The classical music was not soothing; it just felt out of place. Our server was a very kindly old lady (can you really describe anybody but old ladies as “kindly?”) who was full of compliments and coffee refills. She may have worked there since before the building was a hotel, but who knows. Serving is not an occupation often held by ladies of her age caliber, so kudos to her and the painful varicose veins she must have by now. At least she knew what a Special was and didn’t make us bumble through the menu too badly.

First thing I noticed about our Specials was the tiny serving of potatoes. After I tasted them, I decided that portion wasn’t their only problem. None of our party could identify exactly how they were cooked. I surmised baked, but others said “fried and left out too long.” Interesting. Regardless of preparation technique, they had very little flavour. The eggs came as ordered and actually looked very nice. No grease puddle or stale grill burns. The four pieces of bacon were pretty good, just this side of crispy and all curled together like a handful of angry snakes.

The rye toast was good as well, especially with the large jam cart offering several jams, honey and peanut butter. All in all this was a pretty expensive breakfast. Just over $10 for the Special and coffee. Refills were free, but the coffee was from the large unfortunate pit of coffee under the city. If you stay in the hotel, there are much better places to go within minutes of it. Pastel’s is a restaurant of convenience for hotel guests and old people.

Should I possibly say “elderly” instead of “old?” I don’t think it is ageist to say that… it’s not ageist to call somebody “young” is it? Whatever the proper usage is, I’m not using it as a disrespectful term, it’s just an observation.

That being said, you might become old if you go to Pastel’s too often.

May 8 2008

PASTEL’S in the place Louis Riel

190 Smith St.

Hours of operation:

Mon - Thurs     6:30 AM - 11 PM

Fri - Sun            7:30 AM - 9 PM

This place really wants you to think they’re classy, but we weren’t fooled. Without realizing it was in a hotel, we had guessed that it used to be a hotel; there’s no way any other kind of business would decorate itself like that. Fake plants, floral glass planes and art on the wall, booths that match the seats, room dividers, etc… you know what I mean. It’s in the bottom of the Place Louis Riel, something that we sure should have realized before going in. Oh well.

The menu continues the charade of classiness. To put us off, it actually did not list a Breakfast Special of any sort! It more focused on paltry, overpriced breakfast servings like oatmeal and cereal. Maybe it’s just me, but the idea of paying $3.00 for a bowl of cereal is sickening. We had to hunt for the Special ingredients at the end of the breakfast menu, and even then it wasn’t very clear.

Click on menu to enlarge.