Falai Panetteria

I have tried to eat at this place multiple times. I succeeded in having lunch there once, and it was surprisingly very good in spite of the cafeteria-​esque décor. But I won’t be back, since the other four times I’ve tried to go it was not open, even though it says on the website that it is open for breakfast beginning at 7 am. Only once was someone actually there, at around 10 am, and he said they wouldn’t be serving for a while. He seemed to think it was very funny. There is no excuse for this kind of disrespect for customers.

I have been a fan of Falai for a few years now, but recent dinner there changed my opinion completely.
First off I’m not sure if it’s even the same ownership, there was no signage and «Falai» never appeared anywhere on the menu. The seafood pasta I ordered was missing both the mussels it claimed to have as well as the square pasta. The sauce tasted like Ragu.
Most importantly after eating at Falai I got food poisoning hours later. I was bed ridden for 24 hours and got my appetite back 3 days later.

After a late night… can’t remember who I was with and I believe I got the panna cotta here.
Don’t remember if it was good, but I remember leaving my bag here and NOBODY found it or return it.

A brunch review:
— Baked eggs are really good. I had the basil mozzarella.
— their specialty seems to be desserts. I tried the pancetta (delicious), tiramisu (also delicious; creamy) and a layered cake basically made of crepes and cream. Unique AND delicious! A big hit at the party we brought it to.

First time back since it reopened. We were very disappointed that the adorable server isn’t there. Also disappointing was the disappearance of the bolognese sauce and lasagne, our staples from before.
Short menu, noticible drop in bread quality, and no desserts that we saw. Crêpe cake was a huge attraction before.
The pasta with black pepper and cheese was nice and the pasta with garlic and tomato was very flavorful, but the portions were small. My husband is about to eat again and we just got home.
Given all that has happened and how high the quality was pre-​close, we are willing to give it one more try to see if the kinks work out. Namely, the return of several old menu items, and a little more value for the money. If not, they should change the name because it isn’t the same old spot.
Also, no breakfast, which was not welcome news to one local. Cash only too.

Stopped in for a dessert last night with my aunt. She ordered a lemon tart and I ordered a cannoli. We both agreed the lemon tart was awful. It was far too sweet with little lemon flavor. The cannoli was even worse. The pastry turned out to be a SOFT, ersatz, strudel-​like tube enclosing (yes, enclosing) a filling that was nothing like any cannoli I’ve ever had… and not in a good way.
I wouldn’t even give this place a «meh.» Save your money and go to the nearby bodega. You can buy some generic snack cakes that will be far better than what this place served up.

Meh is right.
Went here for breakfast/​brunch Monday of Labor Day Weekend. Place was pretty empty at 10:30, which I figured would be great since my boyfriend and I weren’t really planning on spending half our day leisurely eating breakfast.
Unfortunately, because the place seemed woefully understaffed, service was sloooooooow. It’s a shame really because the food (an omelette and the baked eggs with tomato sauce, basil, and mozzarella) were REALLY delicious. As was the coffee. Plus, I was pretty impressed that the whole thing set the two of us back less than $ 25 after tax and tip. But there’s no way it should take almost 30 minutes to make two egg dishes. Especially when there are maximum 10 other people in the entire restaurant.
Falai Panetteria needs one more server or one more person in the kitchen. Until then, I think I’d rather make the eggs myself.
P. S. My water glass was also really dirty. I’m talking gritty bits floating in my water dirty.

