The Passenger

A good 4.5 stars
A group of 7 decided to meet in the junction and my niece recommended this place. The signage out front is not that great (it’s on the northeast corner of Dundas at Pacific) and we walked by it several times before I googled the address and we realized we were across the street from it. That was really the only thing that I could fault the restaurant for. The rest of our visit was flawless.
As we heard the place gets quite busy, we made a reservation for 11am… we arrived a bit early and they were still setting our table but they offered to put us at the bar while we waited (even though they don’t open until 11:00am).
Our group ordered off the brunch menu… and seeing as how it was a fairly big group, I couldn’t talk to everyone to find out how their meals were… so I can only comment on mine and those seated next and across from me.
I ordered the Lemon/​ricotta/​blueberry pancakes topped with real whipped cream. Now, I am a huge fan of pancakes and these were perhaps in the top 1 percentile of pancakes I’ve had dining out. They were excellent… no maple syrup required. They were fluffy, light with a great balance of blueberry and lemon. I will come back again just for these pancakes.
Two people seated near me ordered the Eggs Benny with Pork Belly (one with fries and the other with salad). Personally, I’m not a huge fan of pork belly as it’s VERY fatty, and these were… but both people who had them said they were excellent. A good sign is that their plates were clean (save for the fat).
The person next to me had the BLT with fries. He woofed the thing down and was so full he couldn’t eat his fries (which has never been an issue before).
As an added bonus, the tea I ordered gave me 4 full cups of tea.
Our female server was excellent… she frequently came by and checked on us and asked if we needed anything.
All 7 of us discussed outside whether we would return and all 7 agreed that we would.

Been here 3 times. The Arctic Char is very good, other items are so-​so. Some good deals at the bar. Service is average. A friend said weekend brunch was way overpriced.

Come for the food not the cocktails. Unfortunately the cocktail menu is no better than what you would find at a 3 star Cuban resort. Not to say the are not trying but really, then need to hire an experience bartender from somewhere like the Linwood, Cocktail bar or even BJ Alexanders. Their beer selection is pretty decent. A mix of staple and craft beer. The atmosphere is warm and inviting so if you can look past the poor cocktails this place has some promise.

Went with my spouse and a couple of friends on a Saturday night. Arrived at 8pm to a half-​full restaurant and waited awhile to be greeted and seated — wait staff/​hostess seemed to ignore me. Bartender noticed and tried to get their attention for me which I appreciated. The restaurant seems pretty typical for the neighborhood; kind of a hipster cool casual vibe.
The food itself was average. I ordered the mussels to start which were very good. For my main meal I ordered the fish special which was the trout — it was lukewarm and kind of dry.
Overall, the food was just ok. Not sure I would return.

Decided to meet up with friends here as we were seeing a band in the area. Our server was pleasant and attentive. It was a nice warm evening and we sat on their side patio which is quite spacious. Our friends were running late so we grabbed the charcuterie platter which was the best part of the meal. I had the wings which had a good taste but were chewy, I like crispy wings. Fries were mediocre and the side of coleslaw was a travesty. Tried a bite of my wife’s burger and it was pretty good but relatively small. Our friends had the fish n chips and gnocchi and said they wouldn’t order them again. The mixed drinks were good but the pints I ordered were not very cold which is too bad considering we were sitting outside on a hot summer night. We spent close to $ 200 for 4 people and would say we walked away unsatisfied.

Service was great. Beer selection was good. I tried the flying monkey hibiscus lager and it was perfect for a hot summer day. Also snacked on the bruchetta which was simply amazing.

I first paid The Passenger a visit for cocktails shortly after their opening last year. It wasn’t a planned event, we were simply walking along in the Junction with some friends when we noticed lights on and people sitting about having drinks in a corner unit that had previously lay empty.
The first experience set the tone for all my future visits as the cocktails were creative and tasty, well balanced where applicable with equal parts of flavour and good old fashioned booze. The Old Fashioned itself was very good, not the best I’ve ever had but certainly nothing wrong with it.
Our next few visits were for their amazing brunch options. Each time we went, Mimosa’s were the order of the day and my girlfriend orders an Irish Coffee to boot. My standard order is their eggs benny, but recently as another Unilocaler has mentioned, the brunch menu has been paired down to 2 items, the benny not being one of them.
Note: All breakfast/​brunch items come with a choice of fries or salad. The salad is nice (it’s salad) but the fries are extra special. I don’t know what they do differently, but I could each just these plain without any ketchup. MMMMM
Lucky for me when we visited this Sunday, their bacon benny was back and it was delicious. I’m a real fan of their hollandaise sauce, although it is different in taste from many (which also might be why I like it so much).
The inside is great, truly beautiful and designed in the industrial type aesthetic which only the Junction truly does well (and authentically). However, their patio is wonderful — nicely tucked on the side street and stretching about 40 – 50 feet back. It’s got lots of tables and is well covered by light strands above so that you can camp out all day and all night.
Definitely a fave of mine!
Eatcrest Out

