurant, was excellent!
Because it is a small place, we had to wait on a couch at the rear of the resto for about 15 minutes to get a table.
We were seated in what our whimsical waitress called the "Jamaican vacation" table near the front window. I wasn't complaining because it's so damn cold outside.
She quickly brought us two large glasses of water and within about 10 minutes our brunch was served. I tried the poached eggs with smoked salmon served on a buckwheat crepe. Yummm. The hollaidaise sauce was perfectly lemoney.
My dad tried the daily special dish - scrambled eggs with Hungarian sausage and veggies, toast and a wedge of watermelon.
I'll def. be returning to Littlefish with my hubby. -
Review from John M.
Toronto, ON
5/23/2011 2 Check-ins Here
I love going to Littlefish. It's a nice, little, casual yet hip brunch spot that's a quick walk from my house. I'm always happy with my brunch, be it breakfast-burritoesque Huevos, the bacon-filled buttermilk pancakes or the Jen's Choice - a bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado AND fried egg sandwich. The desserts are always good, but I rarely have room in my belly to indulge after a filling meal and bottomless coffee.
Littlefish does have a pretty short card. That can be especially frustrating considering that once I finally figure out how to poach an egg there isn't much on their menu I can't do myself at home. I keep finding myself looking for something new on the menu (beyond the scramble of the day), something that stands out, isn't too expensive and isn't something that I could have done with basic ingredients at home.Listed in: The Junction!
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Review from Pearl C.
Toronto, ON
8/21/2010 1 Check-in Here
I've been to Littlefish twice so far. The first time I got a 2 eggs with sausage combo, and the 2nd time I got the eggs benny.
The food here tastes healthy and fresh. The hollandaise sauce on the benny had a nice lemony taste to it and it's a welcome change considering some place's poached eggs taste like vinegar.
Portions are big, imho, and both times I had items on the plate that I couldn't finish.
Prices could be a couple of dollars lower (It's $14 for a two-egg, peameal bacon benny and homefries) but considering that it's in a more low traffic area, it seems reasonable for a neighbourhood that's slowly but surely gentrifying.
Wait staff is super friendly! No complaints there.
Would def. return whenever I feel like heading into the Junction. -
Review from Ange M.
Toronto, ON
2/7/2010
I'm all about checking out new brunch joints and ones that are within walking distance of my apartment when Saturday morning (okay, afternoon) hangovers serve as major TTC deterrents are even better. So myself and four like-minded Junction-ites made the trek to this adorable resto and given its small size, and the fact that it was already 2 in the afternoon, we had to take the only table that could accommodate our party - and proceeded to have one sweaty breakfast.
Now normally I would give my left foot for even a hint of warmth on a breezy February afternoon, compounded by the fact that my apartment doubles as a meat locker in the winter, but without any curtains and sitting in direct sunlight, we all ended up cooking like ants under a magnifying glass. Luckily, I always wear layers, but who wants to eat brunch in a tank top (and a ratty one at that since I didn't anticipate it making an appearance), mopping sweat from one's brow? That was, of course, no fault of the restaurant, but I'd recommend waiting for another table, or going with less people, lest you spend brunch fanning yourself.
Now, maybe it's time to move on the food, shall we? I ordered the egg scramble/messy wannabe omelette special of the day which had leeks, fresh thyme and gruyere cheese though I opted for no black forest ham and was offered lovely roma tomatoes it its place. My other brunch buddies went for the French toast, which was delicious and sweet and mostly reminded me of a cinnamon bun, standard breakfast of 2 eggs, bacon/sausage, potatoes and toast and the unfortunately named Blat (bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato) and all enjoyed their choices, especially when it came to the homemade sausage patties that I declined to sample.
My egg scramble was nice and I appreciated the use of leeks instead of a slew of too-thick onions which seem to worm their way into perfectly decent breakfast items, and the use of a sharp cheese like gruyere instead of your typical swiss or feta. Having said that, there was no 'wow' factor in the food or presentation or, though I hate to say it, service.
Our affable waiter was friendly and fairly attentive but always forgot one thing when he returned to our table, whether it was water, milk for coffee or a cloth to wipe off the random mountain of sugar that was on our table when we sat down. A simple, quickie table wipe should be automatic and certainly happen before orders are taken and though I was mostly unbothered by it, I understood when my frustrated friend took matters into her own hands and swept the sugar into her empty espresso cup since we weren't sure if our waiter would ever get to it. I'm going to assume these are rookie mistakes but as far as brunches go, while it wasn't wholly disappointing, I didn't leave feeling terribly satisfied and for about $15, I should at least be rubbing my belly in post-grazing appreciation.
Luckily, there's always next weekend. -
Review from Danielle D.
Toronto, ON
12/22/2009
Dropped by Littlefish today on the recommendation of a fellow yelper and I have to say I wasn't disappointed with the spread!
My friend was in from out of town and we were looking for some decent brunchy vegetarian options that were filling AND tasty, not always an easy find in the city, oh did I mention we didn't want to spend more than about $10 a pop?
So as I was saying.
