Cafe Belong

I am a loyal customer of this cafe (formerly Cafe Belong). From the time it opened, I have dined here, grabbed a coffee and enjoyed their delicious pastries. As described, the food/snacks are locally sourced, the space is airy and designed perfectly to cater towards the heritage aspects of the Brickworks. Always happy to come back here, whether or not it's jam packed or quiet.

Sometimes, im compelled to write a review. Not to simply tarnish service received but to fire off a warning to a business owner whom I’d like to assume wants to be in the business of making money. Picnic is a disaster. Sure, if you’re at Brickworks, it’s your ONLY option (why that is will be a mystery to me! We can responsibly expand offerings and hey maybe create a bit of competition but… nay nay). Being the ONLY option shouldn’t mean you get low value for the money you’re about to spend. The menu is disorganized. (There is a digital menu and then printed menu items all over so in the rush of ordering, hard to know what’s really available). We settled for bowls. I got the harvest bowl and my husband the Mediterranean. $16 a bowl. Please take a look. You can count the # of vegetables. And it’s missing an avocado which I noticed after the fact. $16 for a few pieces of broccoli, beets, sweet potatoes and… a tiny handful of arugula. My husbands was a little more full bc of the lentil/rice bed but the chicken was cold and looked really sad. Picnic… don’t take your customers for granted. We aren’t asking for obnoxiously overly filled plates of food. But a sad looking salad for $16 is how you label your customer as a sucker! Now, I’ll go back to Brickworks and I’ll enjoy the wonderful walks, farmers market, and avoid Picnic. Not right! You can and should do better. Kind regards!

Wonderful dinner experience! From the food to the peaceful Brickworks atmosphere, we had a great time. The food was delicious— extremely fresh given the seasonal menu but still featuring diverse options. The outside patio is perfect during COVID; the tables are well spaced out and staff is very careful. Highly recommend!

Great spot at the wonderful evergreen brick works. Sit outside on a nice summer day - enjoy the warmth of the summer breeze and the friendly and efficient wait staff. The food here is great - brunch is a real treat. The pull pork tostadas is really good! The side serve of bacon (must have with brunch) is more American style than Canadian (which is good - but being an Aussie I was hoping it would be more Canadian style) The latte comes in a cup you could bathe in - which I know some people like but too much for me - although I will say it was at least an acceptable coffee - not too washed out with all that milk (I wonder how many shots of essential they put in it?) The macchiato I had was very well done and much more to my liking! They do a five course “family style” dinner which looks interesting- I’ll update the post if I manage to get back and try it out.

Update: April 2023: it is a bit confusing as the Google had merged the new cafe (Picnic) with the previous one located at the same place (Cafe Belong) even though they are two different entities and under different management. Cafe Picnic had opened sometime in January 2023, so if you see review older than that, they are written for Cafe Belong (sometimes the name is actually used). I hope it can be fixed, and those two entities can be differentiated. Because right now Cafe Picnic is getting both bad and good rep for the previous business. anyways... Cafe Picnic still serves espresso drinks/hot chocolate: there is also a huge variety of wine and some beer. the website is still under construction (c'mon, it's been months since opening but you won't see anything more than "full website coming soon") so it is really hard to tell what's on offer there (I saw muffins and cookies). There are also prepared meals (like vegan lasagna) to take home. It would be nice to see some menus. I have no idea whether Picnic offers any hot sandwiches or lunch/dinner dishes. there are a lots of tables and chairs inside, which is a great improvement from last year (there was no indoor sitting space). The staff seems to be friendly and welcoming. The place has definitely good potential, it would be really great if they had put some more effort in promotion and advertisement. My original review written last fall (2022) for Cafe Belong (no longer there). It is a lovely place and a great location, but in the same time I think they can do better. I am still catching up with the inflation and new prices, but $5 for a tiny muffin (although super fresh and delicious) and $5 for an Americano seems a bit high. the place is air conditioned, but there is no indoor tables (even though there is plenty of space - it is just empty). there is a large patio, with lots of umbrellas proving shade, but still it would be nice to have an option for sitting in air conditioned space. the staff is very welcoming, friendly and fast.

Warm and earthy ambience. Brunch menu is decent and changes sometimes. I had the matcha muesli. It looks nice and very filling. But doesn't have much taste..for me it tasted too plain and couldn't taste any matcha. It could have less coconut and grains and more fruits. Something was off. The other plates had a decent presentation but I didn't try them so not sure about the taste.

If you’re looking for a place where not only is the food creative, full of love and absolutely delicious but is also conscientious and uses local products need look no further. The menu has some staple items but it also changes depending on season and what is available so you’ll have to go often to check things out! My favourite dish is the eggs Benedict and recently I went there and they had it with lobster. Not only have I never had a lobster benedict before but it was absolutely amazing. I have never been disappointed. Thank you!!

Had a wonderful dinner her on a Friday night to celebrate our anniversary. We opted for the Chef's Choice Communal dinner for 2. Our sever noted our dietary restrictions and the rest was up to the Chef. Everything was delicious. Our favorites were: * Pan Roasted Venison Loin Brown Butter Creamed Leeks, Maple Glazed Turnips, Quince Relish, Pickled Mushrooms, Crispy Leek Tops, and Duck Fat Purple Potatoes * For dessert we had a yogurt & pear upside down cake with Cinnamon Whip, Cider Caramel, Apple Chip, Cheddar Tuile, Brown Butter Crumble. Sssooooo delicious and huge! We will definitely go back! BTW, check with the host/hostess to see if parking is validated before paying for parking. Could save you some money but I think they only do this during certain days.

