Restaurant Review: CAFÉ bicyclette
CAFÉ BICYCLETTE
8627 Rue Marie-Anne Gaboury | lacitefranco.ca/cafe-bicyclette Instagram: @cafebicyclette
Co-Diners: The E.A.T Crew
Do you need a place to practice your French and enjoy a delicious brunch at the same time? Café Bicyclette has got you covered. They've been around for quite some time, at least thirteen years, and you'll find them inside of La Cité Francophone building in Bonnie Doon (but more specifically in the French Quarter). This uniquely special part of the city is a gathering place for the French-speaking community and a hub for experiencing French culture. And you know that they've got a restaurant - what would the French be without food?! Café Bicyclette leans Québécois and focuses heavily on using the freshest locally-sourced ingredients. The Edmonton Food Faves We Crave 2022 list named them as Favourite Brunch and I am always in the mood to be brunchin'. My visit took place on a Saturday morning and I do recommend making reservations because the dining space isn't huge. The hottest tip that I can offer is that La Cité Francophone has it's own parking lot at the north side of the building and you can park there! Don't suffer trying to find street parking as it's unnecessary! In the summer months Café Bicyclette's patio spills out into the building's outdoor common area but the inside offers a warm and relaxed atmosphere with plenty of natural light. You'll find simple, tasteful decor and exposed brick. Don't be afraid to give your French a go! Everyone working is bilingual and it's worth giving it a shot! I liked that they have a chalk board that lists all of the restaurant's suppliers, many of which that are local farms and producers that I patronize at the farmers' market. To start with a beverage, Café Bicyclette has all of the types of coffee available... But it's brunch. You're allowed to get boozy. We've all agreed upon this. So even though the self-titled Café Bicyclette ($12.00) is listed as an "after dinner drink" I wouldn't let that deter you. It's a perfect brunchy coffee IMO.
It's got everything that you want! Caffeine (which they get from Catfish Coffee Roasters), a dessert-vibe, plus a little bit of alcohol. Entirely acceptable at brunch. I enjoyed this coffee a lot and I didn't find it too boozy. Brunch is meant to be fun and this coffee is the perfect way to kick things off. The food menu offers a lot of options. There are entire sections dedicated to omelettes, tartines, breakfast poutines (of course!), and you'll spot pain perdu as well. However, no section of the menu is larger than the part for bennies. With seven to choose from, I found myself tossed up between the Boeuf Coréen ($20.00) and the Chorizo. I chose the latter but all of the usual suspects are present, including smoked salmon and Montreal-style smoked meat.
I upgraded my side to the Poutine ($5.00) because I felt that it would be wrong to miss out on Café Bicyclette's poutine entirely. A Korean bennie might sound out of place but given this restaurant's proximity to the legendary Bul Go Gi House, I had a feeling that they might know what they're doing. The braised beef was very savoury and delicious and I loved that it was prepared in a shredded melt-in-your-mouth style as opposed to a more uniform bulgogi beef. Full of juicy flavour that only got accented further by the brown butter gochujang hollandaise (what? YUM!), I thought that they did a decent job of capturing the spicy Korean vibe. I really liked the buttermilk biscuit instead of a traditional English muffin. The biscuit had a nice chewy crumble that absorbed the surrounding flavours well. The cook on the poached eggs was OK but I found them a touch over for my taste - they could've been slightly runnier for that optimal yolk + hollandaise combination. I was very impressed by the poutine that I got on the side! I know my way around a poutine (I lived in Montreal for 3.5 years) and I abide by some pretty strict guidelines. This poutine nailed it on every element. Crispy French fries: Check! I loved that these fries still had the skins on and were deliciously salty. But the best part was that the fries on top were very crispy while the ones at the bottom were a bit soggy from soaking in the gravy. This is key. Cheese curds: Check! Big (real!) squeaky curds and none of that blasphemous shredded cheese. Sauce brune: Check! Very tasty and well-seasoned. We call it "brown sauce" around these parts. It all sounds quite simple which is why it's surprising how many places get it wrong. The poutine at Café Bicyclette is excellent! Joie de vivre is alive and well at Café Bicyclette! Considering their longevity, they somehow manage to fly somewhat under the radar. If you haven't been in a while now is the time for a revisit! Immerse yourself in some francophone culture over a meal and delight in this relaxed culinary gem. Merci pour ce délicieux repas !
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