Le Diplomate (French)
Paris-Brest 10/10
This is one of the most perfect pastries I’ve had the pleasure of eating from. Fun fact: Its name comes from the bicycle race between the cities of Paris and Brest. The pastry had a ring of choux pastry, sliced open and filled with a praline-flavored cream and topped with hazelnuts. It was light and airy, but still had a subtle richness with the hazelnuts and praline notes. The sweetness level was perfect, which is something that can easily go wrong in filled pastries. It was slightly messy to eat, but there is no doubt that the taste lived up to its stunning appearance.
Warm shrimp salad- 6/10
While most associate a French breakfast or brunch with buttery pastries, many often eat hearty and nutritious meals, such as this shrimp salad we ordered. The dish had four shrimp, a marinated salad, sliced avocado and was floating in a lemon beurre blanc. The presentation was great, but something was off about the taste. Eaten together, the sun-dried tomatoes in the salad did not complement the lemon sauce, and the ripe avocado with the poached shrimp made for a weird texture combination. The plate wasn’t too busy, but for some reason, it felt overwhelming to eat. One of the dish’s strengths was that the shrimp was cooked perfectly and tasted incredibly fresh. Although the dish was not our favorite, it earns points for being balanced and fresh.
Tatte (Israeli)
When we first walked into the cafe, our eyes were immediately drawn to the prominent glass case full of fresh looking pastries. After much thought, we eventually ended up going with the Cheese Boureka and the traditional Shakshuka.
Cheese Boureka – 7.5
The first thought when we first had this pastry was that it tasted almost like a crispier and richer version of a croissant. The outside is extremely flaky while the inside is buttery and almost melts in your mouth. The cheese on the inside provided a nice hint of creaminess but also saltiness that helped cut down all of the richness in the dish. One issue that we did find with this dish was that the filling seemed to be lacking, to the point only most of the middle was filled with cheese. Despite the nice texture and flavor profiles, it does not seem to be a must-try.
Shakshuka – 7.5
In comparison to the Cheese Boureka, the Shakshuka provided a refreshing acidic flavor to balance out the buttery flavors. The tomatoes and eggs paired nicely together with the bread to create a light but filling meal. The two issues from this dish came from personal preference and manner in which the dish is meant to be eaten. For the former, decisions were split on whether the dish had strong notes of cilantro, which greatly hindered the rating for some. The latter, although not as impactful in the decision, dropped the ratings slightly as it was difficult and a bit messy to simply eat with one’s hands and bread.
East West Cafe (Turkish)
We ordered an Anatolian Cheese Borek and Cheese Pastry Rolls to immerse ourselves in the traditional Turkish flavor. But when the waiter brought it to our table, both dishes had nothing stunning to show.
Cheese Pastry Rolls – 8/10
When you first bite into the cheese pastry roll, there is a light crunch before you get to the cheese filling. There is a good balance of the roll and the cheese—the cheese adds the right amount of creamy flavor to the crispy pastry. Yet, this combination matches its unremarkable presentation. The cheese rolls were also accompanied with a tangy sauce and cucumbers and tomatoes that refreshed your mouth from the dry bread-and-cheese combo. The sauce carried the flavor of the rolls by adding a slightly sour taste to help lighten up the dish, creating a more unique flavor profile.
Anatolian Cheese Borek – 5/10
The same can’t be said about the Anatolian Cheese Borek. Without any sides or sauces and exponentially more cheese filling, the dish easily overwhelms your taste buds with the creamy, thick cheese texture. There is a light coat of flaky pastry that is immediately consumed by the cheese when you put it into your mouth. While the taste of the dish isn’t terrible, the imbalance of flavors makes it hard to get a second. This dish can hit hard with the huge cheese lovers, but for those who are in the middle, this plate of cheese-cake can scare you away.
Cafe Kindred (English)
We decided to order a traditional English Breakfast that included potatoes, sausage, mushrooms, beans and eggs. To complete the meal, we also added a side of fruity pebble pancakes.
English Breakfast – 6/10
The English Breakfast presented itself with a diverse plate consisting of sources of protein, carbohydrates and vegetables. While it may seem healthy, the overall flavor of the dish fails to live up to expectations. The potatoes were lightly salted, but otherwise, the taste was underwhelming. One bite into the unsuspecting sausage, the well-balanced spices and juicy flavor makes you think the dish can be worth it. The stark contrast with the potatoes makes it easy to forget the bland flavor that just sat in your mouth. The bacon was also perfectly crisp and savory. While there were only a few pieces of mushroom, they were cooked well and had their own flavor—depending if you like mushrooms, this helps the dish earn extra points. The eggs were just as un-ordinary as the potatoes, and the yolk was way too watery for us to fully enjoy it. Last and definitely least, the beans immediately made us reconsider our decision on the English breakfast. The starchy and soft texture did not sit well on our tongues, and the thick sauce that covered the weirdly sweet undertone was extremely unconvincing.
Fruity pebble pancakes – 5/10
Pancakes are a classic. But, unless made from scratch and packed with butter, they taste pretty bland. Unfortunately, these pancakes tasted as though they were made with a mix, despite it looking beautiful. The pancakes themselves were doughy, rather than fluffy. And if they weren’t sprinkled with a few colorful Fruity Pebbles, one may forget that these are Fruity Pebble-flavored. The cereal’s flavor gets lost in the flour-heavy mixture and the cereal cooked into the batter becomes soggy. Additionally, though this may just be a personal preference, the lack of maple syrup worsened the experience. Real maple syrup with its robust flavor pairs better with pancakes compared to just flavored sugar. While I would eat these pancakes if I was very hungry, I likely would not order them again due to their lack of fruity flavor and unpleasant texture.
