Today we actually have a double review. After the main event, some ventured on to the Lulu Cake Boutique. Some did not. The first part of the review covers the Parkway Coffee Shop and the second half covers the Lulu Cake Boutique. Enjoy!
Parkway Coffee Shop
52 E Parkway
Scarsdale, NY 10583-4109 (Map It!)
(914) 723-9008
Attendees: Shelley, Sylvia, Jeffrey, Andrew & Yuee, Pat, Reid
This week, the Westchester Breakfast Club convened in Scarsdale to breakfast at the Parkway Café. The Parkway café is centrally located in the downtown area of Scarsdale, right across the street from the train station. Parking is available, but metered, which is a little annoying since meter feeding is required mid-meal. Given the size of the Parkway Café, it would probably not be a good idea to show up with anymore than 4 people. Any larger can be accommodated, but it might not be as readily available.
If you’re meeting up with a larger group of friends for breakfast, a group you’d want to chat with, catch up with, shoot the breeeze with, Parkway Cafe in Scarsdale is not the place to go.
Parkway is small, with just a handful of small booths, which seem to seat only 4 or 5 people max., and a counter. Parkway’s small size is a throwback to an era gone by, a cozier time, and for a small group it would be fine. But for the seven of us this Saturday morning, it wasn’t the best choice.
We were seated at the counter and much as I tried, I just couldn’t carry on a conversation with Andrew, who was at the opposite end of the counter from me. The restaurant actually reminded me of someone’s kitchen because those who ordered coffee each re
ceived their beverage in a different style mug–Sylvia got a tall blue mug, while Jeff’s manly coffee was served up in a mug covered with teddy bears. (awwwww) This same thrown-together style also applied to the plates that our meals were served on. It was like visiting someone’s disorganized grandmother, one whose plates and mugs had broken over the years, leaving her in her old age with only a handful of mismatched pieces.
I wasn’t especially hungry on this morning (I think I was still full from last week’s meal at Terra Rustica), so I opted for French toast with fresh strawberries. Jeff, seated next to me, was one of the few people I could actually talk to, and he and I debated whether adding eggs to our meals would be a good idea. I didn’t want the full commitment of eggs with my French toast, but since I wanted a touch of protein with my meal, I convinced him to get two scrambled eggs with his pancakes so that I could sample a little.
The food arrived within a reasonable amount of time and was fine, but nothing spectacular–the French toast was soft and sweet, as it should be, and the strawberries were indeed fresh. I received a pretty generous portion of strawberry slices, and was pleased that they were sweet, not too tart. The eggs that I took from Jeff’s plate were well-cooked. I also tried one of Jeff’s pancakes (and he tried a piece of my toast), and they were of average quality.
Once again, the syrup wasn’t maple syrup. I don’t really care about this, because I grew up having store-bought, generic syrup, but I’m sure some others in the group will have something to say about this.
Bottom line, the $13 I spent for my meal (did I mention I just drank water?) wasn’t worth it. Instead of getting up early, driving half an hour, and not being able to talk with most of the other people in the group, I could have stayed home and had some Aunt Jemima frozen French toast in my PJs while watching a rerun of Project Runway.
Even though nothing was outright objectionable about my meal at Parkway Cafe, I’d be uninclined to go again.
To be fair, the establishment wasn’t very suited for large parties. It had that cozy homey feel to it, which I enjoyed. The staff there did their best to accommodate us, and were pretty nice about the large party.
As I looked through the standard fare of breakfast items available, the omelettes caught my eye. It was not your usual selection of omelettes. There were a few rather interesting combinations that were not available at your local diner. After much debate, I settled on the avoca
do omelette. I love avocado, and that day, I didn’t even know you could put it in an omelette! This particular one came with a filling that consisted of avocado and mushroom. The omelette itself was excellent. The eggs were cooked into a thin wrapping that was impressively wrapped around the filling to look kind of like a burrito, except no beans, cheese or tortilla. It was possibly one of the best omelettes I’ve had. The eggs were light enough that it wasn’t just eggs and a little something extra, which is usually the case with most omelettes. Instead, the thin structure of the egg did a great job in containing the filling, and showcased the flavors very well. It also came with a side of toast and potatoes.
Bottom Line: I felt like the $13 dollars I spent for something as unique as an avocado omelette was well worth it. So, I recommend making the trip if you are going for the omelettes, or if you’re looking for a cozy place to breakfast that serves fresh food and isn’t as impersonal as a diner.
The Parkway Cafe is a corner café in Scarsdale. The décor inside seemed nice, but the furthest I was inside was 10 feet, though Shelley says it was more like 5 or 6. This is because our group was large and there was a lack of available space. Luckily for us, there was a nice long counter we could sit at and eat our meal.
Quickly, the menus came and we looked diligently through the breakfast selections. We did attempt to kill some amount of time since we were waiting for Reid. He was running a bit late and was texting updates to Pat about his whereabouts and dislike for old people. Eventually, we had to order without him since he was running later then we had hoped. Shelley and I agreed on ordering both pancakes and French toast and sharing the two so that we could have a taste for both. Also, eggs seemed appealing to Shelley, so she made me order them scrambled. I didn’t mind. Eggs are eggs whether they are scrambled or in any other acceptable breakfast 
form.
We waited patiently for the orders to be cooked and a casual glance out the window earned us a look at Reid running down the street. He seemed in a rush, which he should be for being late. He sat down, explained his tardiness, and explained his dislike for the geriatric. We then told him to quickly order so that he wouldn’t be the only one without food.
The food came, except for Reid, since he ordered later. That was fine. We started eating, which we had to since we didn’t’ want our food to get cold. Because we were at a counter, the conversation during breakfast was light. Shelley and I did have a good view of the group since we occupied the two seats after the corner, but it was still hard to carry on a conversation with Pat who was all the way on the other end.
