SIMPLE BISTRO

Simple Bistro is delicately perfect. A favourite French Bistro of my mum’s, we went here this weekend for a Sunday brunch. French Bistro’s are a plenty in Toronto but Simple Bistro does it so well, giving the feeling of eating in the streets of Paris at a cozy bistro with some light bites of French classics such as egg, cheese, pear and vinaigrettes. 

Located on the Mt. Pleasant strip Simple Bistro is neighbours to quite a few French food eats. With a simple exterior of black with “Simple Bistro” in plain black type across the front on a beige strip, it just looks charming and inviting. Once inside, the bistro is simple. Wooden tables and chairs accompanied by a mulled red seat cushion, the place just has that charming bistro-feel.  After too much chatter and a few glasses of wine we finally got to the menu! And what a tough decision it was, each dish just sounded perfect in its own way, and it was so tough to decide between a favourite egg brunch or a lovely steak frites. Three of us decided on the crèpe du jour, filled with mushrooms, truffled scrambled eggs and chèvre. Truffles, mushrooms, chèvre….need I say more??

My mum had the quintessential steak frites. A beautiful piece of striploin cooked rare with horseradish butter, red wine jus, frites and chipotle mayonnaise. Every component of this just worked numbers together. The horseradish butter was a great twist from a typical herbed butter and the red wine jus was a perfect softening agent for the crispy bistro frites which were then luckily submerged into a chipotle wonder.

And to start off the meal we all split a “Winter Salad” of Belgian endive, raisins, walnuts, Benedictine Blue cheese (Quebec's answer to Stilton), and pear with a cassis vinaigrette. I have never had such crisp endive that held its shape just right.

Each of the plates we were presented just screamed bistro elegance. For a lovely brunch, lunch or dinner á la French bistro head to Simple Bistro, un bijou dans la coeur de Mt. Pleasant (a gem in the heart of the Mt Pleasant strip)!!

Simple Bistro

619 Mount Pleasant Road

Toronto, ON M4S 2M5

(416) 483-8933

http://www.simplebistro.com/

photo credit: my own & simplebistro.com