When I first walked into this French inspired bakery cafe, my party of 8 was greeted and seated…read morepromptly. We also were given menus and water swiftly. It took a bit for our waiter to stroll back around to take our order, and for a Sunday morning brunch, I wouldn't have considered this place a "packed" house. When the time came around, I was first to place my order, I wanted something different so I ordered Shakshuka. Of course; I did my quick research of the dish before getting to the restaurant! Shakshuka is suppose to be a one-skillet egg dish, the eggs are basted in this rich, thick red pepper, tomato, onions, and garlic sauce, topped with satueed peppers. I also ordered a French toast and chai latte!
Fast forward to when everyone dishes were dropped off, even though I was first to order my dish did not arrive. I waited around for 10-15 minutes, my whole family was pretty much done with their meals. I had to call over our waitress to advise my order was never dropped at the table. After letting her know, my dish was expedited to the table in less than 5 minutes. Could they have been a rush to send out the dish? Possibly. Because that was the worst dish ever and nothing like described. The peppers were not sautéed (or little to nothing) and were just sliced, plated for decor. The tomato/red pepper based sauce seemed like it was just canned tomato sauce, very liquid-y. Simply was not fond of this dish. The french toast were more like hard french toast sticks, I would've liked it to be on the fluffier end, but they were hard/toasted. Nothing that blew my mind. As far as my chai latte, it was divine! The perfect warm hug. The chai to steamed milk ratio was on point, and topped cinnamon.
My mom ordered their $42 Entrecöte Frites; man, did that sound delicious. As a true steak connoisseur, she loves a bleeding rare steak! So that was the temperature she ordered, rare. I was excited to snag a bite or two from her plate to be the judge it for myself. The plate dropped the first time, she cut right in the middle of it to see the finishing temperature... it was wrong. Sent it right back. The second time it hit the table, the temperature was correct. A bright red center and a seared exterior, just what she was looking for. However, it was so salty, you just could not get past all the salt, nothing to enjoy. Not edible, unless you wanted clogged arteries right then and there!
My wife ordered a caprese sandwich. Yes, I also took a bite of that while waiting my for my order(lol). The baguette bread was airy, delicious, and soft. The mozzarella was fresh and the tomatoes were nice and ripe. I also tried their croissants, almond and chocolate croissant, pistachio croissant, and Nutella croissant. They were buttery, flaky, and all the fillings complimented it well.
My conclusion to La Boulangerie is you have to be selective about what you order from here. Maybe they had an off day and we were the unlucky ones, but the more complicated meals turned out to taste the worst. However, you can definitely enjoy light bites here... you can't go wrong with a baguette sandwich, coffee, or a pastry. I think baking and light fare is where their true expertise lies.