Cafe Finds: Belle Pastry

One favorite pastime my mom and I share is testing out the coffee quality of different cafes. In honor of her birthday tomorrow, we (along with my dad) made our way to Belle Pastry in downtown Bellevue for breakfast.  (Considering this place is less than 4 miles from our house and has been around for years, I’m surprised we haven’t hit it up before. Just goes to show you how well we scout out our own neighborhood.) The rundown:

Coffee

My drink of choice is either plain drip coffee or a double Americano. Today I opted for the latter. Verdict: very good. Smooth, bitter-free, and just the right foam-to-coffee ratio. I personally like my espresso slightly stronger, but this fell well within my realm of above-average.  My mom gave thumbs up to her mocha, which was chocolatey without overpowering the coffee flavor.

Pastries

Belle Pastry is best known for its fine French confections, and rightly so. We got there around 8am and the case was already emptying out. I’m not a pastry connoisseur, but my mom is…and she was extremely happy with her cream cheese raisin croissant: flaky, not too sweet, and full of high-quality buttery goodness. My dad also couldn’t stop raving about his bear claw: big points, considering he’s generally not a fan of sweets.  (Photo at left: Belle Pastry)

Ambiance

If you can snag a table, Belle Pastry is the perfect place to spend a lazy weekend morning. It’s the kind of cafe that encourages you to linger and savor your meal — relaxed, well lit, inviting. Despite getting progressively busier the entire time we were there, it remained quiet enough for us to discuss the morning crossword.

Try it Yourself

10246-A Main Street, Bellevue, WA 98004
www.bellepastry.com