B. Cafe East

B. Cafe EastB. Cafe East
B. Cafe EastB. Cafe East
Bar, Eatery

240 E 75th St
New York, New York, 10021
United States

(212) 249-3300 | map
bcafe.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.96
Reviews:
6
Ratings:
7
pDev:
7.58%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews.
Ratings by NeroFiddled:
Photo of NeroFiddled
Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +10.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
Beautiful little place on the upper east side. Just a little slice of heaven. Very cute. Very romantic.

You go down a few steps and step inside to find a fairly new bar to the left and exposed brick to the right. The dining area is in back, although there is one table up front. It's warm and inviting, and it's white table cloth.

They have 5 taps that include Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe Blonde, Leffe Brune, and Tripel Karmelite - they've taken on the whole line! Drafts range from $6 to 8, but they also have a very decent selection of 30 bottles that go much higher (I think thehighest was the Achel at $14). They have most of the Trappists, and some very good standouts (3 from Kasteel for example).

The prices are surprisingly good, and the moules are done right. They also offer an appetizer special at the bar - if you order all of them, they're only $28. Given what you're getting, that's a great deal, and if you've got 4 or 5 people in your group you're set!

The service is top notch. Very friendly. Very informed. Very caring / concerned. I haven't been treated as if I was an important customer in a long time; and I'm pretty sure they treat every customer as an important customer. A very welcome change!!!

Overall, top notch! I can't wait to get back.
Dec 05, 2008
More User Ratings:
Photo of Billolick
Reviewed by Billolick from New York

4.14/5  rDev +4.5%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4.5
Quality, cozy, family focused, not a chain, Belgiumcentric...this is a worthy UES spot, churning out waffles, omelets, tasty mussels (several varieties) and offering about 6 Belgians on tap, (sadly out of Triple Karm when I visited) and a load of bottle/Belgian options..the bottles of Hoppy Chouf was fresh and on point.

Well worth a visit if ya like Belgian brew and a cozy spot to get some quality/tasty chow....just go
Nov 15, 2018
 
Rated: 3.5 by phishdaly from New York

Jun 14, 2014
Photo of DoubleSimcoe
Reviewed by DoubleSimcoe from Pennsylvania

3.95/5  rDev -0.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I attended the grand opening of The Pony Bar UES and was making time before the doors opened... walking on 75th (barely a block away from Pony) I went by B. Cafe and recalled seeing a listing on BA, so I decided to give it a try.

Totally empty on a Monday evening, it was kind of awkward sitting at the bar surrounded by a bunch of idle servers and owners. On tap: Stella, Hoegaarden, Leffe Blond, Kwak, Triple Karmeliet, Grimbergen Brown/Dubbel, La Chouffe, Lambic Framboise and more. Not bad! At $8-$9 per glass, a little pricey but not uncommon. BXL Cafe is about the same...

The place is a small bistro with a tight bar and tables for dinner. Cozy and silly, with French music and French-accented owners. They have a menu of "beer snacks" that includes saucisson sec, pate, olives and bitter ballen. I had the the ballen, basically fried meatballs. Damn tasty but a tiny portion.

Dollar off drafts during happy hour, so my well-poured Grimbergen was $7. Good service, obviously, since it was an empty bar, and just right all around.

I would pop in from time to time if I lived nearby, but won't go out of the way to revisit. Oh, the heavenly burger at JG Melon is down the block too...
Jun 13, 2012
Photo of henkster
Reviewed by henkster from New York

4.13/5  rDev +4.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
A very cozy place on the Upper East Side. They specialize in Belgian beers, with 8-10 drafts (usual suspects - Hoegaarden, Stella, Kwak, Leffe) and a decent bottle list. I had a Popering Hommel bottle, served in the proper glassware and poured with care. My friend had a Leffe Blonde draft, which was poured properly. The service at the bar was friendly and attentive. We also shared a Gruyere cheese and a sausage appetizer, both of which were very good.

The bar area is a little tight if there's a crowd, but the decor and exposed brick are very nice. There is a small dining area, and back patio (for dining only).