I went in, convinced I was going to purchase the French Toast with fruit compote and creme fraiche ($8) but my eyes wandered, just for a moment to the savoury BLAT (the Jill's Choice) which also included two fried eggs in the middle of the bacon-y/avocado-y goodness. (also $8) and my mind was set.
That plus the bottomless coffee ($2.25) called for a very filling meal. The sandwich came on my choice of rye bread and was impressively stacked, I jokingly complained that I couldn't get my mouth over it and was ribbed by our server into bucking-up and accepting the mess that would spill over as part of the experience. She was right, I gave in and never looked back.
I especially loved that the BLAT(with egg) had a good amount of bacon on the TOP and the BOTTOM of the egg heap, there's nothing worse than a place that skimps the 'B' in a BL/A/T.
My friend chose the Mac'n'Cheese which was still sizzling by the time it landed on our table, gooey cheesy noodles covered in a crunchy-cheese topping. She was pretty ecstatic. We dug in, and everything was alright.
Service was great, we got lots of water and coffee refills and the restaurant (1pm on a Tuesday) was really relaxed and helped with the 'brunchy' atmosphere, giving us enough time to digest before we left, our wallets and bellies happy.
EDIT: Have now eaten the French Toast, was redonkulously delicious and left nary a crumb, the cinnamon maple syrup was also basically spooned off the plate into my mouth. YUM.Listed in: Quick n' Tasty Brunch Bites
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Review from TOFoodReviews n.
Toronto, ON
2/23/2011 3 Check-ins Here
As I'm writing this, I already know a lot of people are going to disagree with me. After all, the arrival of littlefish in the Junction has definitely been well received. The neighbourhood has been waiting an awfully long time for a cool, hipster-worthy brunch spot. Unfortunately, the arrival of littlefish hasn't completely filled that void just yet. They still have a few kinks to work out, but don't give up on them yet. I won't, but only because I really want to love it.
Ok. First off, this is a pretty cool restaurant. Besides the obviously brilliant name, littlefish is a great little place to grab weekend brunch. It's small, only about 8 tables or so, but that just makes it all-the-more cozier and comfortable. It's a long, narrow space filled with exposed red brick and shiny metal airducts. The daily specials, scrawled and displayed on a suspended chalkboard, are imaginative, original, and well-thought-out.
The brunch menu is pretty much what you'd expect to see. They have everything from French toast and eggs benedict to pancakes and crepes. Best of all, they seem to make everything from scratch with good ingredients.
The staff goes out of their way to be friendly and to make sure you have everything you need to feel comfortable. Constantly being checked on, I never found myself without a full cup of hot coffee, but I suppose that's sort of expected in a place that only seats about 30 people.
The thing that's not expected in a place this size is the ridiculous wait time for food. When I was there, it seemed as though everyone in the whole place waited 45 minutes to an hour for their orders to arrive; I know I definitely did. If they were understaffed, I couldn't understand it; there were at least 5 people in the exposed kitchen, none of them seeming to be moving with any sense of urgency. Definitely not understaffed here. The whole place seemed to be in a state of organized chaos. The front counter was covered with papers and dishes, and the visible part of the kitchen was overcrowded with food containers and crowded counterspaces. Organized chaos, but just barely contained.
People rave about the food here, but I really don't see it. My eggs benny was, meh, ok, but they certainly weren't anything to get excited about. They were warm but not hot, and the side of potatoes was mostly burned. My daughter had their now 'Internet famous' French toast. With burned edges on an overcrowded plate, they were even less than meh.
Make no mistake though, this place was busy. Newcomers are put on a couch to wait until a table vacates, but they are offered coffee. If you're planning on getting a table on the weekend, be prepared to wait. So why so busy? Personally, I think a lot of it has to do with the neighbourhood's lack of options. I'd be willing to bet that although littlefish may be doing well in the Junction, had they been on a more brunch heavy area, like West Queen West, they may not be doing as well as they are now.
So would I go back to littlefish? Sure. I'd like to give them another chance. I think the whole neighbourhood would. After all, the Junction needs a place like littlefish as much as littlefish needs a neighbourhood like the Junction. -
Review from Helen L.
York, ON
Updated - 7/23/2011
All I am going to say is "black miso marinated pork" at the last supper club - OMG! I fell in love.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/30/2011
I have eaten here many times and enjoyed both the food and the staff. For breakfast, the Huevos… Read more »
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Review from Monsters K.
Toronto, ON
1/4/2010 1 photo
I had the scramble and it was excellent, too often scrambled eggs are dried out horrors, not here. And the sausage was excellent!
Fair price as well -
Review from Brenna K.
Toronto, ON
5/26/2010
I love brunch. And I don't like your run of the mill greasy spoon brunch. I like my brunch to be a touch of fancy. I come here almost every weekend it is sooo good. Everything I have eaten is delicious and the staff are friendly. And the coffee is really good.
I would give it 5 stars but as with most good brunch places once the baby momma's get word there is a kid friendly place in town be prepared to see lots of sticky little hands and strollers. That being said since it is small it is not really ideal for large groups so the children are rarely travelling in packs which keeps the volume at a reasonable level.
Prices are also average brunch prices. -
Review from Jen K.
