Lady Marmalade

I dream about this place. Everything I have ever tried here has been delicious. From the eggs benny to the huervos rancheros to the sandwiches. The only downside is the place is small, so there is usually quite a line up outside. Otherwise, if you’re willing to wait at prime time hours, 5 stars!

Excellent place for Sunday brunch. Get there early though, to avoid the line-​up at the door. We had the Lady Marmalade eggs benedict with mango salsa, cheese and bacon (which was cooked to perfection), the peanut butter and banana smoothie was light and refreshing and I could not get enough of the freshly squeezed orange juice. The service was fast, friendly and awesome. Definitely worth the trek across town.

Favorite in the city for breakfast. Expect a line. Friendly staff, pilot coffee, great huevos rancheritos.

Has to be one of my favourite spots. This is one of those places where the line is worth it, and the hype is founded on their delicious perfectly runny poached eggs.

Great brunch place. Small place and always a line up. Don’t go here with a big group, you won’t get a spot. Cash only.

My friend and I went on a Saturday afternoon for brunch. We waited in line for about 20 minutes for a table. We both ordered the weekend eggs benny special with avocado and chorizo sausage. It came with a side of salad and potato hash. The egg was poached well and the food was seasoned well. The way they seasoned the sausage complimented the avocado taste.
I took one star away because they only take cash.

I’ve been here almost 10 times now (didn’t check in every time woops!)
It has never disappointed me. I’ve tried most of the brunch menu. What I look for when I have any type of eggs benny is the poached egg and how well it is made. If I can put my knife in it and the egg yolk drools out, ITS GOOD! I’ve been to some brunch restaurants and they’ve never been as consistent and as good tasting as Lady Marmalade. This is one of my favorite places.
One of my favourite dishes is the Egg Benny with Brie and Avocado. Absolutely delicious. Along with my favorite freshly squeezed fruit juice: Beet, Ginger and Apple! To die for!!!
I recommend this to any one who wants a great brunch experience.
Tip: Don’t forget to come early because there is ALWAYS a line up. My first time, there was a line up of 2 hours! Nowadays, it’s regularly around 20 – 30 minute wait time. But if you come with a buddy or two, it is a great time to catch up and huddle. :)

Food: Pretty good. I got the buckwheat crêpe with fruit, which was good– just not sure if it’s worth waiting 25 minutes for. My husband got one of the huevos dishes, which I tried and it was quite good. The portion sizes are large, and he didn’t finish it all. Price point is good for the food.
Service: Mediocre. The servers were friendly, but not overly attentive. When we were seated at a table for four after our wait in the line-​up, they asked if we would be ok with switching to table for two if that opened up, which we were fine with. When it did open up, the server asked us to move over, but didn’t bother to help carry any of our drinks and utensils over and quickly started setting up the table for four. Not cool.
Atmosphere: Busy. Obviously people come here for the food, which is dandy, but there’s no room for relaxing post-​meal because there’s a line up out the door and around the corner so you feel bad for taking up a table when you’re done eating.
Line-​up: Always. We went on a weekday around 11:30am and we waited about 25 minutes, but as soon as noon hit, the line-​up was past the window. Just not sure if it’s worth the line-​up because there’s other places to eat with less of a line-​up.
Bottom line: This review got a 4 star for the food, everything else is a 2 star.

3.5 stars. Came here on Wednesday afternoon around 1:30pm for brunch, and there was still a bit of a wait! Party of three. Was seated after about 20 minutes, so not bad at all compared to the infamous Sunday lineup. I ordered the mango salsa, cheddar and bacon benny and it was SO delicious though my eggs were a little under (the whites were a bit runny). My friends ordered the spinach waffle (first time it came burnt but they made a new one and apologized about the burnt waffle) and avocado brie benny which she said was pretty good. Home fries were a little odd and mushed. Cash only, no separate bills — kind of a hassle. Not sure if I’ll be back in the near future due to the various inconveniences but boy was that mango salsa benny amazing!

Not four stars because cash only places in the 21^st century make no sense.
The menu was super creative however.
I had the waffles with cheese and bacon. It was served with a salad which was surprisingly good for breakfast time.

Food 5 stars — I enjoyed the Moroccan scrambled eggs. Service 2 stars. Waitress not friendly and tried to rush us to leave. She asked me if I wanted my drink packed to go. I’ve never had that happen. Atmosphere 1 star. There’s a crowd of people standing near the tables staring at you while you eat. And it’s cold because the door is left open a lot and there isn’t a good barrier. Overall would not return despite the good food.

