We go to NJ for grocery shopping at some of the Asian Supermarkets. One of them is H Mart in Little Ferry, and there is this lovely spot called Cafe HESED that serves breakfast, lunch, desserts, and other light bites. We started to go there in April of 2022, relatively soon after they first opened. It was such a convenient location, we can do our grocery shopping and get a brunch at the same time!

The inside was surprisingly large, especially for a place that is called “cafe” in my opinion. I really liked the big space with high ceiling. The interior was elegant with interesting furniture and lighting fixtures. I loved the decor, especially the bicycle counter tables, and all the light fixture with tool/parts from bicycles and other metal pieces. They have made some modifications with the way interior looks since then, such as rearranging different types of seating to different spots.

By the ordering counter, they have all sorts of baked goods and desserts. You can get these things to go instead of eating in as well. Or, you can add them to your food as your dessert when you are dining in there. One thing to note, there are some misspelling of their dishes on the menu board, but I think the way it is made, it might not be easy to correct them? Just be warned when you are looking at the menu.

The first dishes we tried at Cafe HESED were House Burger ($12) and Egg & Cheese Sandwich Special ($7). The burger is made with beef patty, topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion. It comes with fries on the side. We also ordered Iced Carmel Latte ($7/Large). Nice and sweet, maybe slightly too sweet.

The patty was bigger than the bun! Wow! Thick cut pickles with that nice crunch. The veggies were fresh. Fluffy buns that were perfectly toasted. Cute addition of strawberry and orange. Patty was well done, no choice on how you want them done, but it was still juicy enough and tasty. Loved the steak Fries. Soft and potato-y. It was very filling, I couldn’t finish the fries.

The sandwich is made with a choice of ham, bacon, or sausage. We went with sausage. It also came with a side of fries, and some salad as well. On this day, they had a special offer with this sandwich, which was a free small cup of coffee. It was a nice cup of Joe. The sizes of the cups might be smaller than regular sizes out there? Not sure on that…

Salad had a bit too much dressing, would be great if I can get that on the side. Other than that, the salad was fresh, loved the almond slices, which I loved. The sausage was huge, and packed with flavor, adding nice salty flavor to the sandwich. Croissant was buttery, fluffy, and flaky. Egg was not over cooked, which was great.

Then, on another visit, we ordered Croque Madam ($12). It was a pretty nice size, with perfectly cooked egg on top. It gave us a nice egg porn as we cut in. It had layers and layers of ham, and decadent white sauce with nice flavor. It was very satisfying, more than enough to fill you up!

We also tried some dishes from their “Toast” menu. We went with Smoked Salmon Toast ($14), and Prosciutto and Ricotta Toast (10). The price to portion is really great here at Cafe HESED, in my opinion. We added Poached Egg ($2) to our orders to see what they are like.

The toast was huge, and it came with a mountain of smoked salmon! The salmon was meaty, not thin, but really generous amount. The bread was really nice too. This dish was just amazing! The only negative was that the salad was drenched in dressing.

The prosciutto and ricotta one also came with a mountain of prosciutto. Wow! This one came on a different kind of bread (we don’t get to choose what type of bread we want). Each ones went great with the toppings, so I say they made the right choices when it came to choosing what type of bread to use for which ones. This dish was fresh and really tasty! The poached egg was cooked really well, just the way I like it, but I don’t think it is worth the price tag.

During one of our visits, we tried Any Style Egg Platter (14). It comes with two eggs any style, toast, and your choice of ham, sausage, or bacon. We really like their sausage, so we chose sausage. This dish came with enormous amount of food! Additions to what it said on the menu, it also came with a side of house potatoes and salad. It is almost enough to share between two people. We got eggs scrambled, and they were cooked nicely, not too done, not too runny. The sausages were tasty as always, and the potatoes were really good too! This dish is great for someone who is really, REALLY hungry!

