La Petite Abeille
Swimster and I grabbed breakfast before I had to run to work Saturday morning.
There wasn't much thought put into the place we chose besides convenience of location. We were feeling pretty tired with a twinge of hungover-ness and chose La Petite Abeille right next to Swimster's apartment.
The restaurant's blue and white color scheme and some subtle table touches were the highlight of brunch. Each table had a large sea salt shaker and when we asked for water, it came in a tall glass bottle complete with snap off cork top. Swimster and I enjoyed this a great deal. If I opened a restaurant I think I'd choose to serve water the same way. The walls were covered in chalkboards with wine listings and the banquette was clean and white. Abeille sits on the corner and they have great window views of 20th Street and 1st Avenue.
There seemed to be a good variety of choices for brunch on the Menu. Swimster chose the carbonnades flamandes, a Flemish-style beef stew cooked in beer with prunes and fries.
I chose an omelette the waitress mentioned as a special with asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella. For some reason those ingredients sounded appealing to my ear but were not appealing to my tastebuds...when I got the omelette the mozzarella was barely melted and tasted leathery. And the vegetables inside were not blended into the eggy batter. I prefer omelettes where the insides are a part of the eggs, not separated. Had the mozzarella fully melted this may not have been an issue. Swimster's beef was a gooey glob of beef and prunes and a dark reddish brownish sauce. Once I brushed off a thick layer of the sauce off the beef (that was drowning the beef), it tasted tender and salty. Perhaps this is the definition of a stew but it was too heavy for me. The fries were ok, but not as good as I expected of a Belgian restaurant (not anything like the ones I had in Bruges). They had a slight double layer crispy coating (for lack of a better way to describe it) which I really don't like. The best thing about breakfast was the baguette we ordered as a starter with a fig jam. It was sweet and bitter and delicious lathered on the fresh bread.
The waitress was extremely friendly, and Abeille filled up with customers by the time we were heading out. I noticed they had a counter of pastries and coffee that I would try if I returned a next time. But for a good-tasting experience (beyond its good taste in decor) there are better options in the city.
(Introducing the new rating system. One apple = blah, two apples = ok, three apples = great, four apples=died and gone to food heaven. This rating system is inspired by a blog I came across recently Seize the 'Que. The girls there use some glasses of what looks to be ice tea, though not certain.)
401 E. 20th St (and 1st)
212-727-1505
check out the website for other locations
There wasn't much thought put into the place we chose besides convenience of location. We were feeling pretty tired with a twinge of hungover-ness and chose La Petite Abeille right next to Swimster's apartment.
The restaurant's blue and white color scheme and some subtle table touches were the highlight of brunch. Each table had a large sea salt shaker and when we asked for water, it came in a tall glass bottle complete with snap off cork top. Swimster and I enjoyed this a great deal. If I opened a restaurant I think I'd choose to serve water the same way. The walls were covered in chalkboards with wine listings and the banquette was clean and white. Abeille sits on the corner and they have great window views of 20th Street and 1st Avenue.
There seemed to be a good variety of choices for brunch on the Menu. Swimster chose the carbonnades flamandes, a Flemish-style beef stew cooked in beer with prunes and fries.
I chose an omelette the waitress mentioned as a special with asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella. For some reason those ingredients sounded appealing to my ear but were not appealing to my tastebuds...when I got the omelette the mozzarella was barely melted and tasted leathery. And the vegetables inside were not blended into the eggy batter. I prefer omelettes where the insides are a part of the eggs, not separated. Had the mozzarella fully melted this may not have been an issue. Swimster's beef was a gooey glob of beef and prunes and a dark reddish brownish sauce. Once I brushed off a thick layer of the sauce off the beef (that was drowning the beef), it tasted tender and salty. Perhaps this is the definition of a stew but it was too heavy for me. The fries were ok, but not as good as I expected of a Belgian restaurant (not anything like the ones I had in Bruges). They had a slight double layer crispy coating (for lack of a better way to describe it) which I really don't like. The best thing about breakfast was the baguette we ordered as a starter with a fig jam. It was sweet and bitter and delicious lathered on the fresh bread.
The waitress was extremely friendly, and Abeille filled up with customers by the time we were heading out. I noticed they had a counter of pastries and coffee that I would try if I returned a next time. But for a good-tasting experience (beyond its good taste in decor) there are better options in the city.
