Trolley No.5 Restaurant & Brewery
728 17 Avenue SW, Calgary, AB
My friend and I decided to stop in and try Trolley 5 over the long weekend, which is a relatively new craft brewery and restaurant that was built in place of the iconic Melrose Café and Bar. It's a large two storey structure, with an open front and large patio section. When you step in, it feels like you're entering a funky warehouse with the space feeling quite industrial with a mix of stainless steel, light wood & metal tables, wooden walls, modern oversized lights, exposed ceilings and retro faux leather beige booths. Overall I think they did a great job of decorating such a large space and keeping everything consistent within the theme.
Right from when we entered the restaurant, all the staff were extremely friendly and attentive, including the owner. We really enjoyed the level of service from our Server as well, who was personable and engaging and eager to check on us regularly to make sure we weren't in need of anything as we moved through our dining experience.
One of my most favourite meals on a weekend is brunch, and I'm always eager to try a new restaurant that offers one. For me a test of a good restaurant is how well they put together a breakfast, because if they fail when it comes to one of the simplest meals they can possibly make, it's not likely I will come back to try their lunch or dinner.
On Trolley 5's brunch menu, they offer an array of options from the Classic Breakfast ($12), Eggs Benedict ($14) to a BBQ Breakfast Poutine ($15). For their drink special that day, they were offering Mimosas for $6.
Both of us were in the mood for the comfort of a Classic Breakfast, which at Trolley 5 is two eggs any style, choice of meat (sausage, bacon or ham) along with toast and hash browns, and we accompanied this with some Mimosas.
Our breakfast arrived promptly, and when it was placed in front of us, it was instantly underwhelming. The eggs were small, the brown bread was dry and barely toasted, the two little pieces of bacon looked like one piece cut into two, and the store bought, frozen hashbrowns were little bits of over fried potato nuggets that were dry and unseasoned. Everything tasted just how it looked, bland and flavourless, with me capable of making a much better one in my own kitchen. My friend and I both agreed that absolutely no effort was put into the meal before us, and not one thing stood out as being delicious.
Though I know it can be hard to reinvent the wheel when it comes to a classic breakfast, there are still ways to make it stand out, like providing customers with fresh bread bought that day from a local bakery, homemade jam, organic farm eggs with rich and colorful yokes, a nice quality meat supplied by a butchery and hash browns done in-house. Those are the types of breakfasts that make me want to come back again, and unfortunately in this case, no matter how great the service was or atmosphere, both of us said we wouldn't return.
A restaurant that slaps together meals cheaply, using sub-par ingredients, just tells me that they're focus is more on quantity and making money, rather than taking pride in producing quality meals and valuing the customer who is left to consume it. In the end if you are known for your excellent food and service, I believe the success of a restaurant will come without having to cut corners.
As the saying goes, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day", so I say make it a good one, and unfortunately Trolley 5 just seemed to miss the stop.
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