I finally met Lady Marmalade today. She welcomed me with her open arms and gave me the warmest hug. She seated me near her opulent window and served me her Crêpe Croque Monsieur, which was perfectly priced, hot, savoury, and Hoooey Goooey good. My visit was indeed well over due!

After seeing all the positive reviews here, I wanted to check this place out. Well, not really, but my brother did, so we went. Monday morning, packed. Cash only, not great. Usually cash only means better prices, but not here. For just under $ 30 had we each had the hash browns with two eggs. In a fancy restaurant I could maybe see that… maybe, but this is not at all fancy. And they called what we had poutine, which it was far from. For a small, crowded, expensive joint, it was absolutely not worth the money, and I wouldn’t recommend it.

Came to Lady Marmalade for brunch on Saturday. Seriously, come here earlier (we came around noon) because the line up goes out the door and there’s a good reason for that. Their food is amazing. We ordered an apple cider and beets, apple and ginger juice — both very good and refreshing. I got the brie, avocado & bacon bennie ($ 15) and he got the huevos migas ($ 12.50) and they were both so flavourful and tasty.
Our server always checked up on us at the right time and super attentive. Would definitely come back to try their other items on their menu!

Being from the East end, I always see the longest line up for this place. So I gave it a shot to see what the hype was all about.
Why this place kinda sucked:
1) waited 45 minutes in the cold cause they’re a small shop and the line is outside
2) they put me and my BF at a table just above their floor vent so there was a nasty breeze grazing my leg
3) I ordered the banana bread French toast — big mistake. Way too sweet, soggy as f, and COATED in syrup. I literally had a bite and put down my fork.
4) coffee = watered down, like an intercontinental breakfast.
The only redeeming quality was that my BF ordered an eggs benedict which was average. At least they know how to poach an egg.
Not worth the wait.

Delicious breakfast; dare I say, perfection? I had a difficult time deciding what to eat, as the breakfast menu here really spoke to me. I went with the Benny topped with Brie, bacon and avocado, and was most impressed. Poaching a perfect egg is something not many breakfast restaurants do well, but they do it with finesse here. I love a place that respects the egg! Their hollandaise was a bright yellow color, due, no doubt, to the lovely deep color of the egg yolks. It was also seasoned perfectly, as was everything on the plate. You will get a side salad and some oven roasted potatoes with any Benny, and these delighted as well. They use one of my favorite dressings on their greens, the classic Asian ginger and soy sauce, so that made me happy. Yum, yum, yum! I’ll be skipping lunch. The coffee was very good, and service was efficient and friendly. There are only a dozen or so tables here, and the place was almost full by 9:00 on a week day, so arrive early and hungry. And congrats to this place on getting voted the best breakfast restaurant 2015 in Now Toronto!

I’ve lived in the east end of the better part of a decade now, and I only tried Lady Marmalade for the first time ever last week. I’m a bit anti-​queue, even though a lengthy line-​up usually means that something special is waiting beyond the anxious crowd. However, I found myself with an ultra-​rare weekday off (I don’t have the guts or patience to try for a weekend) and decided it was finally time to give Lady Marmalade a go.
First discovery — this place is jumping, even on a weekday. We arrived around 10:30AM and got the last table-​for-​two that was available (and the ever-​ubiquitious lineup began to form shortly thereafter). Service is friendly but quick and to-​the-​point, because they are obviously trying to move as many plates as they possibly can to keep up with the throng of people who just want to get their breakfast on.
I opted for the bread pudding, and the husband ordered the breakfast poutine. We were served our food within minutes of placing our orders, and the serving sizes were hearty and filling. The food was good. I mean, it wasn’t as incredible as I had expected given the hype, but it was still good. The bread pudding wasn’t really what I had expected, given that they indicate on the menu that the dish is their interpretation of french toast. Don’t get me wrong, it was very delicious (I ordered the lemon-​raspberry variety), but other than being served with maple syrup, it didn’t really scream FRENCH TOAST to me. Plus, the maple syrup felt like a bit of an unnecessary afterthought to make a dessert dish seem more breakfast-​y. The raspberry coulis on top spoke for itself, and I wouldn’t have missed the syrup had it never appeared on my plate.
It’s pretty inexpensive for a nice brunch, which is nice considering it is a cash-​only establishment. And given the perpetual crowd, I imagine it’s not the kind of breakfast place where you can get away with ordering free refills of coffee and gab away the day. As soon as we were finished, the bill arrived, was paid, and we were out the door within 30 minutes. Not quite what I had expected.
Overall, everything was fine. There wasn’t anything particularly spectacular about the food or the service, it was just fine. Nothing to really rant OR rave about, and definitely not enough to encourage me to start braving the weekend line-​up.

