Buna’s Kitchen

The quiche & kale salad are excellent as everyone says but I have a complaint. Can anyone tell me WHY during the lunch rush downtown that they only make a very limited amount of the kale salad and quiche? I get it that they want to sell other items but the quiche is the feature and a main reason people go there for lunch because of the price but by 12:30pm you shouldn’t be sold out. So for that reason, I’m out.

The food is delicious and the price is on point. Since I discovered this place (Jan. ⁰⁸⁄₁₅) I have been here 4 times in 2 weeks. Each time I ate here I have payed $ 10 or less for my lunch.
Salads: Quinoa is my favourite to order because of the freshness that pops out in it (They put pomegranate seeds and tangerine slices in the salad along with yams and greens). The combination salad lets you pick any combo out of their 4 salads for $ 9.05 (tax included in that price). It’s a filling box which I was surprised about because the other salad joints around this area aren’t as big for this price.
Sandwich: I have only tried their mushroom grilled cheese which was very delicious. Why you ask? Because it tastes like butter: P and they use a pumpkin seed bun or something so the bread alone is so good to eat. The sandwich comes with a side green salad but you can upgrade it to any of their other salads for an additional $ 2.50 I believe.
Soup: I had their butternut squash and potato leak soups. They are warm and filling for a winter day :) Get their soup and salad combo for $ 6.50 (with tax it’s only $ 7.35) because it’s an excellent portion for the price.
Atmosphere: It’s a very quaint dining experience. They optimized their small dining area very well with bar seats and small tables that are just big enough for 2 people to share each. In the back wall you can see they grow their own ingredients as well. Super cute!
Tips: It gets really busy once 12:10pm hits for the lunch rush. You can order via Ritual and just pick up your order. At the moment, ritual is having a promo that every second visit to one place you will receive 20% off.

Buna’s recently catered a lunch meeting for 10 people for me, food was awesome, portions generous and prices reasonable.

We had some time to kill before a movie, so we thought we’d stop into Buna’s Kitchen for a quick lunch.
We arrived right as they opened at 11:00 and both ordered the same thing: the «Comfy» Duck Sandwich. This contains a heaping helping of duck-​leg confit, an orange-​cranberry aioli, and topped with a fried egg.
It’s certainly an attractive looking sandwich. It arrived open-​faced and loaded with meat. One bite, however, and it quickly became apparent that it doesn’t taste quite as good as it looks.
The bread was fine, but the duck was dry and unimpressive. I suspect it had been sitting around since the day prior, since it was barely room temperature and was completely lacking in freshness or juiciness. And although there is a small serving of the aforementioned aioli, this is one incredibly dry sandwich. The fried egg placed atop the sandwich was overdone, which meant that there was no yolk to give the whole thing a much-​needed saucing.
The plate also contained a rather large helping of salad, and this turned out to be the highlight — as the vinaigrette dressing used was actually really delicious. But I paid $ 12 for this plate; I expect the sandwich to be far better than the salad if that’s the case.

PERFECT for when you want something light and fresh.
Not a salad lover? Well, you will be after you get a taste of their dressing. I don’t know what they put in it but it’s just miraculous and would probably even make rotten veggies taste good.
Go for the combination salad — they give you a good portion and it’s great if you’re indecisive about food like me. I get the couscous salad and panzanella. YUM!

Despite the other reviews here the prices are average or below what you find in the area. You get a quiche and salad for 6 $ or if you wanna try their specialty you can schnitzel and salad less than $ 10.
It’s conveniently located right next to my work place! It’s my number one to go to place for a healthy lunch.
What I love is that I never get bored of the options! The menu changes seasonally, the soup, salad and dessert changes daily.
Be sure to ask for ketchup, hot sauce, etc as they keep it hidden in the fridge.

Went into Buna’s a few times this week and I must say it’s starting to get really disappointing. Not only have the portions gotten smaller, but the prices have gone up! The mixed salad is a couple more dollars more than it used to be and it’s much smaller. They don’t even fill the box. Paying $ 9 for some greens, couscous and watermelon is definitely not worth the money. The greens at the bottom are just swimming in vinaigrette. Veggie sandwich and a soup — make that $ 14. Don’t get me wrong the food is good, I’ve tried a variety of items off the menu but Buna’s has become just like every lunch joint downtown. It just doesn’t stand out anymore. I doubt I’ll be eating here very much in the future.
And…I’m still hungry.

When you upgrade the salad, what you really get is a whole lot of lettuce with a few fancy toppings. Over priced. The service from the main guy during lunch is great.

Looking for ingredients that are fresh and a menu that’s consistently innovative?
I think Buna’s will become your go-​to lunch spot, if the above are qualities you value in what you put in your stomach! Just today, I tried out their new summer menu — the refreshing watermelon salad tossed with cucumber, feta cheese, fresh mint and lime juice. The new pesto salad is an interesting mix of crisp green beans and raw zucchini, dressed in arugula pesto, parmesan cheese, and toasted walnuts. Trust me, you can taste how fresh the ingredients are with each bite.
You can find a fine balance between ‘healthy’ and ‘indulgence’ here — the Comfy Duck Sandwich and Duck Poutine makes it a massive cheat meal, whereas the light salad selection convinces my stomach into thinking I“m on a healthy diet.
I recently downloaded the Ritual app, which helps me skip the line-​up. I order on my phone and conveniently pick up my order without waiting. The line-​up during the lunch rush can be massive, so I suggest ordering ahead!
Buna’s has an excellent tea selection, and now that the summer is here, their hand-​made lemonade is one of my favorites!
They offer 15% off everything between 5pm to 7pm, while supplies last, so this could be a good option to grab dinner on your way home after work!

