Buffalo has some amazing places to eat. Bill Rapaport's Restaurant Guide has been a great resource to us.
So, i thought i would send him my review of a new place we tried yesterday, Fables Cafe.
Here's what i sent him:
Fables Cafe
1 Lafayette Square
Downtown Public Library, Main Floor
Buffalo, NY 14203
(716) 858-7127
info@fablescafe.com
Positive Review
Fables Cafe was not difficult to find in the Downtown Public Library in the middle of the lunch hour, even on a Monday. Follow your nose and you will find it. The smells alone convinced my husband and i to stay for lunch. The decor was clean, modern, but not frilly in the least. Comfortable, i would say, in that downtown officey sorta way.
The line was long, most of the tables were full, but since we were not in a hurry, we didn't scramble for a table. The line moved quickly enough, but we did have time to consider our options at the drink cabinet. Luckily, there was also a menu board there, too, since i wasn't able to read the menu sign from the counter. Maybe i need glasses?
Turn over was fast and we found a table before our order was out. On the opposite side of the counter, however, the drink selection was different. Even though i had already paid, i asked and employee if i could swap out my ice tea for a different flavour. I would recommend looking at both drink coolers before deciding on beverage, just in case.
The menu is limited but from appearances of what other customers ordered and what we saw coming out from behind the counter, looked very good.
I decided on the Quattro Fromage, a yummy melty gooey vegetarian sandwich with an unknown combination of cheeses and fresh tomato slices on crisply fried (i assume with a panini pressed) slightly garlicy bread. My reaction, on first bite, was to say "Oh my god, this is a great grilled cheese!" The side salad it came with was good, but simple -- merely a blend of lettuces with some carrot and radish with a sweet balsamic vinegarette. The " Skrumption" as described on the website might change daily, i am not sure, but today it was a wee wedge of brownie. Just enough to have a sweet ending to the meal.
My husband, not a vegetarian like me, had, as they say on the website, a "mystery" (aka daily special?) which was, in this case, a "Brooklyn" Roast Beef Sandwich. He said the oil and vinegar combination was nice with the slightly spicy mayo, perhaps with a bit of horseradish in it, and the beef itself was tender. It came with cheese, lettuce and tomato on untoasted bread. Which would have been the death of me, if i ate meat -- looked like it got a little soggy nearing the end.
The price for us both to have a sandwich with the side salad and wee dessert with a drink each was just under $18. Not cheap, but not overpriced at all. We would return gladly, next time perhaps on a cooler afternoon when i felt more like trying one of the vegetarian soup options.
But aren't you folks lucky, you get to see pictures, too.
(e:Uncutsaniflush) 's roast beef with one of my olives
(e:LeeTee) 's grilled cheese
And now, looking at the pictures, i realized i forgot to mention that the salad has cucumbers. Oh well.. not bad for a first try.
Hmm, looks good, might have to divert from Chris' Deli sometime
hmm i'll have to try that Fables place sometime
I am lacto-vegetarian. I suppose I could call myself ovo-lacto, since I eat all sort of cakes with eggs in them, but somehow I can't stand the eggy taste of eggs - does that make sense?
I love dairy products! (But I go easy on them.)
I know! (e:Ladycroft) left town, though she has promised to come back and have a veggie party. I don't know of anyone else. Almost all of the other estrippers I have met or talked to so far aren't.
Speak up if you read this!! :)
Ok I admit the last time I was there they where renovating removing that stuff that causes cancer so it has been sometime since I have been there. Is the place to eat in the libary once you enter it? Or is it Just in the same building? Do you know if the libary runs and owens it or is it run by someone else? Any info would be a help, it does sound interesting. I really should check it out sometime if I'm down that way when they are open.
Yeah, i am. :O) Ovo lacto, to be specific. Not sure i could live without cheese. How about you? Vegan? Lacto?
I would love to have a veggie pot luck! Do you think any other estrippers are veggies? I know (e:Ladycroft) is, and i think (e:Ajay) is, but neither live in Buffalo anymore, silly people.
You are vegetarian too? :) We should have a veggie potluck someday!
\m/ Go Veggies! \m/