Grand Cafe and Bakery

The back story

I always heard great things about Grand Cafe and Bakery but never went until yesterday.

It's kind of a random story. We had to pick Kea's dad up at the airport at around 8 and I had a doctor's appointment in the Chinatown/downtown area at 9:30. We figured we'd go for breakfast. Kea's dad is mostly into Local food. Actually, I think it's more that he's not into spending money on food. Like I think when Kea was growing up, they never ate out. And when his dad does eat out, it's like okazuya and plate lunch places mostly.

So Kea and I were trying to think where to have breakfast with his dad. We thought about Byron's, Mitsuken, and Char Hung Sut (his dad's favorite place to get manapua) but were kind of at a loss.

Anyway, it was his dad's idea to go to Grand Cafe. Every time he makes this kind of suggestion, we immediately think, oh this must be some place his girlfriend introduced him too. It's amusing. In any case, I was glad for a chance to try the place.

The food

First off, their pastries are amazing. I am not a pastry person. I often will eat them if they're around because it seems like you should and then I'll like barely even enjoy it and feel totally sick after. The Grand Cafe pastries, though, well, they're small, which is fine with me. The size is closer to that of rugelach than the bear claws we usually see though. The pastry itself is amazing. I usually think of the pastry as just the holder for the filling, but this pastry was seriously the best part. Anyway, I had the apple and tried the lemon cream cheese; I definitely preferred the apple. The lemon cream cheese was too cheesy for me. Kea and his dad had bear claws and Kea tried the lemon cream cheese too; he preferred the bear claw also.

I had a pretty basic breakfast. I can't remember what it was called, but it was basically pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I didn't know what to order and I figured this way I could try a little of everything. And even this basic breakfast was good. The pancakes were very light, as advertised. Even the eggs were good. I'm not a fan of scrambled eggs and only ordered them because I'm not supposed to eat raw yolks right now, but these were a good texture and tasted better than scrambled eggs I'm used to too. (Maybe scrambled eggs are usually overcooked? I'm not sure exactly what it is.)

Kea had the breakfast panini and his dad had corned beef hash and eggs. His dad spoke highly of the omelettes and eggs from what he remembered last time.

One last thing: There was a Bananas Fosters French Toast on the menu. I was so tempted to order it, but it came with gelato, which just sounded out of control.