So I heard that Cafe Deluxe was a good place to grab some lunch downtown so I decided to check it out today. I walked up and down Metcalfe looking for the storefront, but couldn't find it. So I pulled up the address on my phone: 77 Metcalfe, which lead me to the NAV Canada building. I walk in and there are 2 men at the security desk and all I see are card accessed entries to the offices. No cafe in sight. I said I was looking for Cafe Deluxe and they said that it was just next door but on Albert. So folks, the address is on Metcalfe, but the entrance is on Albert (it's next to Capital Hill Hotel and Suites). Thanks NAV Can security guys for helping me find it!
I got there a few minutes before 11am (yeah, I like to eat early) and ordered the Caribbean Chicken Special ($9.95) and I was told that the specials are not ready until 11am. So I said I would be back and I walked around the block and returned at exactly 11am and as promised all the specials were out and ready to be served. I momentarily debated whether I should get the fish tacos (the other special) instead as they looked really good, but I went ahead with my original choice. The Caribbean Chicken Special was a chicken breast with rice and peas and your choice of 2 sides from the salad bar. I chose the kale salad and the spinach salad.
Now the flavour for the chicken was very muted, in my opinion. It wasn't bland, but I found that it lacked that distinct Caribbean character. You've heard of "Americanized Chinese Food" right? Well, I would consider what I had "Americanized Caribbean Food." I totally get it, sometimes you need to appeal to the masses. It still tasted good, it just didn't have that robust Caribbean flavour that I was expecting. The rice and peas were good. Now I'm glad I was able to choose some vegetables with my meal. There were many choices from the salad bar. I was initially a bit disappointed that the salads were pre-dressed, but I was happy to discover that they weren't over-dressed (which is my most common complaint with pre-dressed salads). The spinach salad had some dried cranberries in it and I think some shredded cheese. The kale salad had cucumbers and red peppers. All veggies were fresh and I enjoyed both salads.
I found the serving size perfect for me for lunch and the price was very reasonable.
Staff were nice and the place was clean. There is a free self-serve water dispenser with cold water, which I really appreciated on a hot day like today.
I like that the food is not served in Styrofoam (it's served in what appears to be a compostable paper container) and if you eat in they have real metal cutlery (they have disposable cutlery if you take it to go). They also have real glasses.
They had several cookies on display at the cash register. The sign on their door said "probably the best cookies in town" which I thought was cute. I might try one on a future visit.
They are only open 6am-3pm and only on weekdays, so they mostly cater to people who work nearby.
I think it's a great alternative to fast food and/or chain restaurants for a quick lunch (or breakfast or coffee and snack) during the work day. read more