Le Gourmand

Breakfast burrito is good. Chocolate chip cookies are good. Coffee is good. Muffins are good. This is a great place to pop in for coffee and a snack in the morning if you work in the area. Summer patio is nice. The servers who work here are all young and hip and so I’m sure they’ll never live up to the expectations of some people but the service is not bad at all. I have never had an issue with the service here. It can be a bit congested and chaotic especially during peak times but they do their best to serve people in order. I wish they had tap, their debit is still PIN only.

The rating is solely for their chocolate chip cookies. I have only tried two things from their menu: the chocolate chip cookies and chocolate chip walnut cookies. They are the best cookies of their kind that I have ever had. They put huge chunks of chocolate into their soft, chewy batter. Le gourmand certainly doesn’t skimp on the walnuts either. Simply delicious.
Tip: come early for the cookies as they run out often and you’ll have to wait a good 25min for the next batch.

Cool coffee shop and bakery. They offer sandwiches and baked goods, as well as coffee and tea of course.
Had chamomile tea and the pear tart. The tart was not only beautiful but delicious. But wait, there is more. I also indulged in some carrot chocolate bread pudding. It was tasty, fresh, and moist to perfection. Such a large slice that I couldn’t even finish it.

A great spot for a morning snack! We normally order: the smoked salmon and cream cheese on a toasted bagel, an almond croissant, a chocolate chip cookie, a coffee, and a tea. Our total is normally around $ 17.00, approximately.
This spot is charming, the cookies are delicious, the pastries are fresh and flaky, and they serve good coffee! It’s a great café to visit for beginning your morning — sipping your coffee and reading the newspaper, or chatting with friends and family. It’s an environment that’s open to all types of parties, with consistently delicious pastries. Service isn’t the friendliest, but the food and atmosphere make up for it.
Overall, one of our favourites!

Great baked goods, really solid food and coffee, reasonably friendly staff for a busy place.

There are places in which you feel home, waiters and staff are nice, food is good, fresh and everything makes you conclude that you will come back.
Well, this place is NOT a place like that. Not at all. Young inexperienced students /​servers and staff who have absolutely no idea how customers should be dealt with, nor even what they exactly sell here…
Cookies look good, but most are stale, and waitress/​cashier will only try to sell you the oldest, stalest ones, rather than the fresh ones… business is business… with no long term envision at all…
Chocolate mi-​cuits are good, focus on that, and try to get a fresh one… the waitress may grumble… but anyhow, whether you are nice or not, she will not even try be nice anyhow… AVOID

Still terrible. Service is still rude and incompetent. I met a friend here for a coffee at her suggestion and ordered an Earl Grey tea and… They gave me a green tea??? I can see it was an honest mistake but the girl behind the counter was so cold that I didn’t even bother to ask for my proper order. AVOID. Plenty of other nice and friendly coffee shops in the area!

Random fact: My first work lunch living in Toronto as a young professional was here. Still thankful it was free because I was poor as hell at the time!
Anyway, I am not sure why it has only above average reviews. For a café/​lunch spot, it rivals the best in the city! My guess is:
a) place is always busy and lunch garbage is everywhere
b) they’ve never had a chocolate walnut cookie
c) couldn’t figure out the wifi password
Whatever it is, I do want to reiterate B) they’ve never had a chocolate walnut cookie!!! This thing is ridiculously good and I don’t even like sweets.
My advice is, try a cookie, and then decide. While you’re at it, try a sandwich, and other baked goodies. You’ll be glad you did it.

Came here by accident. The chocolate lava cake was wonderful as well as the latte. However the latte art was very. XD I don’t know how to describe, plz see my picture hahahahaha

JESUS CHRIST, THAT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE. Heaven IS a place on Earth. Go for it. Vegan? Well get ready to disappoint cause you’re going to fail in the presence of the perfect balance of buttery, chocolatey, chewy, crunchy pleasure. Basically, the heroine of the chocolate chip cookie kingdom without grave consequence minus larger pants. There’s a Gap around the corner, don’t worry about it.
Nothing lives in it’s shadow. I mean, the Nicoise salad is pretty good.

Yup, I am on the chocolate chip walnut bandwagon for LIFE. It doesn’t get any better, my friends, just go eat one and thank me later.
The rest of the pastries are also good enough to take multiple bullets for.
YUM.

Chocolate chip cookies (both regular and walnut) is all you need to worry about here.
For those that do want the chocolate chip cookies … they tend to sell out by 11:30am. The next batch comes in around 1:30−2pm.
Definitely worth getting when they are fresh — absolutely melt-​in-​your-​mouth delicious.
I am curious what the calorie count is on one of these.

