Belleville — Restaurant in Portland

Overall, I consider this establishment a definite welcome, upscale addition to our wonderful Munjoy Hill neighborhood.

It's been open for some time and has gained a great reputation. The owners are very nice, accommodating and offer excellent product... except for the recent purchase of an almond croissant!

I would have given five stars, but only four due to disappointment. I was wondering why it was covered in an over-abundance of slivered almonds, waaaaaaay too much powdered sugar.

I had it to go, brought it home to have with coffee, and was shocked!

The croissant was overdone, burnt on the ends, was tough and excessively chewy. The inside was a tad dry, with only enough almond paste on one side. Wow... NOW I know why it was laden with the aforementioned toppings... to disguise the damage.

Worst of all, you don't sell it, if it's not up to standard... and camouflage it to the unsuspecting. That's a bad practice, and palming it off that way... destroyed the facade of Hauté cuisine.

Now, I will admit to being fussy about baked goods and food in general... sometimes a bit too much. Why you ask? BECAUSE, I'm a classically trained chef and baker... and have been a pastry chef for a considerable amount of time.

I understand that mistakes happen, and it can be costly... but to sell burnt goods as if they are perfection is ridiculous. I would have taken the said almond croissants, trimmed the burnt parts, cut them up and created a wonderful almond-croissant bread pudding, topped with an almond creme drizzled with chocolate... either cut into squares or made as individual puddings in medium sized ramekins... cuts down on waste and and helps profitability... duh!!

I'm still happy they are here... will update to five stars..., hoping they maintain high standards. It would be nice if the owners contact me, replace the croissant and chat over a cup of coffee... otherwise, I wish them luck and...

Belleville Bakery (or BLVL, as is printed on the front door) offered a relatively limited selection of pastries, most of the laminated persuasion. I had a cardamom bun, which was very good, though it had only a hint of cardamom taste. My friend had the morning bun which was satisfying, but nowhere near as good as Bread & Friends’ offering.

What set this bakery apart, however, was the subpar customer service. “Subpar” is being generous. The one employee present when we walked in did not greet us, did not ask if she could help us, did not even change her expression—which could only be described as surly—as we approached the counter. In fact, the only time she spoke was to tell us the total amount we owed. No “thank you”, no “enjoy”, no “have a nice day”, nothing.

When another person appeared to make our drinks, the energy in the bakery felt as though the two employees had been quarreling just before we arrived and now were not speaking to each other. Tension. In. The. Air.

The second person made an Americano for me, which was fine, and a hot chocolate for my friend, which had a beautiful design in the whipped cream topping, but was lukewarm and tasted like Swiss Miss®️ powdered hot chocolate. The barista did not announce our drinks when they were ready and did not say a word or even glance in my direction when I retrieved the drinks and said, “thank you”.

My friend and I agreed that the lack of even the most basic of “customer service” niceties left us feeling we would not want to return...

Fantastic bakery! Arrived early on a Friday morning so we could have first pick of pastries and get on the road out of town. There was not a lot of different pastries but we did pick up almond croissants, kouign-amman, cardamom buns, apple cider brioche and a pastry called half moon or moon something - it had a pumpkin pie like filling. The almond croissants were amazing - crispy airy layers from tip to tip, delicious filling in the perfect amount. They only paled slightly in comparison to that outrageous kouign-amman, somehow crispy and custardy at the same time. Between these two pastries, this is what I had to listen to for the first hour of our drive north: “Mmmmmm”, “Oh my god”, “Oh this is so good”, “Unbelievable”, and many more “Mmmmmm’s”. The other pastries were good but not exceptional, and we did find the cardamom bun soapy with too much stuffy dough. But the croissants alone are worth the crowd - we finished our order as first in line, turned around and saw that the little bakery was packed full with about fifteen or more people waiting - crazy but understandable. Will return the next time in town and...