What else did we try? Some pasta dishes! Yes, they do offer variety of different kinds of dishes here. We ordered Aglio e Olio ($14), made with spaghetti, garlic, pepperoncino, and fresh parsley. I love this dish, so I’ve ordered this more than once, but I have never seen fresh parsley on top (LOL). It has a nice kick to it, which I really like, and loads of garlic! Not sure if it is the right dish if you are on a date? You might not be able to tell the side of the dish, but it is really big! Very filling! And the garlic bread that came with was perfectly toasted, buttery and garlicky. Love it!

Another pasta favorite of ours is the Spaghetti alla Carbonara ($16). It is made with “no cream” sauce, egg yolk, pecorino romano cheese, and black pepper. This one was a big portion as well, with nice amount of bacon pieces. Creamy without being too creamy, rich and decadent yet felt light somehow, since it is made without the cream.

Of course, we tried some of their desserts too. We chose two of their Dessert Cups ($13/each) and two of their Cake slices ($13/each). The dessert cups of our choice were Coffee Crème Brûlée (I believe), and Coppa Mascarpone. They were nice, not great, and a bit too sweet. The size of the cup is quite small. When you are getting such great prices on their dishes with large portion, the desserts felt overpriced.

For the cakes, we got Vanilla Swirl Cake, and Banana & Chocolate Swirl Cake. The vanilla one is a slice off the roll cake, and it has an adorable mouse on top. The mouse is what made me choose this cake. If you have tasted Japanese or Korean desserts, you know they are light, not overly sweet, and delicious (in my opinion). I was expecting those types of cake, as Cafe HESED is located in the Korean food/supermarket area. But to my surprise, they were very different from what I expected. Both cakes were overly sweet, heavy, and dense. I must say, not a fan of any of their desserts… Will stick to their savory dishes. You can go inside the H Mart few doors down, and get a delicious cake from Tous les Jours.

Speaking of savory dishes, let’s go back to that. During our recent visits, we saw that their menu has expanded, offering even more dishes! So, I jumped in and ordered one of their new dishes, Chicken Milanese Spaghetti ($18). The price tag on this one is a bit higher than others, and when it was brought to the table, I understood the reason why. It was HUGE! I know I keep talking about the large portion size here at Cafe HESED, but this one was even bigger! It is enough to share. The chicken was moist and well seasoned, cheesy and really tasty! The spaghetti was nice too, and didn’t skimp on the portion on that side either. Totally worth the price point for this dish.

We also tried one of their pizza dishes for the first time. We ordered Burrata Cheese Pizza ($16), made with burrata cheese, prosciutto, mozzarella, and arugula. It also came with lots of cherry tomatoes and black olives. It was like a fresh prosciutto and salad pizza. Really tasty and felt heathy eating it. The size of the pizza, you guessed it, was large enough for two people. We had to take some slices home (most of the time, we do take some food home since we can’t finish them all).

Then, just when we thought we will take a little break from Cafe HESED, we went back, again! This time, we tried another new pasta dish, Spaghetti and Meatballs ($16). Now, I don’t know if they were feeling extra generous, or if their portion size is getting even larger and larger… but we got crazy amount of spaghetti! It was a nice tomato-y flavor, classic, basic, and solid dish. The meatballs were juicy and packed with flavor as well. The reason why they keep pulling us back in…

They have a bathroom near the cold fridge holding drinks and sandwiches. One for men and one for women. There is a sink in the inside, but they also have a sink right outside, between the two bathrooms. I like how they have a sink accessible if you just wash your hands.

The bathroom is clean, big, well lit. I don’t think there is a hook for your jacket or purse, so be aware of that. The bathroom is large enough to place some kind of a small furniture to put your belonging though. At least, having a hook on the back of the door would be great…maybe they will add on in a future.

They have young staffs, who are polite enough, but not very friendly. Since this is not a restaurant, you don’t really deal with them too much, so it hasn’t bothered us. They keep the place clean, and we always get tasty food, so we are always happy to go for a brunch. I am sure we will go back again, and again…

Cafe HESED – 260 Bergen Turnpike, Little Ferry, NJ 07643