Cafe Besalu

Cafe Besalu, Ballard

Date - February 7, 2009

Background - Besalu was a favorite before we moved across the pond and after 18 months easy access to authentic croissants, we feel really lucky to have this gem in our hood. I've been talking it up to my friend Kate who just got back from a little European sojourn of her own. We were meeting up with Kate and Olive for a doggie play date one morning so we decided to fuel up at Besalu before the romp.

Atmosphere - While the smell of butter and sugar is wonderful, this place is small. Maybe six tables and on a weekend morning you have to have pretty lucky timing to get a table. One the plus side, you have a great view of the baker making all the lovely pastries while you inch up slowly towards the front while in line.

Service - Slow. This place forces me to work on my patience - the line has been out the door every time I've been and it moves slowly. It's the coffee drinks that slow down the line and that could all be avoided by having two lines (one for orders with coffee beverages, one for baked goods only) or even having people move aside to wait for their coffees would help, but their service is as Parisian as their baked goodsJ.

Drink- The coffees are fine, but I wouldn’t waste any calories on beverages if you can avoid it.

Food - The ginger biscuits are the specialty here and I am sure I could eat a dozen pretty easily. The almond croissant, plain croissant and pain chocolate are as good as anything I've had in France.

Verdict - Pure bliss - We that live near Ballard are lucky indeed. Would eat here every day if I could.