Update: The Schnitzel. (Period). Best schnitzel in a 15 km radius that I’m aware of. Golden, flakey, crispy, dense meat on the inside like it should be, yet soft and easy to cut. Meat not fatty and breading not oily. A+

Meh. Honestly it’s not that what I had wasn’t good, in fact it was but it really was ‘meh’. It being my first time, the guy at the counter was VERY helpful and I decided on the potato-​asparagus ‘salad’ which came over greens with a light vinaigrette.
First, stop doing that^. My potato salad did not taste good on top of another. It was weird. The potato salad was extremely heavy. So much so that I had about 5 bites and could not eat anything more. My fault though, I should have gotten a protein to break up the potato but I didn’t see that they offered that option.
Second, offer that option. A salad+a protein. Not a salad +a salad, it’s just too much starch and carbs, since they’re salads are hardly light.
I will probably go back to try other stuff but I’m in no hurry

We both had the combo salad bowls and loved them. Variety of tastes and fresh ingredients makes eating healthy taste great. Friendly staff and real Dishes and flatware (not plastic) at fast food prices.

This place is a fantastic lunch spot. Not only that, but the food is great and the daily specials keep it interesting and give me more than enough reason to keep going.
My favourites would have to be the «Comfy» duck sandwich and the pasta pesto salad. Also the soup salad combo is such a great value.
Definitely one my favourite places to eat in Toronto.

I went for lunch to Buna’s today and it was such a cute little spot to grab something quickly. I ordered the quiche (leek and cheddar) with a side of mixed greens and potato/​asparagus salad. It was packed up quickly and I was out of there within five minutes.
The salads were dressed deliciously and tasted a bit sweet. The quiche was soft with a perfect amount of crust. The portions sizes were large and lasted me into the mid-​afternoon.
Overall, a really great lunch experience in the midst of a blizzard and I’ll be back soon!

This place is amazing! I’ve tried almost everything on their menu and nothing has disappointed. Such friendly staff and beautiful décor.
Best quinoa salad I’ve ever had.
Definitely a must try to check out for a mid-​day/​late afternoon bite.

— rumors are true. the duck comfy sandwich is delicious. straight up.
— although a little pricey… with the basic salad combo, my meal was about $ 17 all in… and i was still hungry afterwards.

This place does nice sandwiches for lunch. But my HUGE complaint about it is the BIG prices they charge for SMALL sandwiches — for what you get, which are small portions, you pay alot. I’m OK with paying 10+ for a sandwich as long as it’s big, or at least there are some subtantial sides to it. I wasn’t exactly feeling it was value for money from ordering the duck sandwich and a buttersquash soup ($ 15+ later …).
Buna’s is just too pricey for a quick take out lunch. Too pricey for me to want to do lunch here regularly.
Ignoring the high prices, the food is great. A welcome addition to Toronto’s entertainment district area. There aren’t that many good places for a quick lunch to go in this area.
If the prices were half what they currently charge, I have no doubt this place would be a smash hit. Alas, commercial rents in this area I suspect are high…

Comfy duck was amazing! Its special Mayo sauce goes really well with juicy duck and egg.
Soup was really like something your grandma would get you for lunch or breakfast.
Very friendly staff, awesome atmosphere, my new most fav lunch place. :)
Everything is clean and neat, checkout their herb garden on the wall.

This new lunch spot may has potential but also has some kinks to work out. Daily specials including (most of the time) a vegetarian pasta dish, a mix and mash salad bar of gourmet style salads, sandwiches and today even, a zucchini donut dessert?! and plenty more to chose from…
I’ve been three times now — managed to get food two out of the three times. My major complaint is that they run out of items all the time and well before I consider lunch time to be over — say by 1:30pm! I’m a big proponent of not wasting food at the end of a day but come on, 1:30pm and you’re out of 2 of the salads in the only 4 selection salad bar? I’m glad business is good but then reward your returning (late-​lunching) customers!
But more importantly, the food. The aforementioned salads are the highlight for me. A roast potato and thinly sliced veggies in a sweet-​ish dressing is mouth-​wateringly delicious. The panzanella was pretty good — big home made croutons with boccincini, tomatoes and black olives. The pasta salad was delicious and not too greasy as I find a lot of pasta salads, the quinoa was well cooked and dressed as well. Served on a bed of fresh micro greens and a bit more balsamic dressing makes this a great side to accompany a soup or sandwich. And I got two salads on a bed of greens for $ 6!
Now for the «needs improvement» items. My bgf (bestgirlfriend) and I tried the Buna’s favourite grilled cheese which is brie and pear and were very disappointed. The bread was a bit singed and too crispy, the cheese was not melted and the pear not very sweet. Bit of a fail. Not sure I’d order that again. Today my bgf ordered the pulled pork with mixed reviews: the pulled pork was bland — the right amount of sauce, good coleslaw, nice bun but if the pork is the main ingredient, it shouldn’t be bland.
So the jury is still out for me on this one — haven’t tried the pasta and would give something else a try but the salads have me coming back for more either way.

You may have read this already, but here it is again: the duck and egg sandwich is excellent! It is super-​tasty and rich and just so damn fantastic. Downside for me — salad portion is small, particularly the mixed greens that comes with all sandwiches and even the extra side I ordered was not much more but still very good (it was a roasted potato with shaved carrots and dill).
The location is small but there are a few tables. It’s a I great option for a more gourmet lunch or takeaway.