The Wandering Eater

If anything besides macarons, my recent obsession for the past few months is to get my hands on Bouchon Bakery’s cute, petite Wagyu beef sliders that Ed Levine and Robyn had. The only thing that killed me is that they don’t serve them everyday and most of the time whenever I ask the host about their sliders, it’s not served that day. That is until now.

This is the first time I ever eaten from Bouchon’s Bakery’s café/restaurant. All of the previous posts that I’ve written about Bouchon were only from their take-out. After I’ve been seated and perused the menu, I already know that I want sliders since almost everything else on their menu sans the soups and salads, I’ve had from their take-out (in case you didn’t know). It took an awful long time to actually order my food (I waited 5 minutes that seemed like 10) since my server’s been busy with other patrons. Just to kill some time, I just took photos of random things of this place.

Diners beside me

An eyesore of a sign

Diners at the communal table

When he finally arrived, I’ve ordered the sliders ($15.75) and dessert ($9.25). I was contemplating between the tiramisu and the rhubarb tart and asked him which is preferred. He replied the rhubarb tart but also persuading me to get the tiramisu by explaining that this is a deconstructed version of the original tiramisu. He said that if I don’t like it, he’ll be willing to replace it with the rhubarb tart. So I went for the tiramisu and take it from there.

Within 10 minutes, the water was served as well as the sliders (not together but within that time frame).

Sliders!

When my plate of sliders was laid before me, I let it bask in it’s photogenic glory for five minutes. Then it’s time to eat.

Probably I should tell you what’s in these sliders. They’re made of Wagyu beef, topped with Taleggio cheese, tomato marmalade, and a schmear of garlic aïoli all on top of a in-house made brioche buns topped with some flecks of fleur de sel. Yep, it’s some haute mini burgers. I really love the silky richness of the Wagyu beef, the slightly pungent garlic mayo, and the creamy Taleggio cheese. But even though they’re a whole different level compared to other burgers, I still prefer Shake Shack’s burger probably due to the salt that encrusts their burger. But I still like Bouchon’s sliders.

Obviously, whenever I eat out I must have dessert. So here’s the Tiramisu.

Spooned…

It looks so darn pretty and tasty, doesn’t it? Even though it does, it didn’t make me happy. Somehow eating having that spooned tiramisu pictured above, the coffee ganache was too bitter that made it a bit unpalatable for my taste. I told my server that I didn’t like it too much and he did kindly replaced this dessert for the rhubarb tart.

Served view

Reversed (more photogenic, in my opinion) view

Innards

I love the flavor combination of strawberries and rhubarb, just because it reminds me of spring. I don’t know. I’m just an odd person who affiliates some food flavors and textures according to the seasons. This tart was delicious. The soft, tart rhubarb meets sweet strawberries contrasted with the nutty, almond streusel that topped the tart. The crème fraîche ice cream that is served on the side melded with all the flavors wonderfully. If I wasn’t so self-conscious, I would have picked up the plate and lick it since it was so good. But obviously, I didn’t.

As my first time on the café/restaurant side of Bouchon, I thought the service was spotty but the server did comply to my whims in terms of food and drink. The food is obviously very good and you know the atmosphere’s like from the photos. Just try those sliders; it’s tasty and it’s unlike any other burger you’ll ever eat.

Address:
Bouchon Bakery
10 Columbus Circle, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10019