Toulouse Petit- Best Thing I Ever Ate? Um..
During a recent trip to Seattle, FW, Rae, Sis, and I decided to hit up Toulouse Petit for breakfast during their “Breakfast Happy Hour”.
photo courtesy of Rae
Their happy hour is from 8-11am, Monday through Friday and every item is $7.50 (score!!!). I heard about this restaurant through friends and food bloggers mentioning that their Cured Pork Cheek Confit Hash was featured in Food Network’s “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”. Obviously, I was sold!
When we arrived at about 10:00am, there was already a line forming outside. We probably waited about 20ish minutes before we got a table. By the way, since they do not have a prominent “Toulouse Petit” sign outside the building, you can locate them by finding the green building. It’s quite obvious so you really can’t miss it.
We noticed these artistic lamps outside and inside of the restaurant. It has a rustic feel to it.
Hehe, here are these lamps again.
I am normally very tolerant of bad service (I am Chinese after all 😛), but I felt the service at our table was especially lacking during our meal. We tried numerous times to catch our server’s attention but it was especially difficult because she would never glance over at us.
After looking at the extensive menu, I decided to get the Spicy Shrimp Creole and Eggs Over Creamy Grits ($7.50). I guess I took the word “spicy” too lightly when I read it on the menu because the shrimp was fire breathing spicy! Even FW who can usually take A LOT of heat was surprised by the punch from this dish.
For me, I didn’t love. It was way too spicy for my liking and the grits (which I have always wanted to try) were not as creamy and soft as I’d like it to be. The plump shrimp were the only highlight of this dish. Maybe because I had high expectations coming in, but I was quite disappointed and saddened by the un-epicness of this “creole” breakfast. 🙁 I didn’t even want to eat half of it.
When FW saw that I was clearly disappointed with my dish, she offered to share half of hers in exchange for half of mine. Aw… such a sweetheart! Her dish really brightened my day because it was spectacular.
She got the Rustic Duck and Pistachio Terrine ($7.50) and it was a hundred times better than mine. I am so glad I got to try this because I probably would have just ruled this place out. The eggs were perfectly poached and the terrine was divine. I especially loved the large chunks of pistachio in it.
Sis got the “Best Thing I Ever Ate” dish called Cured Pork Cheeks Confit Hash ($7.50) and said it was very good. As a whole, it looked a bit on the small side but the tender pork cheeks made up for it. Even though it was good, I don’t think it was the best thing Sis has ever ate. Just sayin’ 😛
Rae LOVED the Duck Confit Hash ($7.50) and said the duck was super flavourful. However, by the end of it, she said it almost had..too much flavour. She was actually quite happy the dish was small because any more of it would be too much to handle.
All in all, even though I was disappointed with my dish (due to personal preference), I think this restaurant serves up unique and interesting food combinations that many of us may not get to try on a regular basis. Especially with the breakfast happy hour, it is an affordable option whenever you are in the area.
Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Happy Eating!
<– Fried Chicken and Gumbo at Toulouse Petit! I’ll try this next time 😛
