Cafe Lalo

201 West 83rd Street New York, NY 10024 (212) 496-6031 http://www.cafelalo.com/

Best known as the cafe where Meg Ryan was supposed to meet Tom Hanks in the movie, “You’ve Got Mail”, Cafe Lalo has fast gained popularity, attracting both locals and tourists into its European inspired, charming little cafe. Cafe Lalo is easy to find and is quite pretty, with its perfect location in one of the Upper West Side’s brownstone and tree-lined streets, pretty flowers lining its steps and the tall windows that allow the sun to brightly shine through and within the cafe interior.

Stepping inside though, you will immediately be overwhelmed with the number of cakes and pastries that they offer. More cakes than pastries, it seems that they have more than a hundred cakes in their coolers! Being that, it was quite difficult to actually choose what to try and it took me a while to decide. Finally, I tried the Tres Leches cake and the Capuccino Cheesecake. The Tres Leches had delicious buttery sponge cake moistened with milk and topped with lightly sweetened cream. A nice, simple dessert to satisfy a craving without overindulging. The Capuccino Cheesecake however, was quite ordinary compared to the sinfully luscious Junior’s Cheesecakes that I love.

The vast cake selection is consistent with Cafe Lalo’s menu, offering an array of themed breakfast sets (think Viennesse, Irish, Italian, Swiss, Morroccan and Parisian), eggs cooked in every way possible, salads, sandwiches, soups and beverages (alcoholic, coffee, teas, shakes, smoothies and juices). So many that they will not make it easy for you to choose. However, despite the choices, I cannot say that anything I have tried in the cafe (whether salad, smoothie, bread or cakes) got my attention or made me forget my name. On top of that, I find the food and desserts quite pricey for the taste as well as the portions ($7 for a small slice of cheesecake or a simple smoothie). Lastly, an important thing to note is that Cafe Lalo does not accept anything but cash, which I only found out as I was paying. No signs on the door or on the menu – something that may be quite inconvenient for customers who frequently use their debit or credit cards to pay.

On the positive side, Cafe Lalo has good service and a great selection that you will always find something you may be interested in trying out. Unfortunately, I believe it is the ambience that you pay for the most and which may not be something that is attractive or satisfying to most customers like me. Will I be back? Yes, I probably will, to have dessert and coffee once in a while and enjoy this lovely little place. And believe me - it will take a long, long time before I get to try even half of their cakes.