The pancakes and French toast were regular diner quality. They were nothing to write home about, but nothing to be looked down upon. The maple syrup was the same as at any diner. Nothing spectacular. I’m still waiting for a place that has good maple syrup. At ten o’clock or so, I had to leave and make a series of phone calls. I apologized to the group, but I think it was OK since the phone calls were to finalize the meeting of:
LEEROY LOUIE
He’s a rescue from South Carolina. He’s my dog and I love him to death. As he gets more acquainted with the house, he’s becoming more and more mischievous.
Anyway, after the breakfast, I left to go get the house ready for Leeroy’s arrival. The others went to some bakery. They brought back stuff which I must say was rather delightful. I don’t know what exactly it is I ate, but it was good nonetheless.
Parkway Cafe is a nice place to eat. It’s not spectacular, but if you live in the neighborhood, it’s a good place to go to for that familiar eating experience.
What is this place? It’s a diner. It’s small, a long counter and some booths and that’s it. No tables to push together so if you’re more than 4 you’re not going to be too comfortable. This place would cater to single people, young couples, and creepy old guys checking out the young couples. Large families… not so much.
As far as breakfast goes, it’s all done in the classic diner style: everything cooked on one large griddle with all fresh ingredients and everything made to order. They do a pretty good job with the eggs, pancakes and sausage, nothing spectacular. The coffee was better than average. Overall it’s a pretty decent diner breakfast, a bit expensive but decent. That’s saying a lot for diners, I would know, I love diners and almost all of them are terrible.
Yuee had scrambled eggs with sausage and toast. She rated it as average.
I would give it 3 out of 5 stars.
What I Had: Omelet with Bacon, Onions, Cheese, hash browns, white toast, coffee
What It Cost: $12 plus tax and tip
Worth It: Yes with reservations
The Rating: 3/5
The Details: The omelets have their own page on the menu. When that happens, it’s a sign that you should try them. So I did, opting for one of my own creation rather than one from the list of 6-8 unique creations. I ordered my omelet with bacon, cheese, and coffee. When
it arrived, it looked wonderful. The omelet was a tightly wrapped cylinder that didn’t betray the generous amounts of cheese and onions within. As I ate it, I found the bacon only sparsely distributed. This wouldn’t have been so disappointing if it weren’t for the fact that the onions completely overwhelmed every other taste within the omelet. They had been chopped and caramelized, and by the third or fourth bite, those onions were basically all I tasted. I suppose I should have expected that; it’s not like onions are a subtle flavor. But I assumed, knowing how pungent onions are, that they would have been more carefully proportioned throughout the omelet. The hash browns were similarly disappointing. They looked great on the plate but lacked the crispiness you want to counter the softness of the eggs. There was also no jam/jelly offered for the toast. The coffee was coffee (though it was served in charmingly individual mugs). The atmosphere is very frantic. This is not the place to go if you’re hoping for a peaceful, leisurely breakfast. The service was adequate but not exemplary and a little harried.
The Verdict: Try it, avoid the onions.
The parkway cafe delivers just about as good a breakfast as your
standard luncheonette would be expected to. My french toast came with
fresh sliced strawberries, which is always a welcome addition. Aside
from that, the ambiance is nice, and the location is convenient to
other scarsdale shopping.
Lulu Cake Boutique
40 Garth Road
Scardsale, NY 10583 (Map It!)
(914) 722-8300
Attendees: , , Andrew, Pat, Reid
After breakfast, some of us decided to walk over to LuLu’s Cake Boutique on nearby Garth Road. LuLu’s is a small, high-end bakery. Their website features galleries of their beautiful, custom-made cakes. Given this, I wasn’t sure if they would offer carry-out items, but was pleased to discover that they do. They have their own versions of devil dogs, snow balls, and, yes boys and girls, chocolate-covered Twinkies. They also have an intriguing cookie selection, which includes chocolate chip cookies, jam sandwiched between two heart-shaped sugar cookies, and several kin
ds of rugelach. My eyes, though, went straight to the cupcakes. I won’t mince words here: the cupcakes are ginormous, and at $4 a piece, are definitely meant to be shared. We chose red velvet, and were surprised when offered two different frosting choices: either traditional cream cheese frosting or a vanilla buttercream. We stayed true to the cake and got the cream cheese frosting, but I personally like that there was another option. Sylvia also picked up an assortment of cookies. The cupcake was well worth the cost: soft, moist cake topped with creamy, not-too-surgary frosting. Of the cookies, I tried only a small piece of a chocolate chip, which was fine, albeit a bit hard. I’d love to try more cake flavors from LuLu’s, but unfortunately their prices paired with my income limit this place as a special occasion stop only.
The cupcakes at Lulu’s definitely rival the sizes found at the popular Manhattan cupcake bakery, Crumbs. Except these are a little simpler in flavor offerings and not as tooth achingly sweet as Crumbs tends to be. We also picked out about a half pound of cookies. At $20 per pound, these cookies better be pretty darn good. They were, and they weren’t. It seems that the cookies were organic, which might explain the uptick in the price. The classic chocolate chip cookie did not live up to expectations, but the more unique fruit and nut cookie was very good. We also h
ad the chocolate and raspberry rugelach, which I thought was very good. Not as soft as some of the more excellent ones I’ve had, but just as enjoyable. The jam that was the filling for the heart-shaped sandwich cookies was divine. The cookie itself was not sweet, and that allowed the jam flavor to really come through and not compete against the cookie. We also had some walnut chocolate chip cookies, but like the chocolate chip ones, they were just okay.
Bottom line: Definitely a great to pick up some baked goods for a special occasion as they will definitely impress. The cupcakes are a wonderful treat, and if you go for the cookies, go for the more unique ones.