Gateau Ghost — Restaurant in Toronto

Edited Oct. 23: We were invited back and accepted, curious to see if it'd be better, and were pleasantly surprised! Will explain in more detail when I have the time, but for now I've updated to reflect yesterday's visit: 4 stars for the food, 5 stars for the overall experience. Thoughts to come...!

Really wanted to love this joint, but it missed the mark spectacularly on so many fronts.

Treated my stepsister for her birthday and cousin for her grad, chose somewhere we all hadn’t been before. Wanted to go to Susie's, but they were closed that day. Gateau Ghost had been on my list for a while, and we were all excited to finally try it.

We started off with three hojicha lattes ($7 each). They were grainy and disappointing. I’ve had much better (shout out Rooms Baldwin!), and for cheaper, too.

The Cereal Shrimp Toast ($18) was TINY and left no lasting impression. The KFC Sando ($21) was similarly forgettable. The best part of the meal was the Bulgogi Breakfast Poutine ($19) — the fingerling potatoes and white gravy in a skillet were lovely.

So, at this point I’m feeling like the meal was a letdown, but I figured we could at least end it on a high note with a madeleine? We chose the strawberry because it was so pretty, but upon biting into it, found it to be quite dry and just…not good! I thought these were the house specialty; instead it just tasted like an unloved pastry smothered in artificial jam.

As for the ambiance, it is very cute up front — beautiful millwork and cute seating area, natural light. But we were stuck all the way at the back in a dim cocoon of sadness (at least we were close to the bathroom?). I’m quite sensitive to the feng shui of a place, so it did affect my enjoyment. As a saving grace, our server (I forgot her name) was very cute and sweet.

Sorry for the shite picture…I was so unenthused to take any pictures at all, and had already deleted the picture of the sad sack strawberry madeleine.

I so wanted to...

This place is insanely pretentious. It has become super busy this summer. Where I used to be able walk in and get a seat - this is impossible to have now. I keep getting told that I need a reservation. Since Thursdays I’m able to go for lunch I tried to make a reservation - all Thursdays at lunch are booked for the entire month of August! Really ? Lunch and brunch completely booked for August. You’re not that good! I came in the other day and waited for a table. Again I was told I require a reservation - I said how long for the wait - they said it would be 1/2 hour. I said I would wait. 15 minutes of waiting - three empty tables sat empty. Two tables vacated and I asked and was told those are for reservations. Don’t you have a policy for reservations? After 10-15 minutes you loose it. Most high end restaurants do. Or even better high end or busy restaurants ask for a credit card to avoid no shows. To turn down people who are willing to pay to eat willing to wait and be seated and be turned down for reserved no shows is insane to me. You lost my business and you’re loosing more! Although the wait staff are incredible , and the food is delicious - the front staff are pretentious and aloof and not helpful. Poorly organized. Save yourself the hassle and choose another establishment on college . The coffee is mediocre in comparison to what used to be Nino and barocco .. I lived in this neighbourhood for over 40 years and I can see there is no effort to build a connection with the community. The community will come and support new business however I’m not the only one feeling this way in our community even other businesses have said the same thing on college . You need to change how you interact with people at the front. Save yourself the headache and go to Ladybug, Janelle’s, Boom or starving artist which is only a few blocks away and are community oriented. Or just cross the street to Bricolage bakery for better baked good and...

EDIT: Came back to try brunch and had a pawsitively tail-wagging experience. We tried the mango ginger turmeric iced tea, KFC sando, shrimp toast, and bulgogi croque madame.

The iced tea was more like mango juice but was quite tasty and not too sweet. There was definitely an earthiness from the turmeric, but I would’ve liked a bit more gingery zing. Nevertheless, a fetching drink.

Shrimp toast was definitely the star – coated in cereal and fried, topped with mayo and chives – it’s super crunchy and doglicious! It’s pretty small for the price, but it’s worth it. A must-fetch item.

The croque madame with bulgogi was a unique take on a brunch classic. Loved the perfectly runny egg and squishy bread! The KFC sando was good too – well fried and juicy, but could’ve used a bit of hot sauce or pickle to round out the flavor. Came with a side of fries.

Overall, a pretty tasty brunch experience! Service was prompt and courteous. It’s a bit pricey but worth it.

I will raise my overall rating to 4.5 woofs out of 5.

————

Heard a lot about this place, so I decided to check it out while on a walk. Tried the raspberry and black sesame madeleines, as well as their olive oil cake.

The madeleines were just okay—a bit dry and dense. The raspberry one had a filling which was tasty and helped with the dry cake texture, but the black sesame reminded me of a chocolate TimBit—nothing to bark home about.

The olive oil cake, however, was truly doglicious—a soft, moist loaf topped with a soft, lightly orange-flavored meringue cream. It was pawsitively delightful!

One small downside—they don’t offer cutlery, so the olive oil cake was a bit messy to eat, but it was so good that I licked my paws clean. A bit of a doggone inconvenience, but worth it.

Would be interested to come back and try their brunch!

Overall, 4...