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22 Chatsworth Avenue Larchmont, NY 10538 (Map) (914) 833-1661 http://www.encore-bistro.com/index.php
Sylvia goes the breakfast distance with a post-race meal at Encore Bistro in Larchmont.
Attendees: :jump_to_Sylvia:
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It was a beautiful Sunday morning. I was fresh off a half marathon (the Yonkers half), and my friend Liz was in town for a visit. We had our priorities, so we were off to Larchmont for some brunch. Our original intention was to visit Stanz so she could enjoy the omelettes we raved about when we had visited. However, as we came upon Stanz, it looked unoccupied. The sign on the door announced that they would not be open for Sunday brunch until late September. That’s just a bummer!
Luckily, it being a beautiful day, there were two restaurants with sidewalk seating, and both were in full swing. We had a choice between Chat19 or Encore. Encore was right next to Stanz, Chat19 was across the street. Being lazy, Encore it was.
Encore is a little non-descript French Bistro. If the sidewalk seating was not there, one would have no idea of what it was. We settled at a table (under an umbrella) and looked over the menu. Everything looked really good. The brunch menu offered a variety of Benedicts and some other interesting poached Oeuf dishes. There was even an appearance of pancakes (roasted banana pancakes) and French toast.
I decided on a Croque-Madame with a side of garlic sausage to go with my coffee.
Liz decided on the Salade de Roquette (baby arugula with lobster meat, red onion, fennel, grapefruit shaved parmesan, crispy capers, olive oil and lime dressing).
The coffee was pretty good. A small cup, and it came with warmed milk. I have been drinking my coffee black these days, but if they went through the trouble of warming the milk, I had to use it! P.S.: No refills were offered, nor did I ask.
For a French bistro, the portion size was huge. When our food came, I was a little surprised by how much food actually was on the plate!
The Croque-Madame was delicious. It was cheesy without being greasy. The ham was a good quality, but not overly salty. The cheese on top was melted by broil but not to the point where it got hard. I wish I had a serrated knife at some point, but the usual table knife did the job sufficiently. The egg on top was cooked perfectly, allowing that yummy yolk to run over the sandwich when pierced.
The sandwich also came with a very generous lightly dressed mesclun salad and fries. The fries were incredibly yummy. They were fried perfectly, and not greasy but still crunchy. Good job with the fries, Encore!
The garlic sausage was also very good. It was not overwhelmingly garlicky. It was almost like a kelbasi, but not as smokey.
I had a few bites of Liz’s salad. Next time I’m getting that. There was a generous amount of lobster, and the combination of the lobster with the capers, onion, fennel, dressing and other fixings made it very refreshing and flavorful.
The czar says: Totally grown up brunch worthy. Not terribly priced for what you get (about $20 per person). I’ll be back for that salad or to give the Moules Frites Provencales a try (since those fries were just so good)!
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