Library Café — Restaurant in Town of Oyster Bay

Welcome all you Food Hounds out there... it's Brim again bringing you another Food Hound: Tidbit, this time from The Library Cafe. First and foremost - the cool factor for this specific location, is that it was literally the Village Library up until they converted it into an eatery about eleven years ago. That being said, the pure uniqueness of this Farmingdale hot-spot is second to none that we have personally seen thus far in terms of ambiance alone. Thirty-foot ceilings offer a feeling of wide open space offering any seat in the house a dynamite view! The bar was astounding taking up an entire length and height of the wall with rows of various liquors including a VERY interesting bottle of 'King Louis' a 75 year old cognac that goes for $165 a shot! In a nutshell, this place is a standout on a small strip full of bars and eateries that specializes in Martini's, Wines, Beer and most importantly... fine foods! Etan Wish and I could not wait to dig in and give it a shot.

We started off with a variety of different goodies that they call appetizers... The Sicilian Wings we've never seen before. They had a delightfully mellow flavor and offered a light touch of cheese via the mozzarella with drizzled garlic and oil to taste. The Chipotle BBQ wings were tangy with a hint of spice. Neither wings were crispy; however they were certainly NOT mushy and had a simple yet delicious taste, no overwhelming saucing needed. The Tuna Tataki can best be described as a refreshing taste with a bite! Seared Tuna with a helping of an avocado puree and a jalapeno served on a crispy-crunchy wonton crisp. In accordance with St. Patty's Month, we decided to dine on some Mini-Reubens that we doused with a killer Grain Mustard on a toasted cocktail rye (which was a nice touch), covered in kraut with a hint of the Swiss. Our last starter was the best of all... Southwestern Chicken Spring Rolls! The Spring Roll was an awesome blend of corn, black beans and Cheddar with a fantastic spicy seasoned chicken tucked away in an Asian style egg-roll shell.

On to the Entrees!!! The Chicken Bruschetta was off the hook! A large portion of TWO crisped pan fried cutlets (pan fried makes a HUGE difference in retaining the flavors), intertwined with asiago cheese, tomato basil, kalamata olive bruschetta and laid over a colorful generous bed of Arugula Salad then drizzled with aged balsamic. Ladies and Gentlemen, I declared this the WIN for the day! To my surprise, Etan argued with me that his choice for the WIN was the Killer Mac & Cheese! It was hard to agree to make it another TIE; but I've got to tell you... a four cheese sauce with SMOKED BACON, BBQ PULLED PORK (D-lish), topped with butter and bread crumb crust and corkscrew pasta really made it a tough call. Ok... a TIE WIN for these two game changers! Lastly, we were presented with a nicely sized Marinated Skirt Steak with crispy fried onions covering a heaping load of mashed potatoes. I asked for it well-done; but knowing how delicate skirties can be, I should have went medium-well to avoid being 'too' well-done for my personal taste... my fault on that one folks. The steak held a lightly seasoned flavor that worked very well when scooped up with the mashed and onions.

OMG... the specialty desserts were mind-blowing! Cinnamon Buns made fresh from scratch were warm, gooey and had a fantastic doughy texture! Followed up with a Molten Chocolate Lava Cake with a UBER-THICK fudgie ganache flowing like Wonka's wading rivers from the center of a delicious and moist chocolate cake. WINNING! At last, I felt as though I took a ride to Tasty Town and this next baby was the Mayor... a slam-tastic Banana Chocolate Empanada with toasted pecans! Toasted pecans were a nice addition to this dessert. The shell was light and crispy reminiscent of old school Hostess Apple Pies, except fresh, warm and delicious! Day or night, you've...

I so badly wish I could give Library Cafe 5 stars because I rave to my friends and family about how delicious the Buddha Bowl is and how delightful the Huckleberry Fin cocktail is!

However, I have to say I’m a little disappointed with the service the last time I came. My girlfriends and I came for my friends birthday on a Saturday at 3pm. It was crowded, so we asked to be added to the list for a table. 2 girls that worked there said “We put you in the system”, without taking our name or number. I thought that was strange so I asked, “Are you sure you don’t need our name or number to add us to the system?” And she said “no we got it you’re in the system don’t worry!” So we shrugged it off and went to the bar for a full hour and a half waiting politely to be called for our table. The restaurant started clearing out and we saw many tables available so we ended up asking not once, but two times to two different service if they had an update regarding our table. Finally, the last person we reached, a VERY kind and sweet female manager it seemed? Told us that she had no record of a group of 4 girls waiting in the system at all, so she immediately seated us- thank you.

Food and drinks were great but my friends said they wouldn’t go back because of how we were forgotten about, which is a shame, because I really love Library and Post Office Cafe.

The staff kept looking over a little embarrassed like they completely comprehended this error. Maybe they should have threw in something to make up for this service, but they didn’t. :/ My friend was a little dissatisfied with her birthday lunch, I’m let down myself because I’m the one who suggested this place :(.

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Came here because my best friend loves it. Waited 10 minutes for a table on a Friday afternoon. No biggie. We were seated promptly after the 10 minutes and given menus and drink order taken quickly. Received the drinks quickly and young blonde waitress said she’ll be back to take our order. Took her 15 minutes to come back. I honestly thought we were forgotten about for a second. We ordered 1 appetizer and 2 meals. One being a salad. Took about 20 minutes to get the appetizer and as we’re eating the appetizer the meals come out so we were swamped all at once with the food which is annoying even tho we requested the appetizer come out way in advance of the meals. The food was delicious! The waitress never came back to refill our drinks, ask us how the food was etc. Had empty glasses almost the entire time. Not even water. She was nowhere to be found. So that was annoying. She surfaces about a half hour later and asked if we wanted containers for the food which we did not. She just walks away. She disappears for another 20 minutes and we’re looking around for her because we want the check. She was standing in the back texting on her phone. Like seriously? Then she starts cleaning tables completely oblivious of us then finally notices we’re done and asked if we wanted dessert eyeroll. I said no we want the check. She comes with the check and I don’t even look at the bill. Just hand her my card because if I don’t it’ll take her another half hour to come back. We ended up being there a little over 2 hours which is absurd. So overall, really awful service especially for a time where it wasn’t prime time but...