LE PETIT BELGE
22 East 14th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 807-7027

I'm finding myself on 14th Street more often these days than I ever thought. I'm either wandering the Farmer's Market or cruising the bargains at Filene's Basement, sitting in Union Square Park wondering what all these people are doing there in the middle of the afternoon or standing on line at Trader Joe's Wine. Somehow, I'm here all the time. In the course of these wanderings, I noticed a new little place, Le Petit Belge, occupying the spot where Tavalon Tea used to be. Since it was new, cheap, and I'm pretty sure that the logo is supposed to be Hercule Poirot, I knew I had to try their goods.

Le Petit Belge sells waffles and coffee. I was lucky when I went since there was no line, as usually there's a line to the door. In truth, this isn't hard. The space between the counter and the door is only about three feet. It's an extremely small space and if you think you can eat inside... think again. I ate at one of the two standing tables on the sidewalk. Luckily for me, it was warm enough to do so. Pretty soon, that option will go out the window.

The standard 6-inch Waffle is $3.50, but toppings can jump the price pretty quickly. I ordered my waffle with blackberries, fresh whipped cream and a dusting of powdered sugar. With a Cappuccino, I was looking at $8.75 before tax. Not terrible.

The waffle was incredible. Light and sweet, it was the physical manifestation of what a waffle's supposed to taste like. If you've been ingesting those horrid Eggo attempts at a waffle, I suggest you leggo. See what they're supposed to taste like. The only downside was that there were no knives when I was there and i was pretty much forced to tear the waffle apart with my fingers.

Since Le Petit Belge has a pastry selection, I also decided to try a Chocolate Croissant. I liked it a lot and wholly recommend it, but it was a little on the dense side and could have been lighter. I say this not being a croissant connoisseur. Those more in the know can add their two cents if they've tried it.

I returned with Bro today to try out some other toppings. He ordered his with raspberries and powdered sugar, and I tried caramel, kiwi, and powdered sugar. We they still good? Yep. And this time, I got a knife.