Cafes – Waiting For Delight

Le Grande Café de France

Jeremy Laurin — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 13:37:00 +0000

Ambiance

 4.3/5

Service

 3/5

Food / Drink

 4.3/5

Overall

 4/5

Visited 5/25/2022 (afternoon snack) & 5/28 (breakfast)

Le Grande Café de France is located right on the main strip of the hotels and restaurants in downtown Nice. It is definitely a ‘tourist trap’ of a restaurant, but I can say happily that it lured me in, not once, but twice for a quick snack.

I suppose I should start with that I appreciate France for it’s outdoor cafés and when I see one with the white wicker and classic vibe, I have a hard time resisting to sit down at least for a cappuccino.

The menu at Le Grande Café de France has everything you’d expect from a Parisian tourist restaurant. Croissants in the morning, Aperol spritz in the afternoon, and Italian / sea food in the evening. The prices are a bit elevated from those of restaurants not on the ‘main street’, but the lure & draw is that you are in the mix of it all while you sit and enjoy your meal.

The ambiance of the café is so cute. Outside, which is where I sat both times, is under a covered awning. You sit and face the walking traffic, so you get some nice people watching as you sip your Aperol or enjoy your meal. I am very sad I did not take a photo of the inside, but if you do visit, please go inside and check it out. There is a grand spiral staircase that takes you upstairs (to where the restrooms are). Across from the restrooms is a beautiful bar, a chandelier, and seats with a terrific view. Plus, the staff were attentive as well.

When I stopped by the evening of May 25^th, I wanted just a snack, so I ordered the cheese and fig plate. It came with so much cheese! There were brie, gouda, and cheddar. There were dried apricots and figs intermixed as well. In the center was a mixed greens salad with some pine nuts. While very cheese heavy, it was a nice snaking plate as I relaxed.

I popped over again for a quick snack (aka croissant breakfast) before my flight on the 28^th. I ordered a couple croissants (one for now, one for take away), a cappuccino and a mimosa! Basically all the delightful things. While I was only there for about 25 minutes, the croissant was buttery, flakey, and perfect. Ugh it was great! And the mimosa sure hit the spot. Cappuccino is hard to go wrong in general, but this one was darker than the one I had the previous day while out and about, which I appreciated because of the brightness of the mimosa.

Similar to the previous visit, I was able to people watch during my snack and get one last piece of the French experience before my flight back home.

Solid 4-stars.

~Jeremy

Les Petits Pains de Méditerranée

Jeremy Laurin — Tue, 06 Sep 2022 16:57:00 +0000

Ambiance

 3/5

Service

 3.5/5

Food / Drink

 4/5

Overall

 3.5/5

Visited for Breakfast – May 28th, 2022

My friend and I were staying in a cute hotel near the center of Nice and were looking for a place to grab a pastry and an americano for a snack, when we stumbled upon Les Petits Pains de Méditerranée. It is a small venue, right off the main area of downtown Nice. If you’re spending the day shopping, you likely will walk past it. On the street, the cafe is marked by the marble sign and café tables out front – so it’s one of those rare places that you could easily walk past, but you’d be sad if you did! Keep an eye out for the marble sign and you’ll find it just fine

The shop is longer than it is wide and has an assortment of savories up in the front, with sweet pastries in the back. The ambiance is not of a café where you’ll likely sit and hang-out, but more of a grab and go, or a grab and sit for a few minutes. There are a handful of café tables out-front, but the inside is small and really just for ordering & paying.

When you enter, you’re greeted by a lovely little lady behind the counter, who definitely has her work cut out for her in serving the long line of patrons. When we arrived, there was one group of folks in front of us, but when we left there was a bit of a line out the door. So, this must be a popular spot.

The clientele were a mix of locals and tourists, which (to me) means it’s getting good support. In terms of options, they have options for whichever mood you’re in! Looking for a lunch sandwich? Got it! Want a beignet? Done! If you’re indecisive, you may walk out with more than you bargained for.

We opted for one savory and two sweets with two Americanos.

The Americanos were done well, no complaints. They came straight out of the nespresso , but came with a cute candy.

The savory we went with was the vegetable quiche, which came with squash, tomatoes, onions, and rosemary. It was a skinny/flat quiche from the ones I’m used to from the US. It had a crispy crust (just a touch overbaked), and due to the extra crisp on the crust and all the veggies on-top was a touch dry, but still fresh tasting. It left me feeling like I had gotten my veggies in for the day and also had a solid base to go from.

