Todrics

Vanier is a bit of a food desert & I have wanted to try this place for awhile. A disappointment.
We arrived for lunch on Xmas Eve, knowing they had burgers on the menu. The place was empty. 1^st thing our server said was «we close at 2 pm» (the doors were already locked, but we had a reservation). I should have taken this as a bad sign. Instead, I politely said no problem & we ordered our burgers & turkey club panini. The good news? The fries were hot and fresh cut. The bad news? The burgers were burnt and the buns stale.
An expensive burger in an area of town which needs better rests.
ps The pics on this site are unhelpful & misleading.

I had the smoked chicken sandwich and requested no ciabatta bread because I have an allergy to gluten. Unfortunately, my meal arrived with battered tomatoes on top. Our waiter quickly took my plate away when I pointed this out. When he returned, I now had fresh sliced tomatoes on top of my meal. To my dismay, I ate several crunchy bits of batter and found another one in my meal, confirming they had simply removed the battered tomatoes and not replaced my entire meal. I’m now waiting for the inevitable gluten reaction to occur.

Was looking on Unilocal for restaurants in the area, and found this one. I’d seen it on the street before, but it hadn’t quite captured my interest enough to try it for some reason. (Maybe because it’s winter and everything looks grey on McArthur.)
It looked promising based on a quick peak at their website, so I and a co-​worker headed over. The review I saw noted lunch was a buffet — but it was from 2012, and that’s no longer the case — it’s all table service.
Décor is pretty straight forward, but comfortable. They have a number of daily specials and a set menu. Of note, there were some interesting grilled cheese items (including one with an option for double-​chocolate bread — which I will be going back for). They also have soups, burgers, quiche and a few other items.
I choose the burger special with salad. Salad was fresh and light. The burger came on a bun that was fabulous — just a bit crunchy with a great taste — and it was great with the burger. My friend Cheryl got the Duck Burger special and was blown away by it. (I kept hearing noises like ‘mmmmm’ or ‘oh, that’s good’.)
It’s a bit expensive for an everyday lunch, but overall competitive pricing for a gourmet lunch. My burger was $ 12 (with the salad or fries). Both of us felt happy with the food quality to price ratio and we do plan to return periodically.
Waiter was very nice, and checked in appropriately with us. While he was busy with a table, the chef came out and seated us — so they work as a team.
Their primary business is catering (based on the website) but (presumably) since they are there anyway, they run the restaurant. It works!
Would I return: Yes.
Would I recommend: Yes

A small restaurant near the corner of McArthur and North River Road. Two chefs deliver tasty concoctions cafeteria-​style for breakfast and lunch; apparently there is table service for dinner though I have never been.
Delicious food, friendly service, reasonable prices and nice atmosphere. What’s not to like?