While looking for a bakery with some breakfast options that opens early, I came across this spot. Growing up in Japan, I always loved Japanese bakeries. Here in metropolitan NYC, I found that some of the Korean bakeries offer similar baked goods and other food items. And this one was one of them in NJ.
They had a nice amount of seating, and when we first arrived, it was not so busy. But then many people kept coming in, it got quite lively. It was sitting on the corner lot, and bright with lots of large windows facing the streets. It can get pretty loud with more than half the space occupied.
They had a good varieties of ready-to-go baked goods, both sweet and savory. As more customers purchase them, they will bring out more freshly-baked items from the back.
I gotta say, they all looked really good! I wanted so many of them, but we had to make a choice… Even though they also offer dishes are made to order, with so many delectable items in front of us, telling us to pick them, we decided to just get the ready-to-go items at this visit.
After looking (ogling and drooling) at each offerings, we finally made our decision to four items. Two savory ones; Hot Dog Roll ($2.95), Croquette ($2.95), and two sweet ones; Matcha Cream Croissant ($4.75) and Snow Strawberry Croissant ($3.95).
The Hot Dog Roll ($2.95) had a nice weight to it, hearty and tasty! It had a crunchy exterior yet nice and moist inside. Hot dog was tasty too. Nice amount of ketchup that to me was perfect.
Croquette ($2.95) was great! Seems like one of their most popular item? It went super fast, and they brought out a new batch 10-15 minutes later. Inside the croquette was very different from what I expected. Creamy with lots of veggies, almost like a creamy version of Cole slaw… So good!
Matcha Cream Croissant ($4.75) was the most pricey one out of the four items. It actually said $4.50 on the price tag, but we were charged $4.75, Maybe they increased the price but haven’t changed the price tag? Anyways, this croissant was big and heavy! It had loads of matcha cream filling, and covered with matcha chocolate which was extra awesome. Flakey croissant work as much cream as possible in it, amazing! Totally worth every penny and then some.
Snow Strawberry Croissant ($3.95) was also big, soft and flakey. It didn’t have too much cream, so not to overload with sugar. It had fresh and ripe strawberries that was really nice. Airy, light and delightful!
And what did we have to drink with these yummy food? We got Earl Grey Milk Tea ($4/small). The cup was not too small, and had really nice foam milk on top. It had a nice size tea bags in it, really good flavor. They also had complimentary water there too, if you just want water.
Needless to say, we were very happy with our first visit. Tasty and affordable, quality food. The service was friendly, and efficient. So, we decided to go back again for “real” breakfast this time. What I mean by “real” breakfast? We ordered hot food items that are made-to-order. We chose Bulgogi Rice Bowl ($10.95) and French Toast ($8.95).
Bulgogi Rice Bowl ($10.95) is made with lightly poached egg, marinated beef loin, cooked Korean noodle, radish sprouts and picked onion on top of white rice.
The egg was cooked just right, I mixed them all up nicely and let the egg cook in the hot rice mixture. Bulgogi was thinly sliced, nice and sweet. The glass noodle (or Cellophane noodle) was quite tasty, I always enjoy these types of noodles, so I was happy to see them in the bowl. Pickles added nice crunchy texture and acidic flavor to it. They didn’t provide spoon which made it a bit harder to eat…
French Toast ($8.95) is made with egg dipped bread cooked in “D’avant old fashioned way.” I think this is made with their secret recipe… It is served with powdered sugar, whipped butter, and creamy custard sauce and crunch bread crumbs on top. The bread slices were super thick, fluffy and airy, light and had nice sweetness to it. The edges were a bit crispy in a good way. I enjoyed the crunchy texture on top against the soft bread. Not overly sweet like other typical American or French kinds. The “creamy custard sauce” was watery. It would’ve been nice if it was more creamy…
Our second visit was quite good, the food was tasty and of good quality. Affordable and quick service too. They do have a bathroom, but outside the bakery. This bakery is located inside a mall complex, and the bathroom is shared among the shops and eateries. So, you have to go outside the bakery and go up the stairs.
They do have other read-to-go baked goods and also made-to-order items, so I will be back again in a near future to try some other tasty offerings!
D’avant Bakery – 449 Broad Ave #1, Palisades Park, NJ 07650