I am a loyal customer of this cafe (formerly Cafe Belong). From the time it opened, I have dined here, grabbed a coffee and enjoyed their delicious pastries. As described, the food/snacks are locally sourced, the space is airy and designed perfectly to cater towards the heritage aspects of the Brickworks. Always happy to come back here, whether or not it's jam packed or quiet.

Sometimes, im compelled to write a review. Not to simply tarnish service received but to fire off a warning to a business owner whom I’d like to assume wants to be in the business of making money. Picnic is a disaster. Sure, if you’re at Brickworks, it’s your ONLY option (why that is will be a mystery to me! We can responsibly expand offerings and hey maybe create a bit of competition but… nay nay). Being the ONLY option shouldn’t mean you get low value for the money you’re about to spend. The menu is disorganized. (There is a digital menu and then printed menu items all over so in the rush of ordering, hard to know what’s really available). We settled for bowls. I got the harvest bowl and my husband the Mediterranean. $16 a bowl. Please take a look. You can count the # of vegetables. And it’s missing an avocado which I noticed after the fact. $16 for a few pieces of broccoli, beets, sweet potatoes and… a tiny handful of arugula. My husbands was a little more full bc of the lentil/rice bed but the chicken was cold and looked really sad. Picnic… don’t take your customers for granted. We aren’t asking for obnoxiously overly filled plates of food. But a sad looking salad for $16 is how you label your customer as a sucker! Now, I’ll go back to Brickworks and I’ll enjoy the wonderful walks, farmers market, and avoid Picnic. Not right! You can and should do better. Kind regards!

Wonderful dinner experience! From the food to the peaceful Brickworks atmosphere, we had a great time. The food was delicious— extremely fresh given the seasonal menu but still featuring diverse options. The outside patio is perfect during COVID; the tables are well spaced out and staff is very careful. Highly recommend!

Great spot at the wonderful evergreen brick works. Sit outside on a nice summer day - enjoy the warmth of the summer breeze and the friendly and efficient wait staff. The food here is great - brunch is a real treat. The pull pork tostadas is really good! The side serve of bacon (must have with brunch) is more American style than Canadian (which is good - but being an Aussie I was hoping it would be more Canadian style) The latte comes in a cup you could bathe in - which I know some people like but too much for me - although I will say it was at least an acceptable coffee - not too washed out with all that milk (I wonder how many shots of essential they put in it?) The macchiato I had was very well done and much more to my liking! They do a five course “family style” dinner which looks interesting- I’ll update the post if I manage to get back and try it out.

Update: April 2023: it is a bit confusing as the Google had merged the new cafe (Picnic) with the previous one located at the same place (Cafe Belong) even though they are two different entities and under different management. Cafe Picnic had opened sometime in January 2023, so if you see review older than that, they are written for Cafe Belong (sometimes the name is actually used). I hope it can be fixed, and those two entities can be differentiated. Because right now Cafe Picnic is getting both bad and good rep for the previous business. anyways... Cafe Picnic still serves espresso drinks/hot chocolate: there is also a huge variety of wine and some beer. the website is still under construction (c'mon, it's been months since opening but you won't see anything more than "full website coming soon") so it is really hard to tell what's on offer there (I saw muffins and cookies). There are also prepared meals (like vegan lasagna) to take home. It would be nice to see some menus. I have no idea whether Picnic offers any hot sandwiches or lunch/dinner dishes. there are a lots of tables and chairs inside, which is a great improvement from last year (there was no indoor sitting space). The staff seems to be friendly and welcoming. The place has definitely good potential, it would be really great if they had put some more effort in promotion and advertisement. My original review written last fall (2022) for Cafe Belong (no longer there). It is a lovely place and a great location, but in the same time I think they can do better. I am still catching up with the inflation and new prices, but $5 for a tiny muffin (although super fresh and delicious) and $5 for an Americano seems a bit high. the place is air conditioned, but there is no indoor tables (even though there is plenty of space - it is just empty). there is a large patio, with lots of umbrellas proving shade, but still it would be nice to have an option for sitting in air conditioned space. the staff is very welcoming, friendly and fast.

Warm and earthy ambience. Brunch menu is decent and changes sometimes. I had the matcha muesli. It looks nice and very filling. But doesn't have much taste..for me it tasted too plain and couldn't taste any matcha. It could have less coconut and grains and more fruits. Something was off. The other plates had a decent presentation but I didn't try them so not sure about the taste.

If you’re looking for a place where not only is the food creative, full of love and absolutely delicious but is also conscientious and uses local products need look no further. The menu has some staple items but it also changes depending on season and what is available so you’ll have to go often to check things out! My favourite dish is the eggs Benedict and recently I went there and they had it with lobster. Not only have I never had a lobster benedict before but it was absolutely amazing. I have never been disappointed. Thank you!!

Had a wonderful dinner her on a Friday night to celebrate our anniversary. We opted for the Chef's Choice Communal dinner for 2. Our sever noted our dietary restrictions and the rest was up to the Chef. Everything was delicious. Our favorites were: * Pan Roasted Venison Loin Brown Butter Creamed Leeks, Maple Glazed Turnips, Quince Relish, Pickled Mushrooms, Crispy Leek Tops, and Duck Fat Purple Potatoes * For dessert we had a yogurt & pear upside down cake with Cinnamon Whip, Cider Caramel, Apple Chip, Cheddar Tuile, Brown Butter Crumble. Sssooooo delicious and huge! We will definitely go back! BTW, check with the host/hostess to see if parking is validated before paying for parking. Could save you some money but I think they only do this during certain days.