(Introducing the new rating system. One apple = blah, two apples = ok, three apples = great, four apples=died and gone to food heaven. This rating system is inspired by a blog I came across recently Seize the 'Que. The girls there use some glasses of what looks to be ice tea, though not certain.)
401 E. 20th St (and 1st)
212-727-1505
check out the website for other locations
posted by Mona at 1:27 PM
15 Comments:
I love the frites from Belgium. I've never had the same here in the city. I like the name of the restaurant and the way they serve the water, but I'd have to like their food (of course!) It's good you're doing the tasting for me. ;-)
Paz
Their website is way cool. It's a shame the food wasn't great.
*Paz, I know, right? There is a place in the city I will have to try called "pommes frites" and they are claimed to have amazing frites.
*Greg, that's exactly what I thought:) I wanted to ask them who designed their website because I thought it was soooo cool!! I do feel it's hard to judge a restaurant by 2 simple dishes but certainly an omelette and fries are basics, right?
I survived the marathon - thank you for your good wishes!!! I was slow, and it got ugly around mile 20, but I finished on two feet!
And I agree, I had the same experience at La Petite Abeille (in the Meatpacking District) - it is so cute and everything sounds so yummy, but it was just sort of blah.s
*Mebeth, great to know about the other one you tried...I will remember that. And isn't the website so cool? What a bummer, as Greg pointed out. When are sign-ups for the marathon? I'm going to do it next year.
*E, thanks for visiting! and for the nice comments on my blog :) I will definitely make note of that. I used to work out in Long Island, but if I ever head out again, I will definitely look that place up.
I miss the American breakfast! How do these Italians survive on coffee and a roll for breakfast (excuse me, that's a "cappuccino and a pastry" hehehe)?
I would give anything for some pancakes or french toast with tons of maple syrup!
Hope you enjoyed your breakfast. It sounded wonderful.
Cyn
I've never had fries like the ones I had in the Netherlands. Or Belgium, for that matter. *sigh*
Love the new rating system!
If you go to this pommes frites place, let me us know how it is. I know there was one on 14th Street but is no longer there. Never went there, though.
Congrats to the marathon runner. I'm so impressed and inspired with anyone who participates in it.
BTW, Mona, I think you're right: One should be able to get 2 simple and basic dishes -- omelette and fries -- right. Was watching two different food shows on Food TV and the test for a chef was how well they could make an omelette....
Paz
*Cynthia Rae, I know,right? I completely agree :) Thanks for stoppin in and leaving comments. I had a hard time adjusting to baguette et beurre when I lived in France, I needed eggs and sausage links and toast -OHMY!
*S'kat, aw thanks! I had been wanting to use a rating system but just dawned on me to keep to the apple theme and give restaurants apples. Ha, they better just hope they don't get BAD APPLES.
*Paz, I definitely plan on going to the pommes frites place, hopefully sooner than later. That's so great about the chef test, I love it. So I wasn't that far off-yay!
hey, give my friends at seize the 'que a little credit for your rating system :-)
I do like your site and your writing style/format. And you've eaten quite a lot!
*Rose, good point. I must have gotten confused, I thought I had mentioned that in my post but I'll revise it if I left that out. Always gotta give props where props are due. Thanks for stopping by.
It's sweet ice tea that's traditionally had with bbq in NC. Here's their post explaining it:
http://seizetheque.blogspot.com/2005/09/rating-system-explained.html
*Jen, thanks so much for stopping by! Of course :) So are you and Rose buddies from UNC? I was a UVA girl myself.
And speaking of barbecue, our boss/anchor treated us all to Virgil's BBQ yesterday at work. It was awesome. Other than Virgil's and Dinosaur up in Harlem I'm not that aware of too many bbq places in the city. My friend has been meaning to take me somewhere in Murray Hill- I'll have to ask her what the name of it was again...nothing against the 'que :)
Hmmm... try Dallas BBQ. My dad goes there when he gets a bbq craving. I think it's on 23rd and 7/8th. There are some other places, but I can't remember the name of the top of my head.
Jen and I went to college together, but not at UNC (which has a pretty campus).
I'm a native new yorker. And jen should be a visitin' me...let's see if she can part with her library studies :-)
I was thinking of adopting a "Rose" rating. I'm not sure about red roses, maybe peach ones?
*Rose, how cool! That'd be great! My friend just got peach roses from her mom (no occasion really) but they're in our apartment and so pretty.
Thanks for those recs, I'll add them to my to go list.
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