Went here for dinner today with a good friend as she had always wanted to try it out.
It was a tiny place, but almost empty (there was only one other party of 2 besides us). Perhaps everyone was staying indoors because of the earthquake? Ha
We ordered the bufala mozzarella appetizer to start ($ 9) and it came out on a wooden board which impressed me. This was definitely the best part of the meal. The mozzarella was incredibly fresh (although I wish it had been marinated in something) and was served with arugula drizzled with a lemony vinaigrette, roasted red peppers, and roasted sliced zucchini (this was my fav — tender and absolutely delicious). Paired quite well with the sliced foccacia that was brought out with it.
For our entrees, my friend had the squid ink tagliatelle with squid and shrimp. I had a bite and it was good, but I felt that it didn’t quite have a strong enough flavor. In fact, it tasted almost buttery, which I thought was odd. The shrimp however, was perfectly cooked.
I had the special of the day — the gnudi with spinach, basil and fresh ricotta in a brown sage butter sauce. Good dish, but wasn’t anything to write home about, esp since I only got 5 – 6 gnudi «balls».
Props to our quirky waitress who paid us a lot of attention and gave us a whole lotta wine for only $ 4.50 each as part of their happy hour (Seriously. I got a HUGE wine glass that held at least 2 glasses worth of Chianti since according to the waitress, the bottle was almost over anyways. This made me a very happy camper indeed.)
Apparently this place has good dessert, which makes me sad I didn’t try any. Maybe next time if I’m in the area.
Overall, decent place but not worth close to $ 30 per person.

One adorable, fully loaded word is all you need to know: «Bomboloni,» meaning: little bomb. Get one. Get one of each flavor. They really are insanely good. Especially the raspberry/​fruit-​filled ones. Yes.

Falai is a dessert destination. We got into a marzipan, pistachio, strawberries and cream situation; four of us split it ($ 25 for the whole thing) but it could have fed 8 — we all have separate dessert stomachs.
Illy coffee is made right and served in the right cups, wines by the glass are all Italian and all under $ 12 (a rose Negroamaro? Yes please), and at least if you’re there for just pastry, service is European in style — they’ll come to your table and pour cold water into beautiful Reidel glass tumblers, and bring you whatever you order immediately, but you might have to mosey up to the counter if you want a refill or another sweet treat. Of course, you will also never have to feel like you’re being rushed out of the place just because your conversation is continuing after your spending has ceased.

The place was great, the food was creative, the service was professional. Lots of freebies. The carrot soup was seriously good. The buffalo ricotta flan was well created, the hand made noodles were perfect, and the fruiti di mare was nothing short of amazing. I can’t say that i cared for the deserts too much tho, but the freebie strawberry flan was super good too.

Very cozy little Italian place, came here for breakfast when NYC was snow bound, before taking up the feat of freeing my car from it’s icy captivation. Felt like a European café of sorts. Food was very good, I had eggs over easy. Which I admit is hard to screw up, but the sausage was legit, not the processed tv dinner type, very good. Had a taste of oven baked eggs and tomato sauce though, which was delicious and made me quite sorry I failed to choose it, enjoyed my eggs thoroughly none the less. Waiter was really cool and was authentic Italian with accent and all, added to the experience. This place made me sorry I didn’t live closer so I could become a regular.

Tomato soup – aint no campbells
Octopus – aint no chewiness
Pappardelle with brussels sprouts – aint no chef boyardee
Lasagna bolognase – see above
Great job Falai… all the Fali empire is excellent. Friendly staff as well.

3 ½ Stars
We went here around 11 a.m. on a weekday. Since it was getting rather late for breakfast, we asked if they were still serving it, and they said «yes». So… we sat down and looked at the menu. Then we waited… and waited some more until the server came back to take our order.
I ordered «oven baked eggs and tomato sauce with mozzarella and basil». My husband ordered «2 eggs any style (he got scrambled) with home fries and bacon». In addition, we both got orange juice.
Then, after giving the server our order, we waited… and waited. In all fairness, there were only 2 people working in the place — the server who also handled take-​out orders at the counter plus the cook. They were both hard-​working but it is clear that they could have used more help — even though the place wasn’t all that busy at the time.
My oven baked eggs came out piping hot. It was an interesting dish — the tomato sauce was in good proportion so it didn’t overwhelm it. It was tasty and on the sweet side plus it was very filling. My husband liked his eggs and potatoes. I got to taste the bacon — it was tasty and not overcooked.
We both agreed that the orange juice was the star of the meal. It was fresh-​squeezed (my husband even found a seed in his LOL). Plus they give you a generous portion.
All that said, I think next time we’re in the LES and looking for breakfast we’ll give another place a try. After all — so many restaurants, so little time.