Actually about a 3.5. Super cute patio. Had the Brown Derby (boozy old fashioned champagne glass cocktail. Shared the charcuterie plate (2 sausages, pâté, 3 pearl onions, small salad/​leaves no dressing), bruschetta (cheese, mushrooms and honey for an interesting mix), and the fish and chips (tasty but not outstanding). Would return.

Would have had a better rating if it weren’t for the following: I ordered a cocktail (called the Paloma) at the Passenger on June 13 2015. Halfway through my drink, I found I had sucked up a small piece of sharp glass. Fortunately I had felt something hard on my tongue and decided to check what it was. When I took it out of my mouth, it was a diamond shaped shard of glass with 2 very sharp points and sharp edges. I immediately spoke with our server and showed her the piece of glass. She did not seem fazed and barely apologized before telling me she would alert the manager. I was not given much of an apology or any explanation as to how a piece of glass ended up in my drink. If I had swallowed the piece of glass, it may have resulted in a medical emergency. I feel that the restaurant did not think it was a big deal and essentially shrugged off the situation, and this made it even more concerning. I would have expected them to a much bigger deal of this situation, and for the manager to personally come out and apologize. Also, I still had to pay for my meal, which is something that other restaurants may have comp’d for the terrible and scary experience. Wouldn’t come back here ever again. In fact, I have reported this establishment to DineSafe Toronto to have investigated.

Since their opening, they’ve expanded their dinner menu to brunch, at first, which was an excellent welcome to the neighbourhood. We seemed to be missing a casual yet trendy place to have eggs benny on a Saturday morning.
Buy recently the restaurant is now offering lunch and cut down the weekend brunch menu to only two items. Sad face. No more eggs benny. Only lemon ricotta pancakes and a classic breakfast.
The lunch menu has a decent selection of salads and sandwiches, but none of which stand out to me on paper. I had the BLT which was yummy but nothing I would go out of my way for.
I’m a little sad the breakfast items on the menu were cut short. Maybe if we give them enough demand it will come back.
I did however now that I have a little one a stroller, that they were quite accommodating and had space for my stroller. There is no change table down stairs though

Went here for brunch on a Sunday morning while trekking through the Junction. Not too long of a wait here and I had some really good service.
I ordered the «From the Sea» ($ 16) and what I got was two fairly small fish cakes with poached eggs on top and colourful salad. Very beautiful presentation for but $ 16 — I was hoping that the fish cakes were gonna be a tad bit bigger. It was delicious nonetheless!
I will definitely revisit for their lunch or dinner menu in the future.

I trekked from the east end to the west end for dinner with friends. None of us had eaten at The Passenger before. They got a lot of things right and one major thing wrong.
The stuff they got right? The vibe in the place was good, the music, the décor — all set a mood that suited us. The food was mostly good. My food was very tasty. One of my companions said her starter (a salad) was great, but the fish and chips was mediocre. The mushroom crostini was delish,
Where they failed was in the service. The cocktails (which were ordered first) did not arrive until after we were done with our starters. Our waitress did not smile once… she seemed bored, if not vaguely annoyed. And she never once apologized for our long waits for drinks/​our mains. Interestingly, at one point another waitress served our table and she was very attentive. Fast and responsive, she filled our water glasses and was friendly. Too bad she wasn’t our server, it might have changed the whole experience.
It was alright, but I won’t be rushing back.

Only been there for brunch but the service, ambiance, and food were all good so definitely will be going back to check out dinner. Can’t wait for another patio in the Junction as well.
Note: the menu on their website is a bit out of date, some items no longer available, not a deal breaker by any means but something to be aware of

I was a bit nervous taking a friend here for a birthday dinner, because it was my first time I’d read the mixed reviews. I had the idea that it might be amazing, and it might be amazingly overpriced and slightly unsatisfying (a la my scallop experience at 3030). Not sure.
But I’m definitely a fan, and will be returning.
My birthday date and I shared two dishes, the roasted chicken on mushroom risotto, and the… I forget the actual name… it was beef on mashed potatoes, bottom of the menu. It was sex on a plate, in my opinion. The beef was so soft and tasty.
The prices reflected the quality, and there was a lot of she and I moaning and trading bites while sipping modestly priced wine. We sat at the bar, the service was wonderful and friendly. The woman taking care of us knew when we just wanted to be left chatting, and so she was attentive but intuitive about giving us space.
Can I also say, congratulations to yet another place in the Junction offering quality wheelchair accessible spaces? THANK YOU for not being jerks.