Came here today for brunch.
I came many years ago when my cousins from California were in town before I was a true foodie and had no idea I was at such a good place (don’t even remember what I ordered). WELL, everybody raves about this place and I’ve been meaning to go to Leslieville for a while now so today my boyfriend and I headed east!
We picked a kind of crappy day to go because there was a marathon downtown and a lot of roads were closed and buses weren’t running but regardless of the roadblocks we got there and were VERY hungry.
Well there was a huge line out the door and after standing in it for a minute I was like no, can’t do this, too hungry! We noticed there were a couple other brunch places next door and even went into one, got a table, read the menu and were about to order until a light bulb appeared over my head and I was all like. Okay…we came all the way here for Lady Marmalade, we have to just wait in the line and get over it (bear in mind the hostess said it would be a 45 minute wait​.out​side​.in the cold) so we left and went back in line! My boyfriend stood in the line and I got us some Starbucks to warm us up! She wasn’t kidding it really was a 45 minute wait, we kept ourselves occupied as best as we could though. I couldn’t help looking in the restaurant from time to time and thinking things like «oh my god you guys are done your meal stop talking and leave!!» or «why would they seat a solo bruncher at a table for 4?» I think those were just my hangry thoughts coming out though.
Well the magical moment finally came where the door opened and it was our turn for a seat! This was way into the afternoon too haha like around 2:00, and their brunch ends at 3.
We sat there starving and decided to share the banana peanut butter milkshake to start. I felt bad because I jokingly said to my boyfriend, «omg he’s standing right there come take our order!!!» and right after he came, hope he didn’t hear me! The milkshake was ok, but I totally could have made the exact same thing at home: P
For our mains I got the pulled pork benny and my boyfriend got the spinach cheddar waffles. I was torn between like 3 things (obviously) so I let the waiter choose as I always do! I really liked my meal and so did my boyfriend. I hear they have amazing french toast and would love to go back and try that someday but I was more in the mood for something savoury today. The benny came with home fries (not many but whatever) and a green salad with this AWESOME dressing it was some kind of asian sesame, so so so good! They also brought us over two hot sauces, one was sriracha and the other was their homemade one. I didn’t have it because I’m a baby but my boyfriend tried it and it was pretty difficult for him to eat which means it’s definitely very spicy because he’s always complaining things aren’t spicy enough!
Overall it was a success, we came, we saw, we conquered and it was worth the wait. Apparently it’s always that nuts but it’s just something you gotta get over because the food is so damn good.
I’ll be back :)

Amazing Asian salad, soup and Thai slaw
Great flavours!!! Also the Mexican breakfast is awesome it even comes with real tortillas, fresh avocado think beans too. So great. Only thing is there are huge lineups especially on the weekends. And you may find it annoying to not be able to get a Ceasar because there’s no liquor license. Otherwise it’s great

It’s rare for me to rate a place 5 stars on the first try, but this place almost literally blew my socks off!
Be warned: they only accept cash and there’s a chance you’ll have to line up for a few minutes to get in. BUT it’s totally worth it!
There were two of us here at around 10 on a Friday morning and it took us 15 minutes to be seated.
The atmosphere is chilled out and everything has so much character, from the chairs to the mugs.
The staff were incredibly nice, even though the place was packed and super busy, they were so polite and didn’t rush to answer our questions.
Well I guess I should talk about the food! We each ordered the Brie and avocado eggs Benedict, and it was hands down the best eggs Benny I’ve ever had in life! The hollandaise sauce was delicious, eggs cooked perfectly, English muffins were toasty and crisp, potatoes were super crispy but not burnt and the side salad was a great compliment to the meal! To top it off, their house hot sauce made with habanero was seriously amazing, everyone must try it! It was packed with flavour!
I’d definitely come here again, it’s worth the wait!!!

Wow, franchement ça vaut le détour, mais faut essayer leurs spécialités. Le service est très bon et mon dieu, le Huevos Miga… Super excellent! On reviendra