The Tempered Room

Came here for a late evening coffee and pastry — around 5:30 when they close at 7pm. There were some paltry offerings in the pastry case. Settled for an apple scone and an almond latte. Stayed for around 1hr. Only one staff working and he was on his phone the entire hour. The place was a mess. Empty used cups and saucers everywhere. Water bottles were not replenished. Tables were full of crumbs and stains. So while the treats were quite good, I can’t enjoy a relaxing cup around other people’s dirt. Probably won’t be back.

Americano is underwhelming.
Shout outs to the chocolate croissant — flakey and buttery. One of the best chocolate croissants I’ve had. Ask for it to be heated. It tastes amazing like that!

People mistify me! Why would anyone give this scrumptious empire of deliciousness anything but a perfect score? From the daily scone (and the dirty one on weekends!) to the chouquettes, the bread from Thouet and each one of the most exquisite petit fours, every item baked or sold here is absolute perfection! Come and prove me wrong! I live two blocks over and only superhuman restraint prevents me from buying something every day. Free WiFi, good, friendly service and small details such as iced water complete the gestalt. Highly recommended! The coffee is good too.

Ok I love the baked goods, sammys and croissants here. Everything here is well made with care. Kudos to the pastry chef! Really delicious baked goods.
My issue with this place is the service. I live around the corner and have been here about half a dozen times in the last month. Twice I have walked out because of having to wait so long to have my order taken or even to be acknowledged. They are not prepared to turn over orders quickly here. Woman at cash has to put together pastry boxes to fill orders. Why aren’t these boxes all ready put together? This is just one example of what holds up orders. I understand presentation is important here but each order takes far to long start to finish. I hope they fix the service issue because I would like to come here multiple times a week.
Few days later:
Ok back again this morning hoping to get a couple of their delicious Croque Monsieurs and some other pastries. Again one person serving a bunch of people and here I am waiting for too long. Not sure about the guy who works there who was sitting and chatting with a customer — could he have helped the single person serving customers so the rest of us aren’t waiting so long?
This place drives me crazy and I won’t be back. That was your last chance, Tempered and you failed. Terrible customer service.
Did you even notice me walk out? Probably not.

Awesome Chocolate croissants! I will be back.

Total Parisien perfection, magnifique!

The best americano going and the edibles are great! Always good service and welcoming environment.

A choux pastry with Passion fruit cream and cacao nibs — one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. A «french onion soup» flavored croissanty thing was just amazing. What a gift to Parkdale, to Toronto. Yummmm!

Croissants are not in my top 3 in Toronto for sure, but there is some potential. When you need your croissants to be warmed up to taste good, it means that there is some problem somewhere… but warm they are not so bad at all, or with lot of Nutella or jam… cold, they taste like having been kept for 2 days before being sold, and frozen-​unfrozen to allow so (i.e. on the dry, heavy but no longer fluffy. light or buttery side).
Pains au chocolat are just OK as well.
Service is OK, pastries are nothing major. Not cheap neither.

Wow this place rules. Coffee is great and reasonably priced, the food is incredible (try the croque monseur or the French onion soup bread), and very nice atmosphere. The baristas are very friendly and this place has an easygoing vibe. I don’t have a sweet tooth so I don’t order any of the pastries but I’ve heard that’s the best part!

The best bread pudding I’ve ever had!

As an international visitor in Toronto it suprised me to taste the best Parisian Flan I ever had in The Tempereed Room.
This litte café has great pastries but the flan is something beyond delicious. Each time I visit the café I plan to taste a different flavor but again end up with two pieces of Parisian Flan.
I wish I could have stayed long enough in Toronto to be satisfied with the flan and try other pastries:)

This cute Parkdale café is ideal for waking up in style and long afternoon chats. I highly recommend ordering treats to go — you’ll be sure to impress. The menu items are all exquisite to look at, so I’d better get back there and try them all! The only thing I’d strongly recommend here is comfy chairs — the tiny adjustable stools look quaint, but they’re not very comfortable.

I am at an absolute loss to describe which sandwich here is my favourite, and as a vegetarian there are only two choices. The croque champignons is a beautiful cheesey delightful wonderful yummy creation. The spiced squash sandwich comes out warm and just slightly crisp with a spicy squash and cheese filling that is exciting and wonderful!
But the reality is the strength of this place is the pastries. Try them. They all taste different and carry the flavour of the chocolate or raspberries or lemon, not just the usual insipid sweetness most commonly found in desert.
They serve Cut coffee, some of the best in the city. The space is welcoming and bright with lots of laptop plugs and friendly staff.
Oh yeah and the croissant… I often hate almond croissant. I find the taste of fake almond flavouring over-​powering but these delightful pastries are subtle and divine! The plain are crispy and flaky and the chocolate has a true taste of chocolate, not just a brown smear of sugar.

I think we miss ordered. I fully intend to try this trendy bakery again on our next trip to Toronto.
My fiancé and I had breakfast at The Tempered Room while visiting Toronto this past weekend. Two cappuccinos, an almond croissant, a chocolate croissant, a plain croissant, and brioche with chocolate and a jam glaze. The chocolate croissant and plain croissant were our favorite! Both light and buttery with a flakiness that was to die for, as good as any croissant we have every had here or over seas. The almond croissant and brioche were too sweet for us, however they did have salted brioche bites that probably would have been a much better choice for us.
Trendy fun spot with an «open» bakery, easy and cheap street parking, and friendly workers. Give this one a try for your next cup of joe.

