Nuvrei — Restaurant in Portland

I went to Nuvrei Patisserie & Café in order to purchase some macarons to share at work. Macarons are one of the items Nuvrei is famous for (some have called their version best in all of Portland), and these Parisan style flourless almond based treats are filled with a variety of flavorful creams and custards.

What I didn't expect was how utterly sweet and charming the storefront cafe now is, and how inviting it is to want to linger over coffee or tea.

I chose to get an assortment of macarons. Their variety of flavors include their

Caramel au beurre sale (salted buttery caramel! My fave of what I tried!) Italian pistachio with light vanilla butter cream (my second favorite of the box) Framboise with oregon raspberry preserve Fruit de la passion with vanilla passion fruit custard Citron with lemon lime and orange zest folded into buttercream Rose et Fraise with pure rose and Oregon strawberry preserve Espressio with Coava espressio and white chocolate custard Chocolat with Valrhona chocolate ganache

As I was waiting to select my macarons, my eyes kept being drawn to the other wondeful baked items they had showcased. And so that's how I "accidentally" also ordered a Bagel Sandwich. It starts with a choice of bagel here as part of a Fried Egg sandwich that includes fontina, tomato, frisée and dijon butter and cream cheese. I went with the asiago cheese bagel, but other options of their bagel, made with home made pretzel dough, were cheddar jalapeno, honey oatmeal, everything, onion, sesame, salt, poppy seed, or plain.

I took a bite and just couldn't put it down and stop until it was all done and maybe shook the sandwich bag for any crumbs or smears to lick the paper clean. There are a variety of other bagel sandwiches, as well as various croissant sandwiches be it for breakfast, which they serve all day, or such as one for lunch that caught my eye that has avocado and Oregon bay shrimp, apricot creme fraiche, dill and butter lettuce.

They also have just "regular" croissants (regular, chocolate, almond, or chocolate almond), scones (blueberry blackberry, lemon poppy seed with lemon glaze!), muffins, danishes, cookies, bacon cheddar biscuit or berry brioche, not to mention a whole bunch of other hot and cold sandwiches varying from your croque monsieur or madame to one with roasted and pickled beet with chevre arugula and truffle oil on their bread...

My goodness the menu is big enough for a whole tri-fold menu that would rival any restaurant, not a tiny cute cafe with only a couple tables and lovely window counterbar for people watching. And each option is irresistible you will be so torn what to get. Everything is clearly thoughtfully created with love and high quality and European...

I’m a wheelchair user and this place was honestly horrible not just that it’s not wheelchair friendly. They were so rude!! I couldn’t believe it, no body had ever treated me like that. I was “coming” into the place (not really because you can’t even get in it’s all stairs). But as I was coming into the door one of Nuvrei works was coming out, not only were they not friendly at all she didn’t even sound like she was interested in having me as a customer. When I almost cried out if they had wheelchair access she said “I doubt it”, like it was my fault they don’t have wheelchair access. I asked to to double check, because I traveled a good 35 minutes to this place. She went to ask, when she came back out she told me in a super rude way “nope we don’t have a way for you to get in”. I was like are you serious. She was like “yeaaahh”, as in get out of here. Didn’t apologize or anything walked away. I was devastated at this point but only because I couldn’t get in or that it took me a good half and hour to get there, but it was so cold outside and I couldn’t even get in to warm up. I had to go ride around more in the coldness to find something else. Just ruined my day and made me feel even more different and disabled. They made me feel so low. If I had the money I would file for a hearing. I’ll try to research it maybe someone can help, I don’t want this to be left like this, it hurt me. And no one even bothered to say like I’m sorry we didn’t think of that. Instead they made it feel like it was my fault I was in a...

The cafe portion of Nuvrei is funky and cool. It's mostly a plain white palette from floor to ceiling. It allows the pastries and sandwiches and cookies to stand out and shine colorfully. Every single thing is made meticulously; tender loving care doesn't even begin to describe the construction of the pastries. The flavors and combinations of delights they offer are absolutely fantastic. Standouts: Curried chicken, Ham and Cheese Croissant, Marionberry Pastry, Lemon or Pistachio Macaron. Oh, hell EVERYTHING is good. And their freshly roasted house blend coffee is one of the best sips of joe I've ever experienced.

Nuvrei's bakery is in the basement. A large window at sidewalk level lets you peep in at the bakers working their magic. Early in the morning you can catch the AMAZING aromas of the freshly baking goodies wafting up through the sidewalk grate. It'll stop you in your tracks. The friendly and knowledgeable FOH staff works hard to keep the cafe stocked and handles the crowds with ease and grace. The BOH staff are at it before the rooster crows mixing and baking all their perfections, and surprisingly, with all those master talents combined under one roof, you'd expect to pay a fortune. The prices are $$ the quality and flavors are $$$$$. Ask about the Macaron tree for your next holiday soiree or milestone...