Black Cat Cafe
45 Main Street
Irvington, NY 10533 (Map it!)
Attendees: Jeffrey, Pat, Reid, Shelley, Andrew, Sylvia
Can it be? Is it true? A good breakfast for a change? And from a place that doesn’t have table service? Let’s find out!
The Louie entourage arrived at the Black Cat Cafe early (granted, we do live the closest), but the wait for the other members wasn’t too long. While I waited, I ordered a large coffee, which was $1.75. It came in a very cute ceramic cup that had an illustration of a black cat on it. They’re really sticking to the theme.
Breakfast burrito. That was my choice. Well, the spicy breakfast burrito with pepper jack cheese and other such things in it. I settled on this before the other members even arrived. After ordering, it was soon realized that this establishment isn’t used to handling such a large crowd. The chef came out to greet us and inform us that there were not enough home fries to spread around the table, and that certain orders would probably come out with fresh fruit in lieu of home fries. I was happy with this, since my burrito required home fries and other dishes would be forced to make the change. Their loss, or so I thought. It seemed as though the others were happy with the fresh fruit. Either way, I was happy. I would not have liked fresh fruit in my breakfast burrito.
The meal was delicious. I was very happy. This is a return to real, actually good breakfasts. The food completely makes up for the lack of table service. There was one thing, however, that kind of rubbed me the wrong way. They charged me for a second cup of coffee. I understand that it’s a café and that most cafés would probably charge. But if I’m sitting in your establishment and I’m obviously ordering food and I’m also with a large group of friends that are all ordering food, cut me some slack and top me off for no charge.
All in all, I’ve decided to go back some day and try out the quiche of the day. It piqued my interest.
What I Had: 1/2 Bacon Breakfast Burrito, 1/2 Veggie Breakfast Burrito, coffee
What I Ordered: A Veggie Scramble
What It Cost: Give or take $10
Worth It: No and Yes
The Rating: 1.5/5 and 3.5/5
The Details:
As you can tell from the above categories, I didn’t get what I ordered. We were all also subjected to quite a wait in this Irvington coffee shop, though not as obscene as the wait last week. After about 20 minutes, the harried cook (and probably the proprietor) brought us our food. Though I ordered a veggie scramble, she arrived instead with a veggie burrito. Andrew also didn’t get what he ordered (a veggie burrito with bacon–he instead just got a regular burrito with bacon) so we split the difference. I gave him half of mine and he gave me half of his. He got the better of the deal. The bacon burrito was ok, but marred by the potatoes, which were horribly dry–
moisture-in-your-mouth-sucking-dry. The presence of bacon didn’t make up for that egregious error. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this burrito was inferior to one you could get at McDonald’s.
The veggie burrito, on the other hand, was light and refreshing. I can’t recall the specific vegetables inside it (spinach was definitely one) but it was certainly appetizing.
The coffee was fine. The service was friendly, if not punctual. The interior was charming and cozy. However, the kitchen is not equipped for a large group, so don’t try.
The Bottom Line: Not worth a sojourn out of your way, but if you’re near Tarrytown or Irvington, it’s a pretty solid option.
The Case: The Black Cat Cafe v. The Westchester Breakfast Club
The Venue: A small cafe on Main Street in Irvington.
The Facts: Pie. Delicious, delicious pie. And the fresh squeezed orange juice was good, though I think they put milk or banana or something in there as well.
The Verdict: Pie = Good
Scheduling was tricky this week for the WBC. The only time all of us would be free was early on Saturday morning. So, 9am at the Black Cat Café in Irvington it would be.
A somewhat later start than I should have had paired with some Saturday morning traffic resulted in my late arrival at Black Cat, about 10 minutes behind schedule. Normally this wouldn’t be much of a problem, but with a 10:25 yoga class that I didn’t want to miss and about 20 minutes of travel time to said class, I was feeling the time squeeze. So I gave a quick glance at the chalkboard menu on the wall, made my decision, and got on line (cutting Reid and Jeffrey in the process) to place my order at the front counter. My meal of choice this morning: a spinach and Swiss cheese omelette, which, according to the chalkboard, would come with home fries and wheat toast. I also saw something on the dessert menu that piqued my interest (despite the early hour): pumpkin cognac cheesecake. Alas (or maybe for the better), the cheesecake wasn’t available, so I had to settle for a dessert-less breakfast. I know, such hardships in life. Another time, cheesecake, another time.
I was antsy as we waited for our food, watching my clock, venting (venting, not whining) to the group that I might miss my yoga class. About that time Reid offered his apple pie breakfast, if I wanted to eat something and run, but apple pie alone isn’t breakfast for me, so I decided I’d tough it out. Before our meals arrived, one of the café staff came out and told us that they were running low on home fries, and asked if it would be okay if the egg dishes that me and Sylvia ordered were served with some fresh fruit instead. Perfectly fine, and the staff gets bonus points for alerting us ahead of time.