My go to in the neighbourhood because it’s a great space to have a meeting, the coffee is awesome and the baked goods are just too good. I go here for meetings or to catch up on studying/​emails.
Their flan is my favourite and highly recommended and the croissants are to die for.
Easily accessible with a green p across the street for drivers you can’t go wrong. My go to for everything and mid day meetings in the west end. There’s nothing better!

I picked up a box of mixed croissants for my staff that were coming in to work during our office shut down. What a treat! I had the plain and almond chocolate, which were amazing. Their almond filling was so fragrant, with just enough chocolate to add some additional richness. The regular croissant was perfectly flaky and though I have been known to slather fruit preserves on my pastry, the butteriness of this croissant was perfect all on its own.
I really look forward to trying some of the choux pastry, as well as the savoury options.
Oh, and kudos to stocking Vams kombucha — I picked one up to feel a little healthful after indulging in breakfast pastries.

3.5 stars
After spending a month in France earlier this year I’ve been having some major pastry cravings, so I was excited to try The Tempered Room.
I loved the ambiance of the place, with the exposed brick, communal table and overall cozy feel.
Staff was very friendly and helpful. We ordered a couple of cappuccinos and a croque monsieur to enjoy there and a couple of pastries to go (which we ate a few hours later after dinner). We got the chocolate passion éclair and a pear tart. Also half a dozen chouquettes. All of the above ran us close to $ 30.
Coffee was good, the sandwich was okay. The éclair was a bit of a let-​down. As another reviewer noted the choux pastry was a bit hard/​dry, the flavours unmemorable and the dried passionfruit on top was much chewier than I was expecting.
The pear cream tart on the other hand was divine. The crust was the perfect texture, as was the filling. The poached pears on top were just right. The chouquettes were also very good, a little smaller than the ones I got in France but nice and tender (which makes me even more surprised about the éclair).
I’ll have to go back to try the croissants — they looked amazing.

My cousin heard about this bakery opening up, and we finally got a chance to go. The décor of the place is very inviting and rustic, and their displays were very attractive.
After a long time making up our minds, we opted to get 1 of their cakes and 2 eclairs to share (we had just had a large brunch). I asked them to pack a 3^rd éclair in a to-​go box since buying 3 eclairs is cheaper than buying individually ($ 3.75 each or 3 for $ 10). My BFF got to enjoy this later.
Matcha framboise, $ 6.50: This was really good. It is (I think) a green tea mousse cube surrounded by a layer of raspberry mousse. The outside is slightly hardened, like those marshmallows that are a little hard. Presentation is very nice and the flavours complimented each other. It is not a heavy dessert at all and I highly recommend it, despite the high price point.
Chocolate passionfruit éclair: Only okay. The éclair was a little tough/​hard as if it could have been day old. The icing on top was like an almond fondant, which was not mentioned in the flavouring. Flavours were nothing amazing. My BFF did not comment on it so I believe he did not enjoy it either.
Pistachio cherry éclair: A huge let down. There was not much pistachio taste and essentially no cherry taste. I think they meant to have the pistachio cherry on the top and the inside of the éclair was just regular custard.
Washrooms are downstairs and very clean.
I might come back to try the croissants, as I heard that they are to die for. Apparently, when you bite into it, you will instantly be brought to a café Paris, according to my boss. Too bad I didn’t think to ask him before I went!

Have always been big fan of Bertrand Alépée aka The Tempered Chef (@TheTemperedChef) and until now, I’ve only been able to taste his creation during events or special pop-​up dinners (like here and here). So I was super excited when he opened up The Tempered Room (@thetemperedroom) about 2 months ago and we finally found time to drop by this pass weekend.
Alépée and his pasty chef Tyler Lang did most of the wood work of the space and what a great job.
Love the expose un-​finish brick walls and the simple wood display cases which was perfect backdrop for all the sweet creations. There a large communal table at the front and small side tables that can be pop on and off the wall’s railing.
Beverages wise Sam James Coffee, tea and bottled Vams Kombucha are available. While most things are make in house, the breads are from The Drake, Blackbird Baking Co and Thuet.
Somehow I find other cities have a lot of Eclairs choice, it’s rather lacking in Toronto and I was so glad that they emphasize them here.
I basically wanted to try everything but we just had lunch, so I guess we’ll have to come back on an empty stomach
Passion Chocolate Éclair $ 3.50
~ Love the flavor of the pastry here and I am usually not a fan of éclair at most places because I find the icing/​coating way too sweet but the one here was so perfect.
~ Need to try the other flavors next time!
PB & J Choux $ 2.50
~ Love the peanut butter crust here which give it an extra crunch to the pillowy jam filled choux pastry.
Pomme Caramal Salé $ 5.75
~ Love love love Need I say more?!
~ Pretty and Perfect!!! A salted caramel mousse cake with homemade crabapple jelly, sesame caramel ganache.
~ Would never hove though sesame with this dessert but it totally elevated the whole cake to another level of amazingness.
Croissant $ 2.50
~ After eating the 3pcs above, I can’t help but crave for the croissants… but it was sold out, noooooo!
~ But we were kindly told that another batch is coming out in 20 minutes and let’s just say, it was all worth the wait.
~ Having worked in Paris with Michelin starred chefs like Guy Savoy and Alain Ducasse, Alépée’s partry is the real thing.
Verdict:
~ Love love everything we had, will definitely be back for more
~ We also bought a Jalapeño Cornbread home and it was still moist and delicious the next day
~ Would love to try their flan and bread next time
~ And rumors has it that there’s plan of hosting future pop up dinner of The Group of Seven Chefs in this space.
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