Hof Kelsten

First timer on a brunchy Sunday, and although I am not ecstatic about the Hof (yet), there are some great things to mention: atmosphere was very nice and the service prompt and friendly (thus, review should be 3.5 stars). Had the schnitzel brunch special with hash browns and 2 eggs that came with a green sauerkraut-​sauce and sliced bread. For the price I definitely thought I got stuffed. Tastewise however it wasn’t crazy special, rather on the bland side. The intriguing sounding sauerkraut-​sauce was not really sauerkraut-​y!!! Their coffee was good, strong and straightforward. Best thing about this sampling was their breadpudding thingy… The baguette’s nice and crispy, but personally I prefer the one from their competition further up on the main… Nevertheless, I will go back for more coffee and try their pastries, croissants, challah and other breads for sure…

GREAT FOOD, QUESTIONABLE SERVICE
The bakery is in a prime location on St Laurent Blvd. By recommendation, I decided to go with the GRAVLAX, a bold smoked salmon sandwich. It is definitely one of the BEST form of smoked salmon i have had. Strong smoked salmon with a layer of lettuce and tomato on soft wheat bread generously coated with cream cheese. The combination was perfect and the sandwich was truly delicious.
Being a popular in travel magazines, I would assume that people visiting Montréal would want to try the place out. They are not an exclusive cash only place, but they have some strange issues going on with electronic payment (international debit cards). I was told by the staff that they do not accept credit cards (debit only) and they also do not accept international debit cards (USA). They do not accept payment in US dollars (conversion) and was pretty much only left with an option to pay by cash. Displaying specific instructions on acceptable modes of payment would be helpful.
Even after withdrawing cash, there was some confusion among the staff to take payment before or after service. This confusion caused delay in service and sort of left me waiting in line while the food had already been prepared.

Les viennoiseries étaient très bonnes, le service était courtois. J’y allais plus souvent dans ses débuts, je né sais trop pourquoi j’avais cesser… très charmant endroit si vous passez dans le coin, la déco est sublime (par jour ensoleillé) !

This is the bakery that serves all the best restaurants and bars in the city. Some great standards in terms of bread. I have had many from the baguette to Rye and many others and they are all great. That is why it has been rated one of the city’s best. I haven’t eaten any sandwiches yet but look for an updated review when I do. ONE IMPORTANT thing, this is the only place in Montréal that I know of the serves Biolys. Biolys are a New York specialty that are amazing… bagel like bread with an onion centre. I love it! Worth a try. Only a half dozen made each day.

after a year of sampling the shit out of Hof and doing my little taste test, i’m upgrading my rating for this awesome jewish bakery that, imo, redefined the game on many things.
yes, it can be pricey and yes, some of the goods are misses but damn, angels sing whenever i’m there.
the hof is a bakery that provides tables and chairs if you want to sit down to eat which is nice if you want to relax a bit. alongside baked goods, breads and brunch, you have coffee from parlor coffee, a roaster from brooklyn new york.
the coffee, for me, is on point. not the best in town but still a good damn cup of joe and strong like i like them.
and finally, every time i go there, i get this huge craving and the only prescription is more challah or babka so i try not to go too often. its seriously fattening.
now, excuse me while i go lick the pictures of the goods i took

Fantastic small minimalist bakery with no name on the outside so you could clearly walk by. What I love about HK is the baked products are seriously some of the best in MTL. I’ve sampled the chocolate babka pain perdu (glazed with caramel) and also I took a sourdough bread home. The sourdough is the closest thing to SF sourdough that you can get to. Then also we brought back some scones which were buttery, flaky and delicious. One small dissapointment was the cappuccino. I believe it to be some small house indie roasted coffee but I thought mine to be a bit cold and not very strong. Beware not many places to sit and they fill up fast. My next visit will be a whole chocolate babka and possibly some challah bread. Delicious stuff folks. If you are a carb king then this is your royal palace! Check it out!

Hof Kelstein ranks #1 on my list of amazing Hofs, surpassing both David Hasselhoff and Germany’s Hofbrauhaus. Why? Because unlike the latter, it makes me feel good about life. I mean, seriously… how could you eat one of their bursting-​at-​the-​seam-​with-​cheese breakfast sandwiches and not have an optimistic outlook on life? And with latkes reminiscent of Channukah dinners or breads so fluffy you could use them as pillows, this is really all you need to be happy.

I’ve been looking forward to try this place for brunch for a while as I had heard good things about it. To be fair, my rating should be 3,5.
What I liked most and deserves 4 stars was the food. I ordered the pain doré brunch plate. The pain doré itself ranks in the best pain dores I have tried. The fact that it’s made out of homemade thick slices of bread and pure maple syrup makes it just excellent. It also comes with a side of back bacon tasty as they season it. Also had a side of Kale which was fresh and generous.
What made me note it down to a 3.5 star is the setting which is very basic and the fact that you don’t have a sit down service. I enjoy cozy and we’ll thought out decors and although the small plants are cute, the setting lacks a bit of warmth and comfort especially since you don’t get table service as this means a lot of people getting up to get their plates from the counter. The good news is that both décor and table service can be added and updated to go with the deliciousness of their pastries and brunch plates.
Overall, I enjoyed my brunch very much as it was tasty but might take my brunch to go next time.

Hof has a little something I can’t quite put my finger on that makes you feel happy to be there.
The bread here is to DIE for! You MUST try a ricotta + poppy seed twisty bread thingy (yes, it’s an order). The coffee is good too and so are the pastries.

I really enjoyed the rugelach here, but the service left much to be desired.
I came here because I wanted to try the challah bread, but I didn’t realize they only served it on Fridays. I asked the staff just to confirm, because the menu was in French, and she was unfriendly and a bit standoffish when I asked her for recommendations
Still, would probably come back to try the bread, but I just wish the service was friendlier

Très bof déçue par les sandwich et soupes. Trop cher pour ce que cest. Ça vaut pas le coup