We were looking for a breakfast spot in the Bay Ridge area in Brooklyn. To my pleasant surprise, they had many great options! Out of all the attractive places, we narrowed it down to this spot. They actually have several locations, all in Brooklyn. They do state that they are “Born & Raised in Brooklyn.”

Cocoa Grinder is not a restaurant but more of a coffee shop that also serves healthy dishes. The first thing that welcomes you when you enter is the ordering counter with menu and delicious aroma of freshly roasted coffee. You order here first, and then take your seat unless you are just ordering to go.

The other side to the ordering counter is a nice, relaxing, open space with good amount of seating. The wall that divides the ordering counter side and the dining side is also used efficiently as a small bookshelf, newspaper and magazine counter with a few counter seats.

The inside is flooded with natural light, thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows.

I liked their large artworks on the wall that had lots of nature-theme with brilliant greens. It was made to be 3D which was cool. The inside was heavy with wood everywhere, creating a calm, relaxing atmosphere. It felt almost like a cabin in a woods a little bit.

We ordered a couple of different drinks. The first one was Grinders CoCoa ($3), made with 60-70% dark chocolate. It was very nice cup of hot cocoa, silky smooth and velvety. It was not overly sweet since it is made with more dark chocolate than sweet milk chocolate. I could taste the real cacao flavor, super tasty.

Another one was Latte ($4), made with espresso, steamed milk and foam. At Cocoa Grinder, they roast their own coffee, so the quality and flavor was excellent. It was a really nice cup of coffee! I think it will get a stamp of approval from many serious coffee drinkers.

As for food, we each ordered a different breakfast dish. The first one was Loxie Lox from the Eggs menu. Any of the item from the Eggs menu can be ordered as wrap or omelette. We decided to have ours as omelette ($12). It comes with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and onion. The omelette is served with a side of tater tots, greens and a toast. What a perfect dish! The omelette had a generous amount of smoked salmon, with perfect salty flavor. The cream cheese was a match made in heaven with the omelette. The greens were very fresh, and tater tots, oh, I have such weak spot for tater tots… I was so happy that they offer the breakfast dishes with tater tots instead of home fries!

The second item was Peanut Butter Banana Stuffed French Toast ($12). Yes it is a mouthful name…and the dish itself was mouthful as well. It comes with two stuffed french toast with banana slices on top and drizzled peanut butter. It was a good portion, I liked how it was stacked like some pancakes. The peanut butter do tends to get stuck inside your mouth everywhere, but it was nice and velvety. The French toast was fluffy and delightful, with good amount of banana slices.

The last item was Poachy Poach ($12), comes with poached eggs, gravlax salmon, served on an english muffin topped with hollandaise sauce and a side of tater tots and greens. This one was maybe the most simple item of all three. The interesting or unusual thing about this one was the the smoked salmon was placed on top of poached egg. From my experience, the smoked salmon is usually placed under the egg.

The amount of smoked salmon was not as much as I wanted… This item was the least exiting dish of all three. It was good, but it was just a-ok. The greens were fresh and tater tots were good though. The poached egg was cooked a tiny bit too much, so I didn’t get much of the egg porn, but it made it less messy to eat it.

One of the most interesting part of this place was their bathroom. Take a look at the photo below. Can you find it? Don’t worry, we couldn’t find it either, until some one came out of it. Their bathroom door blends in to the rest of the wall so perfectly, it is like a secret hidden door… BUT, it does exist, just look for a “Tea Blending” sign and it is located below the sign to the left.

The inside was interesting too, with aluminum looking walls, making me feel like I am inside a large shipping container. It was roomy and clean, and lots of bathroom etiquette rules posted on the door. I hope everyone can follow those rules.

We had a nice breakfast here with their health-conscious menu and tasty coffee. The staffs were nice and polite, and I enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere. Since they open early enough and have good amount of food menu, it is a nice breakfast spots when you are on the go.

 

Cocoa Grinder – 8511 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11209