Toronto, ON
4/26/2010
"So here's how it works," our waiter exclaimed.
"You pick one item from each column, we combine them, and provide you with an amazing, self-designed smoothie."
"How fabulous!" I thought. "I love smoothies. At home we blend just about EVERYTHING! OK, I'll give this a try."
Hmm.. Did I want cow's milk or soy? Balkan style or low fat vanilla yogurt? Orange juice or apple? Blueberry, strawberry, banana or mango?
I settled on regular milk, vanilla yogurt, orange juice (as I was told the smoothie would need a base) and blueberry.
Perhaps it was my selection of ingredients (though my brunch companions fared no better), but my smoothie was AWFUL. Oh dear god it tasted like blueberry flavored milk... which, I realized, it pretty much was!
At home, we've been blending EVERYTHING so when the option of a smoothie presents itself, well..... it's pretty hard to resist, and actually pretty hard to ruin, but Littlefish managed to mess up three. The soy milk-balkan yogurt-banana smoothie was even worse. Perhaps milk and yogurt just don't go.
The food wasn't great either. Huevos rancheros tasted artificial and though spicy beans were a focal point of the menu description, they only slightly glazed the inside of the wrap. A tiny piece of canteloupe lay alongside.
I left feeling hungry. -
Review from Leslie-Anne W.
Toronto, ON
I want to love littlefish, it's in the Junction, across from Crema coffee, it's cute and inviting, but...I can't love littlefish. Having brunch twice at littlefish has been disappointing. The service is fine, once you get a table, but the food is lacklustre. There are signs that they are trying hard - making their own bread for the eggs benny and forming their own sausage patties - but the food is not-that-good and it's too bad because the Junction really needs a great brunch spot.
Listed in: An Afternoon in the Junction
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Review from Marie F.
I felt super left out during Doppleganger week on Facebook, because frankly there are no celebrities that look like me (and vice versa). I am betting however that my waiter from Littlefish didn't have any problems identifying his... he is a dead ringer for Iron & Wine's Sam Beam!
All kidding aside "Sam" was a great waiter and I thoroughly enjoyed my brunch. I got the Huevos Rancheros ($12); it contains cheese and egg melted together inside a rolled tortilla and smothered with sour cream, guacamole and salsa.
I finished my awesome meal with a yummy cupcake that was a little bit on the dry side, but still good. -
Review from Steeven L.
Etobicoke, ON
6/13/2010
Littlefish was a great find in the Junction. I'm not often in this part of town so I'm glad I read the Yelp reviews before coming here. The French Toast are definately worth trying (they do taste like cinamon buns!).
I ordered a coffee with French toast and a side of bacon. All very delicious but save your money on the bacon. 3 slices for $3 is not worth it. Go to the grocery store and get a pack for $4 instead.
The staff is very accomodating and the service was quick. I would definately come back for brunch anytime. -
Review from Ramanan S.
Toronto, ON
5/30/2010 1 Check-in Here
I've been here a few times now for brunch, but can't bring myself to get anything but the eggs and sausages. They make the sausages themselves and they taste like awesome. My friend got a BLAT + Egg sandwich that looked pretty damn good; she really enjoyed it. They have a good selection of brunch items. The cafe itself it quite nice, though there isn't much seating. If you show up at an odd time you can expect to wait a while. Unlike many brunch places i've tried, this one made me want to come back for more. It's definitely worth checking out.
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Review from Val G.
6/13/2010
Some of the best blueberry pancakes in town. They were definitely made from scratch and came with maple syrup. Just amazing. I scarfed them down so fast. The coffee was good too. They put a candy dish of cane sugar at every table and I was able to get soy to add, which for me is the perfect cup. The baked goods looked scrumptious so I took a green tea cupcake to-go. My only complaint was it was cold, especially when it's a cloudy cool day outside. The A/C was unnecessary. But I'm an open window girl even on the hottest days.
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Review from Melanie H.
Toronto, ON
3/18/2011
there was nothing wrong with my avocado BLT in this cute little place. i'm not so sure about putting briney olives on a tuna melt, but overall the food was fresh, not offensive to me, and within a low price range. the front of house person was courteous, the latte was fine, i would go back, if it weren't crowded. from where i was seated i could see into the kitchen, kinda messy, disorganized... and then as the whole restaurant filled up for lunch, i could see the cooks losing their cool as the orders racked up. thankfully we were leaving at that point because everyone in the restaurant was either waiting for food, or with open menus, and it didn't look like anyone was going to eat soon. they have some very cute, rustic looking tarts i would like to try. i like the simplicity and cuteness of this cafe, makes you feel at home.
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Review from Malgosia G.
Toronto, ON
8/1/2010
It was just ok. Nothing to really complain about, but nothing exceptional either. The cappuccino was great, as was the tea selection. The scramble of the day was tasty enough - but I did find a few eggshells in mine. The pancakes my husband ordered were so-so. Mitzi's pancakes are way better. It was a little pricey for what you got in my opinion. The service was good - we had to wait a while for a table and the coffee/tea was on the house as a result. Classy touch.
I liked the decor and the atmosphere, and given this is so close to my house I'll probably be back to give it another shot.