If you’re looking for the BEST chocolate chip cookie in the city of Toronto, it’s at Le Gourmand.
Oh, and the service could be friendlier. I come back for the cookies and buy the coffee to pair with my cookie. It’s really all about the cookie.

Cane back to try another sandwich. I absolutely loves the pancetta with arugula. I have a favorite now and I’m officially a regular.
Service is great — I think the girl who served me at cash today was new. She forgot my cookie and gave me the wrong one. She also didn’t punched in my order right so I had to wait a few minutes for my sandwich.
They gave me a walnut chocolate cookie on the house for waiting.
No I’m not giving 5 stars for the free cookie although it affects my overall rating since they care about the customer. The sandwiches are great as well as the chocolate cookie and walnut chocolate cookie. Excellent quality!

During afternoon slumps at the office, it would be closer for me to go to another café in the area but I walk the distance to come here. The pastries are wayyyyyyyyyy better than the other cafes in the area, they have better coffee and it’s more reasonably priced. I have literally tried and liked every pastry they have. Only complaint is they don’t have any scones.
The lines go quick, there is a nice small area in the front to sit, and you can even get a sandwich there. Great little spot.

Used to come to le gourmand a lot due to work is close by. What I like about this café is the variety and they cook everything all day long. So the popular items are super fresh. I had a fresh from oven cookies before and was in tears that I found the best chocolate chip you could think of. Deep toffee caramel flavor and gooey chocoLate chunk in the center. Loaded with chocolate pieces it’s true indulgence. Their pastries are French flair very attractive to the eyes, nicely layout on the wooden board. For the few pastries I have tried are not bad. The other pastry in the show case was brought some well known pastry shops .
My favorite sandwiches are roasted vegetables and pancetta with arugula. It’s panni style so it’s crispy and the cheese melt with all the flavors come together.
The worst I have tried so far is the vegetable quiche, looking very pretty. It’s more like a Spanish omelette rather than quiche, the phyllo pastry definitely give it an interesting look in the edge but the whole thing is under seasoning and over cooked also you can’t detect the goat cheese at all. Was disappointed. Thats why it’s better to stick with what you like in the restaurant !!!

I have worked in the area for years and tried a number of lunch items. Everything always tastes very homemade and high quality!
Soups are always delicious — Carrot ginger is a favourite, and they always come with a piece of bread for dipping.
Cobb salad is excellent, they are pre prepared but come with a creamy and tangy blue cheese dressing on the side.
Quiche with greens — my favourite lunch which I get fairly often from Le Gourmand. They always have 2 or 3 types (ham and cheddar, goat cheese and roasted veg, smoked salmon and dill are all common options). With greens it comes to 6.99 which is well worth it, the pastry is flaky and buttery and the portion size is very fair.
They also always have hot lunch specials (lasagna, curries, meatloaf etc.) and a range of sandwiches that can be put in a panini press.
Finally you can’t go without grabbing a cookie, particularly the chocolate chip w/​walnut are the best cookies in the city without a doubt. I think they’re around $ 2ea but I would pay 3 no problem. They are crispy outside and gooey inside just like you would attempt to make at home but fail!
Give it a go if you’re in the area, they also have a nice little patio area on Spadina.

«La Gourmand had a bit of a communal feel to it with its main traffic area covered in tiles and warm coloured wood in the middle of the large hall.»
«This time we got their Almond Financier and a much praised Chocolate Chunk Cookie. The almond treat was like a baked vanilla custard with a delightful chewy crust. Not too sweat, slightly grainy and very pleasant to palate. As far as the cookie went, it did feel home made — bready, uniquely shaped with a hint of burnt grease.»
Just a few bites of our full review.

Am at brunch here and the atmosphere is very New York City sheek! I ordered the Veggie and Chives Omelet along with an organic chamomile tea my husband ordered their famous chicken and egg roti with srilankan hash and cappuccino… it was all delicious! All for $ 22.00! Will be back here again!

So it took friends from Vancouver to introduce this place to us. I lived in this building for five years and never once stepped foot into Le Gourmand. 1. I don’t drink coffee. 2. I’m not into sweets.
The cookies are yummy. Moist, flavourful, chock-​full of goodness. If they’re still warm, bonus.
4 stars not five because sometimes the cookies are misshapen and/​or partially burnt. The consistency in size is also a factor.
Damn good cookies though.