Cafe Bench Experience Review

Ever since last year, my Facebook news feed has had photos of delicately made crepes, mugs of warm latte all from the same cafe popping out ever so often from different friends. The cute plate decor, scrumptious looking crepes (my favorite dessert, can you tell?) had enticed me. I quickly messaged one of the friend, asking her to tell me where this hidden gem was - Cafe Bench. I bookmarked it as my must visit place, even though I had no clue where it was.

Having finally found the location and time to drive a bit further down Northern Boulevard, the cafe has really met my expectations. Stepping in was like stepping into a picnic ground. To represent their name, they had a bench with Cafe Bench painted on the top along their wide windows, allowing the warm sunlight to fill their space. By it, was lots of thoughtfully placed decor - plants, birdhouses, antique car and plane models on a cozy fireplace.

I would like one in my house please!

My favorite was the tree sprouting at the center of store up into the ceiling, with little light bulbs strung amongst the faux cherry blossoms, creating an enchanted setting. It almost felt like I fell into a KPOP MV (hence the way I decided to film this video). To complete this whimsical feeling, the staff had bowler hats paired with plaid shirts.

Even late in the afternoon, the cafe was packed with groups of friends, chatting away as they enjoyed crepes together, there were only about 3 free tables. Once seated, we took a look at the very extensive menu. There were two - one with only photos of crepes, the names and ingredients, which was very helpful on deciding which crepe to get. The other, had the product names and prices. Price ranged from $7.50 to $11.00 on crepes, drinks $2.45 to $4.75 (depending on type and size), salads $8.00, and cold desserts $4.50 to $4.75. Although they were in Flushing, their prices were closer to city prices however the portions was really filling.

After ordering, we were given with a buzzer that tells us when to go back to the counter to claim our food.

I picked the Pomodoro (the name for the sauce used), a savory crepe that tasted like an Italian pizza with an Asian twist, made up of tomato, onion, garlic sauce, spinach, white mushroom, provolone and marinated grilled chicken. It was the perfect blend of flavors, and the crepe's skin itself was just like the French ones I've had, soft and thin.

The oolong latte had just a hint of sweetness, but didn't take away from the oolong leaves' aroma. The frothy milk skimmed the top, but was light and not nauseating like some lattes I've had.

In need of some caffeine, I got the Mocha latte, an esspresso with a hint of sweet chocolate. They drew a beautiful daisy flower latte art, which slowly transformed into a face as we sipped on it.

Beef skillet is the marrying of Korean marinated beef with French pastry, accompanied by peppers, mushrooms and cheese. The light soy sauce was slightly sweetened, really catering to my taste.

Mamas savory crepe appeared to be drizzled with chocolate, but surprisingly it was balsamic vinaigrette over a classic ham and Swiss cheese crepe.

Elvis dessert crepe is a blend of peanut butter, almond and fresh banana slices making it perfect for nut lovers.

Cafe Bench is definitely a cafe to go to! The atmosphere is really relaxing, and the food was as delicious as the photos I've seen. To me, it's better than the French ones I've had since they did cater the taste to Asians. All the ingredients tasted fresh and worked together like perfection. I'm really craving it again now... Visit them at 19407 Northern Blvd, Flushing, NY 11358. Yelp them here.