I have to say this is my favorite caffe/​restaurant in the city. It is cheap and chearfull and it is not Starbucks. it is real italian foods and espresso coffee. The original Falai is just a couple of doors down but I stop in here frequently and use it as a meeting place to meet up with clients as there is free Wifi and great eats. I think the poached chicken breast salad with avocado and a bright vinaigrette was 7.50. It comes with bread and olive oil and balsamic on the side. I was just there today…
breakfast lunch and dinner menus and take out.
It seems to be a good place to meet design people and fashion peeps as I often see those types there with their laptops open discussing Jay Z and the like…
I was turned on to this place by a couple of Euro friends who were in town and said it was the best food they had eaten.
It is really too good to be true and apparently everything is made there from scratch and of course it is a bakery so they bake all that great bread there too. I’m afraid I don’t eat bread I’m a carbaphobe but I do love to look at it and smell it and it just adds to the ambiance.

Here you will find fantastic Italian food.
Favorites include but not limited to:
The Baby Arugula insalate. It was fresh and delicious. Additionally, no part of my salad was struggling to stay afloat in a sea of dressing (always a plus in my book)
Gnudi, spinach, ricotta, with sage infused brown butter: you may think the tiny portion is a joke but, after one bite of this rich savory dish, it’s clear this chef knows exactly what he’s doing.
Lasagna Vegetariana — drooling contd.
Pappardelle Alla Zucca con Cinghiale: butternut squash pappardelle with wild boar ragu (nearly brought me to tears)
I’m not one to order spaghetti at a restaurant (for sensible reasons) so part of me was upset when I finally did… and now, all other spaghetti seems inferior.
All in all friendly service and a relaxed atmosphere with great coffee and desserts that will make your mouth sing like Bocelli in Tosca.

***Hidden gem alert. This place needs an extra star pronto. This review is in no way influenced by my downing three proseccos prior to consuming the said meal below.
I might have had one of the best late dinners ever here from the prosecco to the appetizers to the main entrees. I should have followed up with dessert but I was so overly stuffed I couldn’t fit in one more bite. The funniest thing is that the menu has a sprinkling of typos (hopefully unintentional).
Food:
The vinaigrette here is just exquisite.
Bufala: soft but not overly soft in the center where it might taste like a thousand year old egg (asian food)
Polipo: so fresh and tender and drizzled with that vinaigrette. Almost to die for.
Avocado salad: scrumptious pieces of avocado also drizzled in vinaigrette.
Pappardelle with wild «board» ragu: hand-​made extra wide flat noodles cooked in a wonderful orangey sauce. The «board» was rather lean and didn’t taste like wood at all.
Linguine alla bolognese: thin pasta cooked in I believe the same sauce as the pappardelle with wild board ragu. This was rather delicious and I couldn’t taste the pork at all (which is great for me because I hate the taste of pork).
Tagliolini «blak» ink: pasta was kind of fishy (yes it has squid ink but that doesn’t mean it has to be fishy) and the shrimp was flavorless. This was the only one that I wasn’t in a hurry to devour.
I’m bummed I didn’t try any of the desserts here, but regardless, all of the dishes were so good (minus the black ink pasta).

When you come back from a week at a Caribbean «resort,» you crave certain things.
1. Water that you can drink, and not just brush your teeth with.
2. Orange juice that would not be more accurately described as «orange drink.»
3. A bed with sheets untouched by sand.
4. Actually good food (e.g. baked eggs, or a panini), filled with…
5. Meat and cheese that you’re not afraid to eat.
6. Refuge from mosquitoes.
7. People watching that isn’t limited to the morbidly obese, the painfully pale, the frighteningly leathery, and the gorgeous, topless European women.*
Falai Panetteria provided all of these things,** and more.
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
*Actually, that last one was a plus side to the resort.
**Except the bed. But our British server was nice enough that I think she would’ve let me stretch out across a few seats. And there was no sand in sight.

