GOED ETEN 66 1/2 Nassau, at Augusta, 647-345-7633. Complete meals for $10 per person, including all taxes, tip and a pop. Average main $4. Open Thursday to Sunday 11 am to 7 pm. Closed Monday to Wednesday, holidays. Unlicensed. Cash only. Access: one step at door, no washrooms. Rating: NNNN
If you’ve ever done brunch at Le Petit Dejeuner on King East, you’ve likely been puzzled by the proviso on owner/chef Johan Maes’s midday menu specifying that customers can only order one of his fabled Belgian waffles per table. C’est what?
“I only had one waffle iron, and it’s very small,” explains the amiable Maes. “If everyone ordered them, it’d be hours before they’d be served. But now that I have my new larger irons, waffles won’t be a problem any more.”
Two months ago, Maes went a step further and launched Goed Eten, a Belgian waffle house in quirky Kensington Market. A cozy café that opens to the street, the house offers a short lineup.
Actually, there are two styles of waffle, the more-familiar-to-most Brussels version ($3) that looks and tastes like a thicker, crisper Eggo, and a smaller cinnamon-scented muffin made from brioche batter studded with nuggets of crunchy pearl sugar that’s named for the city of Liège. Halves of the former come layered with Kensington Organic’s superb Double Dutch chocolate or lavender blueberry ice cream or topped with ripe fruit (strawberries today), real whipped cream and locally sourced maple syrup ($3.50). The latter ($1.25) are meant to be popped into the toaster oven at home.
Grilled savoury sandwiches (all $4.50) come pressed between flattened Brussels-style waffles and include peameal bacon spread with house pesto, and dee-lish tuna salad flecked with parsley and sweet red pepper. But I’m still not sure what to make of Maes’s offbeat sandwich that pairs waffles with curried chickpeas and cheese.
“If we can make it through the winter, we’ll be all right,” says Maes, thinking ahead to those dismal February days when the now bustling Market is virtually deserted.
He needn’t worry. Goed Eten is good eatin’ whatever the weather.
stevend@nowtoronto.com
