Cafe Madeline San Francisco,CA

Cafe Madeline is a mini bakery/cafe chain based out of SF. Their 3 outlets are all in or near the financial district. They carry a selection of French pastries as well as sandwiches. I was looking for a sweet caffeine boost a.k.a mocha but didn’t have the patience for a long wait at Blue Bottle. I took Yelp’s suggestion to try Cafe Madeline’s mocha. Apparently, they make their own chocolate. The mocha($3.90) itself was more like a hot chocolate but I wasn’t complaining. It wasn’t one of those mixes or powders, there was real melted dark chocolate in there and it wasn’t too sweet. Also, the chocolate whipped cream was a nice touch. This is definitely not for the calorie conscious. But if you are looking for an afternoon pick me up, Cafe Madeline’s mocha would be perfect.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Home

 

Cafe Stop Sunnyvale,CA

After months of passing by Cafe Stop, we finally stopped by to savor whatever the Cafe cousin of our beloved Falafel Stop had to offer. The ambience is bright and minimalistic. Seating was plenty and laid out well. I liked the fact that it wasn’t as crowded as Falafel Stop and thus offered a more relaxed atmosphere to lounge. We settled in with a couple of flakly halva pastry strudels($1.50) with a loaf of challah bread($4.50) safely stowed away for later. The pastries were delicious, flaky but not buttery like those from a French patisserie.The pastry consisted of alternating layers of chocolate with halva ( sweetened sesame paste) stuffed in the middle. The sweetness was perfect. Although their regular menu didn’t appeal much to me, I am tempted to come back for their pastries.

Rating: ☆☆☆

https://www.yelp.com/biz/cafe-stop-sunnyvale

 

Bartavelle Coffee and Wine Bar Berkeley,CA

Located next to the iconic Acme bakery in Berkeley, Bartavelle is a Cafe by day and a wine bar by night. Their cafe menu is an eclectic mix of toasts, porridges and eggs. Considering my love for avocado, I chose their avocado toast ($8.25) along with a side of the olive oil eggs ($2.25). The avocado itself was tangy (from the lime juice) and mildly spiced with Marash pepper. The bread was fresh and crispy. The olive oil eggs were delicious but the secret was simple – generous amounts of olive oil and sea salt on soft boiled eggs. I also got a macchiato( beans from Heart roasters). Although it wasn’t bitter, espresso was on the sour side. Overall, there is nothing on the menu that can’t be prepared at home with a little effort which means that there is little margin for error in terms of execution but I did leave impressed on my first visit. Standard caveat around Bay Area pricing applies though.

Rating: ☆☆☆

http://www.bartavellecafe.com/

 

20th Century Cafe San Francisco,CA

If you suddenly fancy yourself waking up in Budapest or Prague and if you are either penniless or vacation less, 20th century cafe can help you. This charming cafe in Hayes Valley is the closest than you can get in terms of a Central European cafe experience in SF. The ladies than run this place are a bit uptight but they are clearly gifted bakers, everything from tortes, strudels to layer cakes look amazing. The Russian honey cake is their top seller and is also my favorite. It is a 10 layer cake that delicately captures the subtle taste of honey and is perfectly sweetened. They also get brownie points for featuring one of the rarest cakes to be found in bakeries across in America. At $7+ per slice, it is steep but it is the combination of quality and scarcity that warrants the premium price. I do wish that they could cut a generous slice for that price.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆

https://www.20thcenturycafe.com/

 

Fleur de Sel San Francisco,CA

I was down with a cold and was really craving some hot soup. As I was walking to Muracci’s on Kearny Street, I noticed Fleur de Sel’s daily specials sign. They had a roasted tomato special on their board and that was enough for me to change course. At $4.50 for a bowl, it isn’t a steal but is a good option if you are looking for a light meal. The soup was on the creamier side though, I could have used a little more tartness from the tomato. They also have reasonably priced lunch boxes and best of all there isn’t a huge line unlike other restaurants in the area during lunch hour.

Rating: ☆☆☆

http://www.fleurdeselcafe.com/

 

Stonemill Matcha San Francisco,CA

There has been this ongoing wave of Asian flavors like green tea, sesame gaining more mainstream awareness. Matcha is the latest entrant to the wave and enjoying it’s own ‘everything is better with bacon’ moment. Stonehill Matcha is all about taking matcha to the masses with matcha flavored tea/coffees and pastries. They also have a broader Japanese themed light snack menu with toasts, rice bowls and cakes. We tried the matchano ( matcha+hot water) which is spin on Americano and the strawberry mochi. I liked that the matchano was less grassy than other matcha drinks I have tried in the past. The mochi was ok, the rice cake portion itself was very good but the strawberry was clearly bad and left a bad aftertaste. I would probably stop by for their Japanese styled cheesecake if I am in the neighborhood again.

Rating: ☆☆☆

https://stonemillmatcha.com/

 

Donut Savant Oakland,CA

I managed to finally visit Donut Savant on their final day in their Broadway location. I was expecting long lines but I was surprised to be able to just walk-in. I found the shelves to be almost empty when I arrived, it turned out they restock in several small batches throughout the day. I picked a few of the staple cinnamon sugar donut holes along with speciality items like sugafaniyot (raised jam filled donut) and a wacky mini cronut ( peanut butter and marshmallow fluff). Among these, I liked sugafaniyot the best – probably because it felt most donut like although the jam was a bit too sweet. The donut holes were too “cakey” for my taste. The fancy mini cronut did not really impress me. The croissant dough just didn’t add to the flavor in a positive way. Turns out, fancy donuts weren’t my jam.

Rating: ☆☆☆      http://www.donutsavant.com/

Piccino Coffee Bar San Francisco,CA

Piccino is a low key neighborhood coffee shop. Carved out of the Piccino cafe/ restaurant, the coffee bar is a tiny with a few seats squeezed in. There was a varied selection of house made scones, muffins and cookies. I opted for the prune muffin and a cappuccino. My cap was very good, strong without being acidic. I almost gave up on the prune muffin but the flavors really shined when I popped it in the microwave for a few seconds. Not something I would go out of the way for but looks like a neighborhood favorite.

Rating: ☆☆☆    https://piccino.com/coffee-bar/

Bloomstock Coffee San Francisco,CA

Bayview is one the of the last neighborhoods in SF that seems to resist gentrification largely because of the crime statistics. It is a shame that is not only convenient for a work commute but also sunny. Last time I was in the neighborhood for Trouble Coffee’s legendary cinnamon toast. This time it was to visit Bloomstock, the new tenant that replaced Trouble Coffee which left the spot a while ago. Their signature waffles was what brought me here but it was a shame that they ran out of all but one (savory) by 10 am on a Saturday morning. So, I just ended up getting up a cappuccino. It was alright but on the milkier side. The detour to Bloomstock wasn’t worth the effort.

Rating: ☆☆☆    https://www.yelp.com/biz/bloomstock-san-francisco

Lady M boutique

These perfect looking crepe cakes from Lady M took Instagram by storm a few years ago. Ever since, the Lady M has grown out of their NYC home base to all the over the world. I finally had a chance to try them as they popped up on the peninsula in Los Altos. For one, it didn’t look like a pop up. The “temp” space was huge with lots of seating and tasteful yet minimalistic decoration. I got a slice of the signature mille cake ($9). I immediately noticed that the layers were almost perfect. The cake itself was rich and creamy. Since, there is no sponge, the heavy lifting is done by the pastry cream. I thought it really worked for me. It was a very good cake but the pricing is inflated by the visual gimmickry and branding.

Rating: ☆☆☆   https://www.ladym.com/