Our food arrived at about 9:35. Just enough time to wolf down my meal before getting my zen on. The presentation of the food was one of the better ones I’ve seen, and especially impressive given that we were at a small neighborhood café. Our meals were brought to our table by two of the café staff (one of whom seemed to be the manager). All of the meals arrived on square plates that were white with a black swirl design. And we received real silverware, not plastic ware. My omelette was a very generous size and the wheat toast was well-toasted. The fresh fruit looked beautiful and delicious, a nice mix of pieces of strawberry, apple, and banana. And when I tasted the food, it did not disappoint. Yes, the eggs lacked the fluffiness that I’ve seen in other omelettes, but there was a perfect distribution of egg, spinach, and Swiss cheese. The omelette was not greasy and the spinach inside was fresh and leafy. The fruit was a wonderful flavor complement to the omelette, and I’m glad it worked out that I got fruit instead of home fries; lighter before my workout.
We did have to ask specifically for butter and I had to remind the server that I had ordered a bottle of water, but these aren’t even significant enough to call complaints. I was impressed with the high quality and generous portions of the food. My meal was delicious, the wait time reasonable (it would have been a complete non-issue had I not had a scheduling conflict), and the price manageable ($10 and change for my omelette and bottled water). The atmosphere was cozy and charming, and something about the darker color scheme and exposed brick walls made the Black Cat Café seem like a great place to get a simple breakfast on a fall morning. I’d like to go back when I’m not in a rush and can linger over my meal and perhaps a cup of tea or hot chocolate. And to get that pumpkin cognac cheesecake.
The Black Cat Cafe looks exactly how you would imagine your local coffee shop would look: rustic decor, art on the walls by local artists, the regulars are all middle aged, etc, etc. It definitely has a warm, homey feel to it, like
you’re sitting in your friend’s farm kitchen. Even going to the bathroom takes you back behind the kitchen to the back door behind which is the bathroom (indoors). A unique feature about the Black Cat is the tall coffee mugs that feature silhouettes of cats; it’s a nice touch.
Just like being in a friend’s farm kitchen, the service was a little jumbled and slow. This cafe was obviously not used to serving groups larger than, say, one. Despite that, they were able to turn out high-quality food. I went for the vegetarian breakfast burrito with bacon, and they came out with one regular burrito with bacon and one vegetable burrito. (Pat had ordered a regular burrito sans bacon, or something.) We ended up just swapping half of our burritos so I had one half vegetarian and one half regular burrito with bacon. The burritos were large, were wrapped in large, firm corn tortilla, stuffed with scrambled eggs, fresh vegetables (spinach, peppers, tomatoes, etc.), and potatoes (home fries). They were tightly wrapped and presented well. For 8 dollars and change, it was pricey but worth it.
The coffee was what you would expect at such a coffee shop, fresh and tasty.
I would recommend the Black Cat Cafe if you were getting breakfast by yourself or maybe with one friend, but no more than that.
The Black Cat Cafe is a cute little cafe right off the main drag in Irvington. We were a party of six this morning, and since we were the first ones there, we were able to snag three tables together for all of us. As we waited for everyone else to filter in we went up and ordered some beverages to enjoy. I had a large English breakfast tea, and was delighted to not only find it served in a very cute coffee cup, but that it was also of the loose leaf variety. Slowly sipping on my tea, I studied the menu presented on the blackboards along one of the walls.
I had Jeff get up and order me an egg white scramble. It was a scramble with spinach and tomatoes, and served with home fries and toast. Soon after we had all inundated the poor kitchen with all six of our orders at once, it was soon brought to our attention that they were running low on home fries. We were asked if it would be okay if two of us substituted our side orders of home fries with fruit salad. Even better!
It seems there might have been one chef on duty that morning, and we may have been the biggest party to descend upon them that early in the morning. The food took a little long to get to us, but once it did, I was not disappointed. My plate looked delicious. The scramble was perfect. The tomatoes were in good sized chunks, and it was made with fresh baby spinach. The fruit salad was excellent as well. It consisted of slices of fresh banana, strawberry, and apples.
It seems that there was a couple of ways to pay here. We paid up front when we ordered. I think they also employ the tab system, where one can open a check, and then close it out when they leave.
After watching Reid enjoy his apple pie, I decided to take a slice to go. Once I got home a little later (we stopped by an estate sale in the area, where I was able to score a full set of golf clubs and the Pie and Pastry Bible..bake a pie, hit some balls!), it was quickly eaten. The apples were large, substantial slices but the crust was a little dense. Overall, though, the slice was huge and very enjoyable.
The czar says: It’s a cafe, with above cafe quality food. Don’t go if you have a large group, but go if you want an excellent meal at a place where you can linger and maybe enjoy some dessert after your meal.