Month: January 2015

Buvette

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I was looking for a new breakfast spot to try out when I stumbled on Buvette, located in the West Village. Buvette is a quaint little French restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s pretty hard to find if you’re not familiar with the West Village – both the Boyfriend and I actually went the wrong way twice!

We arrived around 11:15am and the Boyfriend ordered lunch while I ordered breakfast.  I like that they offer the breakfast menu with the lunch menu so we can get both at the same time. I went with their most popular dish – Steamed Scrambled Eggs with Prosciutto ($12.00). They offer a smoked salmon option as well but I opted for the less traditional breakfast combo. The dish comes with the fluffiest eggs I have ever eaten and three slabs of bread drizzled with olive oil. The result is a build-your-own egg bruschetta dish that was pleasantly filling.

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The Boyfriend with with the Steak Tartare ($16.00), which features chopped beef with capers and cornichons. The steak tartare was also served with toast. The tartare was very good – fresh and seasoned perfectly. I’m used to the beef being chopped a little more finely than the one here but it was still pretty good. The Boyfriend quickly gobbled up all the tartare and was left full but not too much.

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The Boyfriend ordered an Americano with milk on the side while I ordered a Latte. Both were extremely good – the coffee was strong without being bitter. There’s seriously nothing better in the morning than a fresh cup of good coffee. The service was good – there was nothing amazing about it. The dishes did take a bit longer than usual to come – I’m chopping it up to the fact that their eggs are steamed and scrambled in an espresso pot. Overall, great dishes but a bit pricey for a normal breakfast.

Cantine Parisienne

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The Boyfriend and I were looking for somewhere close to Chinatown to have a quick meal before heading up to 34th street to catch an afternoon movie. We were bouncing a few places back and forth until I remembered that I had a BlackBoard Eats deal for Cantine Parisienne, located in the Nolita/Little Italy area. We arrived around 2:00pm and was seated immediately.

I opted for the Croque Maison ($14.00) with a sunnyside up egg on top of the ham and caramelized cheese sandwich. It’s a classy French version of a grilled cheese so there was a lot of melty gooeyness involved. It comes with a side of mixed greens so it’s definitely a pretty big portion. I normally love Croque Monsieurs so the added egg was so delicious!

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The Boyfriend went with the Cantine Burger ($14.00), which is a blended patty burger topped with caramelized onions and mixed greens. I took a bite of the burger and it was super juicy. The table next to us even stopped mid-meal to stare at the burger! It comes with a side of fries which were crunchy and crispy. I’m not normally a hamburger fan (I prefer cheeseburgers) but this one was pretty good.

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We opted for their White Chocolate Mousse ($8.00) for dessert and it was the perfect end to a very savory meal. Since it was white chocolate, it tasted less sweet than regular milk chocolate, which the Boyfriend really liked. I thoroughly enjoyed the caramelized white chocolate “cookie” on the top of the mousse – so crunchy!

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Service was nice and attentive throughout the meal despite the fact that we had a deal. I love that about places! I’d definitely be back in the future – even without a deal.