Breakfast at Cafe de Flore, ABC Dbayeh (Restaurant Closed)

Last Sunday, my friends and I decided to meet up to chat and puff on some cigars. ABC Dbayeh's open terrace was the perfect choice in this summer-like weather Lebanon has been witnessing during the month of January. Since my last visit, which was unimpressive, to Cafe de Flore, February 2013, we agreed on trying its breakfast and check on any developments that has happened in this cafe. We arrived at 11am, to find some people already eating, drinking and reading the newspaper. We sat and ordered breakfast. In the French capital, the famous Cafe de Flore is one of the main touristic destinations many search for. Located on the corner of Boulevard Saint-Germain and Rue St. Benoit, on the 6th arrondissement, it is one of the oldest and most prestigious coffee houses in Paris, celebrated for its famous clientele. Like its main rival, Les Deux Magots, it has hosted most of the French intellectuals during the post-war years. The classic Art Deco interior of all red seating, mahogany wood and mirrors has changed a little since World War II. Cafe de Flore’s Lebanon’s counterpart is a copy-paste of the French brasserie. It’s catchy and beautifully decorated set up calls on you to stop by. Whether you want coffee, tea, alcoholic beverages, lunch or dinner, Cafe de Flore seems to be a interesting location to stop by! Red and green chairs, marble floor, metallic tables and a typical french ambiance is soothing on a Sunday morning. The morning menu:

• Petit Dejeuner Flore (22,500L.L)
• Petit Dejeuner Continental (16,500L.L)
• Eggs (9 choices)
• Croissant
• Brioche
• Pain au chocolat
• Pain aux raisins
• Toasts
• Tartine beurre
• Confiture
• Miel

We ordered:

• Pain au chocolat (Known to be a chocolate croissant in Lebanon) 4,500L.L: This chocolate croissant is the simple unsophisticated one found at all bakeries in town. It contains two fingers of chocolate in large piece of square bread. I was expecting to enjoy something warm, airy and crunchy but unfortunately this croissant has nothing special.

• Cheese Croissant: This croissant looks nice and tastes fine but it is not great. There's nothing extraordinary about it

• Eggs with cheese and ham 14,000L.L: On a round plate and served with a lettuce salad, a lunar shaped omelette offers a tasty mix of eggs, ham and cheese. Yum! Eating these eggs made me forget about the average croissants. A moist, adequately cooked blend of eggs with slices of ham and melted cheese. A non oily preparation that's tasty despite its average presentation

• Flore's breakfast (Bread basket, butter, jam, eggs, orange juice, tea or coffee): I appreciated the quality of the jam served in closed containers by St.Dalfour, a generous basket of bread, freshly squeezed glass of orange and a cappuccino, served with omelette. All was good but I would personally decorate the eggs differently, or at least decorate them.

This morning's breakfast was good, simple and unsophisticated but not unique. The ambiance and general feel of the place will makes you want to come back. I enjoyed some little details that constitute the place:

• The service is good. Definitely better than last year
• The famous Peugeot, salt and pepper mills
• Branded plates with Cafe de Flore's logo
• Clean Paper place mats
• Nice personalized tables the French way surrounded by green and red chairs; a relaxing ambiance

I'm not sure if the lunch would be better than last year's, but I can safely say that if you're considering a nice breakfast in a soothing ambiance, Cafe De Flore can be considered, specially on an early sunday morning.