My friend is really into lemon and so we ordered the pastry that looked like a lemon tart. We were correct! It was nice, flakey and just the right amount of filling. Definitely the perfect bake on the crust! We may have fought about who got the last bite 😛

I couldn’t walk out of the café without ordering a beignet! There was only one left in the case and it looked so fluffy and tasty. In typical style, it was lightly dusted with sugar and nice and puffy. It was a bit dry though, like it may have been the last of the batch. So, while I got my sweet sugary fix, I wouldn’t give it a great rating. If freshly out of the oven, I think it would’ve been great!

Overall, if you’re looking for a quick café and pastry or a sandwich to -go, Les Petits Pains de Méditerranée is a solid stop to make. They have an incredible selection, kind staff, and impeccable location. The only reason for the slight drop in rating is due to the two slightly dry pastries, but depending on the timing of your visit (& the bake), you may get a 5-star experience!

3.5-stars

~WFD

SO Green Café Nice

Jeremy Laurin — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 13:22:00 +0000

Ambiance

 3.8/5

Service

 3.2/5

Food / Drink

 3.8/5

Overall

 3.5/5

Visited: 5/26/2022

As you do when on vacation, I spent the day shopping in Nice Stopped by quite a few stores and found myself in the main promenade around lunchtime.

Located right on the promenade in Nice

The main promenade is where there are trains, restaurants, shops – you name it, but there are always people. It was not quite lunch and not quite dinner, so decided to pop into Greens Café for a quick snack.

Umbrellas Cover the outside seating area

Unlike the other restaurants and cafes around town, Greens was nice because it has more of a ‘health food’ vibe. Now, I am not a particular ‘health food’ afficianado, but I do appreciate the ability to have fruits and vegetables instead of always the pizza and gelato found throughout the dinner and lunch restaurants.

The café is casual. You can order from the counter inside, but if you sit outside there is a QR code at the table you can use. Alternatively, there are helpful wait staff that come around who can also take your order. I’m not always a huge fan of the QR code, so I opted to flag down the server and talk to a human to order

Healthy Bowl

As a snack, ordered the ‘Green bowl’ (10 euros), which had mango, strawberry, banana, and granola over yogurt. The fruit was nice and fresh. The granola was also crispy and had chocolate shavings. So, not exactly super healthy, but still made me feel good about the choice

SO Green Shake

I also ordered a SO Green shake w/ Spinach, Apple, Cucumber, & Ginger (6 euros). It could’ve been blended slightly more, but still was a nice & light pick me up. These juices usually have a sweet edge to them and this one did too, but it was just what I needed for energy.

All ordered food comes in to-go containers

Overall, if you’re in the mood for a smoothie, yogurt, quinoa, or health bowl and you’re in Nice, this is your spot. It essentially the local version of ‘Jamba Juice’! So, if Jamba isn’t your thing, steer clear. If this is your jam, you can easily & quickly sit, grab a snack, and be back on your way in no time, powered by ‘healthy’ energy :p

~Jeremy

Cafe Frei Nice

Jeremy Laurin — Sun, 04 Sep 2022 09:30:00 +0000

Service:

 4/5

Ambiance:

 4/5

Food / Drink:

 5/5

Overall:

 4.3/5

Visited 5/26/2022

Frei is a cute coffee shop just off the beaten path in Nice. That said, it’s still on a corner that gets some good foot traffic, as there are restaurants and cafes every where you turn. We happened to stumble on this place when we decided to steer away from the shopping hot-spots and ventured down a few blocks.

Fun interior of Cafe Frei

The ambiance of Frei is fun, tropical, and chill. The chairs are a mix of wicker and fabric and the paintings are psychedelic colors of animals or statues. There are also banana plants and other tropical plants around, so it takes you out of the hustle and bustle of the Nice street-life.

The counter & giant giraffe

Plus, there is a giant giraffe when you walk in, definitely grab a photo with it for a memory!

Coffee (and tea) from all over the world

The draw of Frei is that they have coffee, tea, (and afternoon drinks) from all over the world. Whether its beans from south America or Ethiopia, they have you covered. Mixed with the cute atmosphere and fun staff, its a great find. Also, if you’re in the need for a restroom after drinking all the coffee they have one too 😉

Two americano

The menu is huge, so be prepared to take it all in – or just order a few things! I went with the standard americano and I ended up ordering another one (it was tasty)! They also have salads and pastries, if you’re looking for a light / quick snack.

Overall, if you’re looking for a nice cafe in Nice, you can’t go wrong with this place.

~Jeremy