Prices seemed a little high, even for NYC (Trappist bottles between $13-$15; drafts were $7-$9). However, I would definitely go back if I was in the area. The appetizer special discussed in older reviews is still $28, and seems like a good deal.
Sep 25, 2010
Photo of david18
Reviewed by david18 from New York

3.55/5  rDev -10.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
a great selection of belgian beers with a rotating tap as well as a great paddle of beers. They have the green duvel, which is outstanding and the other beers are a great selection of different styles of belgian, mostly from Belgium itself. 16 or so taps and scores of beers in bottles including some hard to find selections.

Food is great, typically belgian including meat dishes as well a selection of mussels. Would recommend this new place which has been a great addition to the upper west side.

Update on 9/5/09
Had the duck breast club sandwich. Duck Breast, Gruyeur, Bacon and a Fried Egg. Amazing!!!
Jul 14, 2009
Photo of slander
Reviewed by slander from New York

4.05/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
Washburn dropped me an email. Dinner, huh? Yeah, I think I can, what, wait, on the Upper East Side? Why? Why, Washburn, why? Friday's Flemish fooding's not near nothing nowhere now and after we'll be for beer Brooklyn bound anyway, so seemingly unnecessary to play in this very rough neighborhood. Saw the menu, some talk of beer here. Dinner with friends and friends of friends...

Basementesque, down the stairs some; narrow, long and deep. 12 seat "C"ish shiny wood bar on the wall to the left with an adjacent bar counter below cut ways in the brick; a board showing bottled selections there. Long mirrored bar back over tiered booze and foreign currency. Shelved glassware and vertical blackboards to both sides listing "beer snacks" and a forward board listing the tap selections. Glass candles on the bar, small drop lamps tracing above, and a well concealed strung red light rope tucked along the underside of the bar.

Checkerboard tile floorings, mounted lamps run both walls and 3 rows of sunken baby spots down the center of the room. Beer signage and small bottles displayed in wall cuts, large bottles shelved in the wait station area past the bar along with tons of shelved appropriate glassware for everything, including the giant Stella glass, the equivalent of the Hoegallon. This area wood with shelving over mirror backings, pointed spots & spinning fans.

We, party of 6, were parked just off the bar and then past us, a dozen white clothed tables in the back room nicely glass candled up. Framed and curtained windows to the rear and garden seating beyond, 3 tables in a small area out back. Otherwise, there's a single strangely placed table forward the bar in front corner as soon as you enter the place, seemingly out of place.

Beer snacks: Saucisson Sec (traditional French dry sausage), Gruyere Cheese Cubes, Mixed Olives, Pot of Pickles, House Pate, Lucifer Wing Stix (like Buffalo chicken skewers), and Bitterballen (deep fried breaded meatballs of crazy). $28 gets you get the monster app of all of these snacks, Jon just decided we were having it, and there it was.

Started with the Flemish beef vegetable soup with egg noodles and wanted the Carbonnade Flamande but thought that the big Belgian beef stew on the heels of a soup was a bit much so wound up instead with the club sandwich (duck breast, Dijon mustard, bacon, Gruyere & fried egg). The soup was killer, wonderfully nutmeggy, and the club was good but eggy freaky. Should've bagged the soup and just had the Carbonnade Flamande. And Jon, um, Annie's eating off my plate again.

5 taps, this Inbev house (Stella, Hoegaarden, Leffe Blonde & Brune, Tripel Karmeliet). And a Belgian bottled collection of nearly 3 dozen. Some nice choices but no sours to be had. Trappists (Orval, Chimay Red, White & Blue, and a pair each from Westmalle, Rochefort and Achel), and another 2 dozen this and that; Kwak, Delirium Tremens, De Koninck, Corsendonk, Duvel, Lucifer, St Feuillien, Redbach (but not Rodenbach Red or the Grand Cru), a pair each from Kasteel, Troubador, Chouffe, Grimbergen and Maredsous, and all the fruity Lindemans (but sadly not the Cuvee Rene). After my first Orval, I thought "Didn't I see a bottle of Saison DuPont somewhere?" I asked, they said, "No, we rotate stuff in and out, that bottle's for display and is like 2 years old" and I'm like "Okay". They returned indicating that this was incorrect and they had actually received new Du, I had one, I might have had 2.

Service was pleasant and quite attentive. Pleasant décor, good vibe and cool foreign music piped in, but the meal's the deal, and they've got nice drinkings too. Quietly tucked and decently well hidden down off the major avenues, no less.
Oct 20, 2008
B. Cafe East in New York, NY
Place rating: 3.96 out of 5 with 7 ratings