Went out to dinner with some friends and thought we had made reservation at Falai just up the street at 68 Clinton. So the folks at 68 directed us to their smaller establishment, Falai Panatteria. Though it didn’t give off the same vibe as Falai with their trendy, clean décor, this quaint little eatery wasn’t too shabby.
Prices were more affordable. They had a selection of $ 1 tapas, which I thought was a great way to start off the meal. For tapas we had the goat cheese with gelee and mango and olive tapenade. As an entrée I had the linguine with beef ragu. Everything was tasty. The meal came out to $ 35 each for a group of 5, which included 2 bottles of wine an entrée and 3 tapas each.

I am convinced that people have absolutely no idea what a tough job it is to review desserts. To be really thorough, one has to make multiple visits and review comparatively. One can’t let a single experience alone shape one’s judgment. Particularly when there is so much variability in terms of shop quality — from day to day! So, the least a reviewer should do is NOT to compound the problem further by introducing variability at his/​her end.
A good reviewer must be consistent in the «consumption patterns», and what do I mean by that
1. Timing — you can’t compare a Pain Au Chocolat from Tisserie at 7:30 a.m. vs. one from Claude at 10:30 a.m. (I go within 30 – 60 minutes of the shop opening)
2. Location — Eating a croissant on location is different from taking it home (moisture and humidity kills the texture)
3. Marginal utility — Cannot compare a Danish consumed on an empty stomach versus one that you have after a French Toast, bagel, and donut!
4. Duration — you can not have a check list approach to reviewing! Can’t simply rush in, take a bite and pass judgment. Take the time and savor it.
I try to be mindful of the above, and then assign a rating to an establishment. So, consistent superior quality shapes my judgment more so than the occasional wow experience.
Falai typifies this.
The first time that I visited, I was simply blown away. Even though they also have the NOT-​croissant masquerading as Chocolate Croissant (it is actually a Coronetti — layered bread like texture), it was absolutely fantastic! Light, warm valrhona chocolate oozing out of it, crisp and flaky exterior, and all… it was one of the best experiences I have had in NYC. My only complaint was that it was just a mess to eat, as the chocolate had the consistency of a pudding /​custard.
However, whenever I’ve based my rating on just one visit, I’ve only regretted it. I get messages almost the next day: How could you have rated it: abc stars? I went and was disappointed b/​c: xyz. Yes, yes… blame it on me. I made it with my own hands! Frankly: the trust is both uplifting and burdensome, at the same time. For, I feel compelled to be even more thorough in my evaluation, before posting a review.
So, it was back to Falai. And, again. And, yet again! It seems that the first trip wasn’t a representative experience. While I agree that the quality and quantity of the chocolate is very satisfying — the subsequent visits have shown that either the chocolate is cold, or the crust is hard, or not flaky enough. So much for consistency.
But, I love one of their items consistently: the Bombolini. For those of you who like donuts (duh!), do try these — jelly or pastry cream filled. They are very addictive when served warm. Light as a feather, sweet, tender, yet slightly chewy. Strange: why do I hear: «Mmmm… donuts»? D’oh! They are amongst the best in the city (with competition from Balthazar on the chocolate cake donut and Bouchon — but keep in mind that Bouchon carries donuts only on the weekends. Yes, I HAVE sampled from The Doughnut Plant, carrying the phenomenal Tres Leches).
I’ve also liked the other pastries: Spring Dome (Pistachio cake, strawberry purée and citrus crème), Lemon Sfogliatella, and Cannoli. But, would still be hesitant in asserting that these are the best desserts on the Lower East Side.
Unless, you exclude from the definition of dessert: cupcakes — from a shiny, happy place in the vicinity!