Croissant battle royale, Seattle style

[LaurieA-B]

I've still not been to Le Fournil when they weren't out of plain croissants.

This was the second time we'd gone to Le Fournil on the weekend and found them almost out of breakfast pastries. The first time we arrived after 11:00 am, so this time we planned to get there by ten. No plain croissants, no almond, no brioche, no lots of other things. This is annoying; why don't they make more? When we went to Cafe Besalu they were starting to run out of a few special items, but had lots and lots of croissants and brioche. I had a cheese croissant at Le Fournil, which was tasty but not great. I've had their fruit croissants before (they have orange, raspberry, lemon, apple), and they were okay pastry-wise, but very sticky.

[Fish]

Anything I'm missing?  I'll get to Le Fournil next week.

Did you ever make it to Le Fournil ? It's convenient for me, so I'm curious how it stacks up against Cafe Besalu.

We finally made it to Cafe Besalu today, and all I can say is, thank goodness that Ballard is such a shlep from Cap Hill, or I'd be even fatter! Without a doubt, those were the best croissants I've ever eaten. Sooooo good. The jam wasn't brilliant, but that pastry ... OMG ! I also had a Pain au Chocolat (do you understand the "fatter" comment now ?) which was superb, and we split a hazelnut twist (not so good). My better half is a brioche fanatic, so we brought one home for her, but she tells me the North Hill variant is better. Also lurking in the bag is an orange current brioche for me, for after the 30 mile bike ride I have planned for later today. Hopefully that will put me only a few thousand calories behind the game ...

- S

[Schielke]

Katie and I hit Cafe Besalu on Saturday for the first time. We are now kicking ourselves for not knowing about it when Katie lived in Ballard. We had: Pan au Chocolat, Croissant, Ham and Cheese Croissant, and Brioche.

The clear winners were the Plain Croissant and the Ham and Cheese Croissant. The Pan au Chocolat was very good too, but I think I just prefer plain. The brioche was pretty good, but not amazing.

Anybody want to go this Saturday before the Mistral Cooking class?

Ben

[malarkey]

now, who has the best brioche?

[Fish]

now, who has the best brioche?

According to J, North Hill Bakery has the best of what she's tried (Cafe Besalu, Le Fournil, North Hill, Wholefoods and probably some others). Ask me nicely and I'll bring you one.

- S

[nightscotsman]

Katie and I hit Cafe Besalu on Saturday for the first time.  ... Anybody want to go this Saturday before the Mistral Cooking class?

I'd love to. When do you want to pick me up?

[Schielke]

Hmmm, say 9:00 or so? I need to verify when the class starts again though.

Ben

[nightscotsman]

Hmmm, say 9:00 or so?  I need to verify when the class starts again though.

Yay! Works for me.

[nightscotsman]

So Ben and I stopped off at Cafe Besalu before the Mistral Cooking class this morning to sample the croisants. I had a ham and cheese, a pain au chocolat and a plain croisant. I don't know if they were just having an off day or my expectations were too high, but I have to say I was not very impressed. The interior of both the pain au chocolat and the plain were heavy and doughy and the exterior was not as crisp/flaky as I would have liked. The pain did have a nice amount of melty chocolate in the center and the ham and cheese had good flavor, but the pastry, while not bad, was certianly not the best I've ever had. The plain was also surprisingly salty.