Dinner at BIVY Cafe

I was really excited  to be invited to try out BIVY Cafe. As an east end girl, I don’t get the chance to travel to the west end all that often.

After visiting BIVY Cafe, a Brocton Triangle french inspired bistro,  all that might change. The space is very intimate with eclectic touches like the wooden deer heads on the wall. Towards the back of the restaurant, they sell fresh pastries and made-in-house cookies. They also have a small shelf that sells jams, jellies and chocolate.

The cafe serves brunch and lunch, and has now made the jump into serving dinner from Tuesday- Saturday.

I started with a hearty bowl of the soup of the day, Butternut Squash Soup ($4.80). Very creamy and rich. I wasn’t expecting the soup to be so large- careful, it’s filling!

We couldn’t resist ordering the Picnic Platter for $15. The platter is huge and comes with Chef Pascal’s own in house smoked salmon and in house pate.

The Charcuterie also featured Jambon de Bayonne (Curred ham form Bayonne – Basque county, France) and Salame Gentile (italian Gentile salami made in Toronto by Paganelli). I loved the salami and the fact that it was locally made.

The cheese include Ermite Blue cheese from Quebec, Asiago cheese from Ontario and Gruyere from Switzerland. To finish off the platter was whole grain bread, savoury cheddar shortbread, crackers and a sun dried tomato hummus.

For my main, I had a Pulled Pork on a Bun ($7.50) with BBQ pulled pork, emmental cheese and baby spinach. We shared the fries, and my partner had the in-house made Duck Confit served with arugula & chutney. Both of our meals were extremely good. I loved how the crispy bun complemented the slightly sweet and juicy BBQ pork. We fought over the perfectly seasoned fries and were stuffed beyond belief but still had room for…

This ice cream sandwich was $4 and it was amazing. The chocolate cookies were specially made for this ice cream sandwich. It had the texture of a brownie but wasn’t overly soft. Yum!

We couldn’t get over how reasonably priced the food was. For the high quality of the food, paying $7.50 for a pulled pork or brisket sandwich almost feels like you’re getting away with something. I’m too used to paying $15 for a burger to not be gleefully happy about these prices.

BIVY Cafe is the perfect place to take a first date (it’s romantic!) and we also saw plenty of families and group of friends spilling in and out of the busy resto on the Friday night we visited. I know we’ll be back!

BIVY Cafe is on 1600 Dundas St W,  Toronto. Check out their menu!