There are plenty Korean bakeries right across the George Washington Bridge, like D’avant Bakery, Blue Angel & Café Bakery, and Café Trois. We traveled just a bit further and found this Korean bakery called La Tabatiere a few months ago. We drove up there one morning. They have a small parking lot right next to the building, which was helpful. The bakery itself was small, mostly, just take out here. They have a kitchen right there, where you can see magic happening.
They had really pretty desserts inside the refrigerated showcase. We didn’t try them during this visit, but I would definitely want to try some in the future… And then, they had all sorts of baked goods. They all looked so good!
Behind the counter on the wall, they had more baked goods, including bread. During our visit, many people came in here for their bread. A really good sign of their quality!
We ordered Matcha Latte ($4.80) and Mocha ($4.80). They have milk, napkins, sugar, and whatever else you need on the shelves. We didn’t add anything to our drinks. The Matcha had the REAL matcha flavor, no artificial flavor, which was great. It had just the right sweetness to it. Mocha was creamy and tasty, strong yet comforting flavor.
We decided to have a breakfast right there. This was when we were still allowed to eat in, about a month ago. Ah, the good old days before the crazy virus outbreak… Anyways, I ordered Ham & Egg Salad Croissant ($5.50). My hubby also wanted this item, but it seems like they only offer what is out there on display. And since there was only one…well, I got it! I am not sure why they can’t just make another one in the kitchen though… The croissant was large and flakey. Egg salad was really nice with just the right amount of seasoning. Ham was fresh and tasty. It was a really nice sandwich!
My hubby ended up getting the Ham & Cheese Croissant ($5.50). It had some crispy cheese crust on top, which was really Nice. The ham was fresh, and it had some kind of sauce or aioli inside, which was delightful!
We also had a little dessert Green Tea White Chocolate Scone ($1.95). It was light and airy, with real matcha flavor that is a bit bitter. White chocolate balanced out the bitterness just right. Moist little green joy!
We took a few extra items to go, so that we can have them later at home. The first item was Choux ($3.75/large). I believe the filling changes daily or at least frequently. On this day, it was caramelized hazelnut filling. They are filled at the time of order, so that the choux stays very fresh! It had loads of filling! Great flavor of caramel with subtle hazelnut notes. Choux is light and airy, crunchy and crisp, tasty creamy really nice! Velvety and elegantly sweet.
And since their bread was very popular, we decided to get a couple of bread items too. We got Gouda Cheese ($2.50) and Miso Bread ($6.50).
Gouda Cheese ($2.50) was actually much softer and fluffier than expected. I thought it was going to be more stiff and hard. It was moist yet airy, with great texture. Light but dense enough, a bit chewy in a good way. Gouda was great, cheesy, just enough to give the flavor. High quality!
Miso Bread ($6.50) was certainly very interesting. Never seen quite like it. This bread was firmer than the gouda one, I assume to hold the juicy ingredients. Not overly miso flavor, I wanted more miso in there… Nice amount of bacon rolled in the dough. Green onion added extra savory flavor. Crispy exterior with soft and doughy inside. Still a very nice item.
We also got some sweet baked goods as desserts. We saw these little babies, looking so cute and elegant. They were brioche, and they had three different kinds. We picked Passion Fruit Brioche ($2.75) and Blueberry Brioche ($2.75).
We didn’t know exactly what to expect from these babies. I thought it was more like a muffin or a mini cake with icing on top. But it was so much more than that! They were super fluffy, and filled with cream! Blueberry cream had a strong blueberry flavor that was a bit tart and sharp, which went great against the sweet icing. Such a delight! Passion fruit cream tasted almost like passion fruit curd, strong flavor with a nice sharpness to it, again, balanced really well against the sweet sugar coating on top. Great item!
We enjoyed every item we tried so far from La Tabatiere. What a hidden gem! We would definitely go back for more of their quality breads, baked goods, and other tasty items for sure!
La Tabatiere – 303 Herbert Ave, Closter, NJ 07624