Review: Lulu's Cafe in West Nyack

(Credit: Mark Vergari)

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Lulu's Cafe in West Nyack's a casual restaurant where the dishes are tasty enough for discerning foodies and relaxed enough for when you want to toss on flip-flops and grab a quick bite.

Rob and Debbie Sansone opened the café — a sister of Temptations Café in Nyack — and the cheerful space looks like a cross between an ice cream parlor, a teahouse and a diner. Tables draped in floral tablecloths made me crave a finger-sandwich and a cup of Earl Grey. Pots of colorful wooden flowers, sprinkled throughout the room, on the other hand, had me remembering that old TV show "The Magic Garden."

Like at a diner, the menu offers a crowd-pleasing variety of options, and the owners make their health-conscious dishes (veggie burritos, grilled chicken-topped salads) seem as appetizing as their mozzarella sticks.

Brunch is the specialty. My group was seated in a booth near the cupcake counter and our server recommended the eight-grain egg sandwich — two scrambled eggs on toasted eight-grain bread with bacon and American cheese. The eggs were fluffy, and the crispy home fries had chopped green and red peppers mixed in. Pancakes were light and sweet. The only downside? The breakfast burrito. Even with such a lengthy list of ingredients — eggs, bacon, tomato, onion, avocado, rice, Monterey Jack cheese, and salsa — the dish leaned toward bland.

We couldn't leave without at least tasting Lulu's renowned peanut-butter French toast: honey-battered challah bread, with peanut butter and bananas sandwiched in between. Granted, the decadent entrée tasted more like a dessert than a protein-rich breakfast. But I don't mind a Sunday-morning indulgence every now and then.

For pics to click, go Inside: Lulu's Cafe in West Nyack