Cafe Landwer Yorkdale — Restaurant in Toronto

I NEVER leave google reviews but I felt as if i needed to share my experience from today. I attended this location with my partner and 5 month old and as we arrived the service seemed to be okay. They seated us quickly and the woman who seated us and took our order was very kind. We were seated close to the back on the left of the entrance.

I had ordered a smoothie and the pesto chicken pasta and my partner had ordered the chicken shawarma hummus and we ordered sweet potato fries to share! The food arrived quickly which I didn’t think anything of, the fries were good as well as the shawarma plate but honestly nothing out of this world. My pesto chicken pasta was not great! The pasta itself was fine but the chicken was very tough, and very dry. I hate complaining at restaurants but I really couldn’t enjoy my meal so i brought it up to a gentleman wearing a green shirt and he said he would mention it to the kitchen and bring out some new chicken. I was very apologetic and felt bad as I hate wasting food!! The chicken came out literally 5 mins later… almost as if they gave me a chicken that was pre-prepared sitting there in the kitchen. This immediately made me think not everything is freshly made. The new chicken wasn’t chewy but it had no flavour. Super bland. I ate it and just left it at that… didn’t wanna bother saying anything else.

The service on the other hand!!! Terrible!!! Besides the lady being kind at the start or our order no one ever came to check on us. It was so bad to the point where we had to fill our own waters in the back where they had this water dispenser. At the very end of our meal a gentleman came very quickly and abruptly to ask if we needed anything but was about to walk away before I could answer! I had to quickly ask him for some more sauce for our fries before he could dash away. I honestly wanted to leave no tip but I left $7 on a $65 bill and honestly didn’t think they deserved it. It was just even more frustrating because as we left the gentleman in the green was so available he was on his personal phone right at the entrance. Not sure if he was the manager but super unprofessional. I don’t expect much when I go out to restaurants but to not even check if we needed water refills or napkins etc once is unacceptable especially when the restaurant isn’t too busy. Very disappointed as I went to this same location a few months ago and had a fine experience to not wanting to ever go back. Do better for your...

Decor and presentation was great and clearly where this place shines. Food is presented very well and is appealing to the eye. Flavour however is very much lacking. Sinia kebab, breakfast sandwiches, and pancakes ordered were some of the most bland items I’ve ever tasted. The Sinia kebab had no spice or flavour whatsoever. Breakfast sandwich had an ice cold egg. The pancakes were more like cookies as they were very dry and crunchy. Service here was so bad. One guest I was with asked for ice for their water and the waitress got visibly upset for some reason at this request and slammed the cup of ice when it was brought. Then, while taking our orders, the waitress zoned out for about 30 seconds. It was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen at a restaurant while ordering. They literally starred passed us and just stopped talking and then like clicked back to reality after 30 seconds. We asked if they’re ok and they seemed to not understand why we asked. After taking our order, the original waitress was never seen again, so not sure if something was really wrong? Hope she’s ok. As we ate, other servers must have come 3-4 times asking while we were still eating, if we were done with our plate. We hadn’t had our food more than 30 minutes total by the time we actually finished eating but they asked while 60%, 40%, 20%, etc was still on the plates. We had to keep saying no, we’re still eating. Even when 1 of us finished, they tried to take everyone’s plate away even if another person had 40% of their food left and was very clearly taking bites while being asked if they can clear the table. Again, we didn’t have our food for more than 30 minutes total so it wasn’t like we were just chilling, being slow. Once we actually finished, the servers vanished. We waited about 45 minutes and no server came back to our table. We called out 3-4 times, “excuse me” trying to get a server’s attention, they kept walking by. Finally we got a waitress, hadn’t seen here yet, and she came over and bring the bill. Was a strange experience for sure. Not all that busy as there were multiple empty tables so not sure what...

Cafe Landwer provided a bright, clean, and welcoming environment for our breakfast. We were initially impressed by the good first impression upon arrival.

The beverage options were excellent, particularly the hot chocolate, where we appreciated the choice between dark or milk chocolate—a nice touch that shows attention to detail.

For my meal, I had the Challah Baked French Toast (8/10). The presentation was lovely, and the French toast itself was tasty, well-complemented by the addition of granola, cinnamon, berry coulis, banana, whipped cream, and maple syrup. My only critique is that the texture could have been improved by letting the challah soak in the egg mixture a bit longer to ensure it was evenly moist throughout. Overall, it was a very satisfying dish.

My friend ordered the Rustico Omelette (9/10), which included portobello mushroom, spinach, and leek with goat cheese, served alongside crushed potatoes and multigrain bread. He thoroughly enjoyed his meal, specifically praising the crushed potatoes as a highlight.

The primary area for constructive feedback lies with the service. Upon being seated at the back of the dining room, we found ourselves in a section that was unfortunately out of the direct sightline of the serving staff. This made it challenging and slow to get a server's attention, which impacted the overall flow of our meal.

The service we did receive was acceptable, but the inconsistency and initial difficulty in flagging down a waiter suggests an opportunity for improvement in coverage for the entire dining area. As more diners were seated in our section throughout our stay, the server presence naturally increased, and the attention we received improved.

Despite the minor service hiccup due to seating, our overall experience at Cafe Landwer was positive. The high quality of the food—especially the innovative French toast and the excellent Rustico Omelette—makes this a strong breakfast spot. Improving the attentiveness and consistent coverage of all seating areas would make the dining experience truly exceptional. We look forward to...