Amandine Patisserie Cafe — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Went here with the wife after a doctor's visit. Ambiance is less than excellent but the place is clean and service was great. We ordered cappuccinos, eggs over easy for the wife and French Toast for me. French Toast is my go-to dish for breakfast at a new restaurant. The coffees came quickly. They were quite large, which surprised us. However, they were very good with a good amount of foam, but not too much. This gave us high hopes for the food. The food arrived soon, delivered straight from the kitchen. The wife's eggs were to her liking, the bacon was crisp, the toast was dry and there was a small bowl of chopped fruit, too. The wife was delighted with everything. I was also delighted with the French Toast. Without fear of contradiction, I can say it was the best French Toast I have ever had. The toast was fluffy and stayed that way for the whole meal. The bread was brioche, I found out later. The portions were large. I couldn't finish mine, which is really saying something. The wife joined the 'clean plate' club and that is also saying something. All in all, we were very pleased with our choice for breakfast. The inside decor is straight from IKEA, but clean and comfortable. The staff was friendly and efficient. The food was worth going back for.

Bottom line: worth a visit. A bit expensive but that just might be the dinosaur in me. It was $40 for the whole shebang and we got to watch the doings on Wilshire Blvd.

Update (13 Feb 2024): Went here again today. Only self-serve now (I guess they have to pay their people more so they eliminated that to save money. ) Order at the counter, about the same price and food quantity. There was a different taste to the French Toast today, not bad, just not as good as before. Wife was pleased with hers.

Still worth a shot.

Parking...

I keep giving this place chances to redeem itself because I love pastries and because it's next to my building, but I think I'm finally done with it.

Bad service: Apart from the men who hand out the take out orders and drinks, the other employees -specially the ones at the registers (including who I assume are the owners or managers)- are incredibly rude. It's been at least three times now someone at the register ignores me and POINTS (barely axknowledging my presence) to the empty register on the other side, where I have to wait for someone else to get there and also be rude while they take my order.

Bad food: The made to order food can only be described as bland and seems made without any interest at all. The house potatoes are the most disappointing thing ever - sliced, boiled, and covered with a cheese spread that barely tastes like anything-, the "fresh" bakeries taste OLD after noon and the dough seems way too airy to be good croissant dough. This time I had an omelette with black forest ham that tasted like cheap cheap sausage or sliced spam and an invisible bechamel sauce.

Even if the food is bad, what truly bothers me is the awful customer service. I've worked in the service industry and though it is never okay to be rude to customers, how is it possible to be so fed up by 9am that I feel like leaving the second they talk to me?...

Amandine has the potential to be a great place to enjoy simple, pre-made pastries. Just stroll in for some coffee and a croissant. It's not bad at all. The place has a customer service challenge. I called Amandine today to enquire about their sheet cakes. I had forgotten that it is called Patisserie, but they don't really mean it. I have been a number of times and I always walk out with varying degrees of disappointment, whether it is people taking down my order over the phone and not having a clue about it when I come to pick it up, or simple questions about the pastries. A fellow answered the phone and was puzzled by my sheet cake question, so he passed the phone to a lady who also did not know what a sheet cake is, and then promptly hung up on me. Perhaps they thought I meant something else? I guess if my experiences with this shop were different I wouldn't be writing this review. Really, it's a cafe that sells some bakery foods. It's just the customer service is non-existent and that usually comes from the top... Also, if the establishment does not bake (or know of sheet cakes), then perhaps the bold "Patisserie" is...