The 411 Café Sardine is a place I have been to for dinner on a few occasions. I always enjoyed their menu and especially the décor. It has a tapas style dinner menu and some interesting combinations. It was one of those places that I always wondered what brunch would be like there.

Café Sardine is a small place with a seating capacity of around 20. The interior has lots of wood and an old time look with items having that really worn out look. This décor, as well as the small capacity, makes for a really comfortable and pleasant atmosphere. Lots of people will come in and get a coffee to go or sit outside on the bench on a sunny day. You order your dish at the counter and get your bill there as well. The menu is on a chalkboard on top of the bar.

Food The chalkboard menu at Café Sardine has around 10 items with prices ranging form $6-$11. All the prices on the menu included taxes. Coffee is extra and does not come with free refills. For an extra $5, you can add a poached egg and hollandaise to your dish. The menu is a follows:

We started off with having a doughnut ($1.75) which is a nice little starter item and we ended up sharing it amongst four of us as we cut it up. It wasn’t too heavy or a sugar overload nor was it simply air.

Two of us were drawn to the sausage sandwich ($6). This is a sandwich with sausage, topped with condiments and some sprouts on the side. The size of the sandwich was decent and the sausage was good; although, the plate could have benefited from a little something extra on the side. That being said, at $6 with tax included, that’s a rather good deal.

The Quinoa salad ($10) came with vegetables and red quinoa. This is a nice looking dish of a decent size and a nice vegetarian option to see on the menu. However, it was rather simple and the taste was not outstanding. I would have liked to see something a little more creative in this dish.

I got adventurous and opted for the marinated herring plate ($11). I also added an extra egg and hollandaise for $5 extra (although, they never billed me for it and when I mentioned it at the end they said not to worry). This dish made me curious because I have had some dishes at dinner here that had fish and they were well done. This dish is not something you normally see on a brunch menu. There were strips of pickled herring rolled up with some potatoes and vegetables. This dish was quite filling but I felt that the herring was just a little bit too pickled and I enjoy pickled stuff. The dishes aren’t enormous so you almost need to add that extra egg to them if you are hungry.

Service This place is small and you have to order at the bar. There’s lots of people going in and out grabbing a coffee or a snack to go so it can take a while to get to speak to someone. Don’t expect them to come to the table. Simply put: there isn’t staff or place to put more staff other than in the kitchen. I should note that I really liked the fact that they didn’t bill me for the extra egg option even though I mentioned it to them – that’s a nice unexpected bonus to get. I should also note that since all my reviews are anonymous I wasn’t being comped as a reviewer but just as a regular patron.

Vegetarian The menu is not that meat focused and the quinoa salad is a good truly vegetarian option.

Wrap up I love the décor here. The fact that it’s small and makes you feel comfortable is a plus for me. The prices on most dishes are fair; although, when you add the egg to them then it can climb. The dishes aren’t enormous by default so if you’re hungry, you will likely need the egg and coffee is not included

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Price	$$$	$15
Overall		4/5
Wheelchair Access	NO	0/3
Parking	Street, Meter	Medium
BUS	55,363,51,46	Get Directions
Metro	Laurier	8 minutes