So to start off with the positive, I’d have to say that The Passenger offers some very good craft beers, live jazz and a lovely patio, which are all a great addition to the Junction.
It is not, however, a place to eat. At least, it isn’t a place where you can expect to find anything good to eat. I’ve been here on two occasions. I’ve tried four dishes and several appetizers, which makes me feel confident to generalize about the entire menu. There were a few months gap between the two visits that I blame for letting me forget how terrible the food really was and coming back for dinner.
The last time I went, I was starving and hence wasn’t very hard to please. I ordered the burger with back bacon and a mushroom appetizer. The mushroom appetizer was that night’s special and aside from being priced almost double the appetizers on the menu, was sour and barely edible. I only made it only half way through my burger, and I think that was likely more due to pure unadulterated starvation, than enjoyment of any kind.
If you decide to go here, I’d say have a few drinks, but skip the food all together.

What we ordered:
1. Root Salad
2. Steak and Fries
3. Sustainable Ontario Fish and Chips
4. Muskoka Ale
5. 2oz Rose
When the sides are better than the mains, there’s a problem. The steak was average; too fatty and undercooked for the ‘medium-​well’ that was requested. The fish wasn’t necessarily dry, but the batter was over-​cooked and tough — not light and crispy. The greens in the salad were slightly wilted and the creamy dressing was watery.
The Junction neighbourhood has a great vibe, so sitting outside on their large patio on a warm day was an obvious choice for us. However, the patio lacks ambiance and would benefit from some music, candles/​lighting, and/​or plants.
— There was a good variety on the drink menu, though, they are overpriced.
— The service staff were all friendly, though the service itself was slow and inattentive.
The Passenger has lots of room for improvement. Some attention to detail would go a long way.

This place is the best. Really. Exactly what the Junction needed. Been there 4 times now, twice for dinner and twice for Brunch. I haven’t had a single thing I didn’t love. The Moroccan Chicken with labneh and puffed couscous is to die for. Cocktails are incredible. Brunch is without a doubt the best in the city. Service can sometimes be slow at brunch, but it’s still fairly new and they’re working it out. It’s worth the wait, trust me.

This place is the tops!
Their website is a little hard to find it’s .co instead of com or ca. But the food in a word PERFECTION. We’ve been many time any every time try something new. I agree the menu is limited however everything is well executed which some restaurants find difficult.

The decision to drink on The Passenger’s patio was one of genius. The Pimms Pitcher was sweet and effervescent, with mint, Pimms-​soaked fruit and ginger ale. The sangria was alright, entirely too much ice watered it down fast though. The basket of fries was perfect and salty and utterly crunchy… Perfect to munch along with the drinks on a beautiful summer afternoon. I’d love to come back and try their dinner menu!

Honoured to be the first person to review The Passenger. Here are a few things about the experience and the restaurant (to which I plan to return soon).
1. The Passenger is owned by the owner (s) of The Beet. It is completely different than The Beet. It is located in the heart of the Junction at Pacific and Dundas.
2. The food is very good. It is pretty much straightforward Canadian fare. Salads, seafood, steak frites, a burger, you get the idea.
3. I had a root vegetable salad and the burger. The salad was amazing, very fresh and crisp. The burger was very good, but I won’t put it on par with a Harbord Room burger just yet.
4. Service is still getting up to speed, but that being said, it is good.
5. The burger (served with very good fries), the salad, and a glass of wine cost $ 49 out the door (tax, tip). I was too full to attempt dessert, but the brownie dessert sounded delicious.
6. The bar is about 10 – 12 seats. It is nice-​looking and serves til 2 am. The bar was full on Saturday night at 8. The bar area adjoins the restaurant.
7. The restaurant is a beautiful space. It is loud, but not annoyingly so.
I really liked this. It will be the star of the neighbourhood. (There are not lots of other classy Canadian food places around). If things stay on the current trajectory, this will be a tough ticket (especially on weekends) soon.