We all love our neighborhood haunts. You know the place close to home where you can grab breakfast, lunch or dinner. Cozy, warm and where everyone knows your name. Uh, where have I heard that before? Anyway…. a new spot has come to Gramercy and of course Cheapeats was there to check it out.
The Bluebell Cafe is the latest cafe to open its door in the bustling Gramercy neighborhood in New York City. Located next door to Molly’s Shabeen, this cozy cafe combines French cuisine with American home cooking. The interior is warm with exposed brick walls and wooden tables scattered about.
I love sitting by the window so that’s where my friend and I grabbed a seat. Our server handed us our menus and the search began. Steak Frites, French Onion Soup, Meatloaf…to name just a few. The Grilled Romaine Salad looks good but I really need some protein. “May I add a piece of grilled chicken to my salad?” “But of course.” Salad it is.
Chatting away with my friend and catching up on each others lives we lost track of time. Then we realized, we don’t have any food in front of us. We track down our server and ask where our food is. We’re informed it’ll be out shortly. We both looked at each in confusion.
Finally our lunch arrives. Steak Frites for him and Salad for me. My salad consisted of grilled romaine lettuce with granny smith apples, applewood smoked bacon, a HUGE piece of grilled chicken with blue cheese dressing. I chop up my salad into bite sized pieces and toss it to distribute the dressing evenly. On my fork I compose the perfect bite. A piece of lettuce, apple, bacon, chicken and dressing. Open wide and say ummmm. The dressing was creamy but very light with chunks of Danish blue cheese. I look over at friend and ask how’s his steak. He nods his head to say good. Can’t talk with a full mouth.
The food at this cafe is very fresh, simple and delicious. My only complaint was the service. It was a bit slow. I will give them the benefit of the doubt because they had just opened when we dined there. Hopefully by now they have worked out the kinks. I also noticed that they’re now serving a 3 course prix-fixe dinner for $25. Is that red velvet cake I see? Mmmm, perhaps I’ll give them another shot.
Happiness, $25 and under.