3 E. Front St., Trenton
(609) 218-6124
The nearly year-old East Front Cafe is a welcome addition to the downtown breakfast and lunch scene.
The dining room is clean and spare in a comfortable, modern sort of way. The menu is modest but covers the bases for the target audience, the weekday denizens of nearby office buildings.
All items are available for eating in or take out. Their hours of operation cater to the same workers. The café is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday thru Friday. Alas, like so many businesses in town they are closed weekends and state holidays.
Coffee is the thing here, but it’s not at all fussy. You can have your choice of 12 oz. ($1.40) or 16 oz. ($1.60) cups. Tea is $1.39 and espresso is $1.59 (49 cents for each additional shot).
Breakfast items (available all day) start with bagels and pastries and move into breakfast sandwiches ($4.29–$5.29).
We found ourselves free for lunch on a recent chilly, damp and gray day and paid a visit. A soup and a sandwich seemed just the thing to break the mood.
We were just ahead of the lunch rush, so we could linger a little bit as we pondered the menu boards and tried to determine what we wanted to order. Shortly after we took our seats, the place began filling up. I wouldn’t want to be in line behind an indecisive customer perusing the menu, trying to decide what to order.
Co-Muncher opted to try a half and half platter of half a Spicy Turkey panino (yes, fans, panino is singular, panini plural) and an order of baked macaroni and cheese. The sandwich consisted of smoked turkey breast, chipotle spread (the spicy part), pepper jack cheese, peppers and onions on a choice of regular, herb or cheese bread.
I was chilled from the weather and interested in the soup of the day. They make one soup each day of the week: Monday, French onion; Tuesday, chili; Wednesday, chicken noodle; Thursday, lasagna Soup; Friday, broccoli cheddar. The baked macaroni and cheese is available everyday.
Since it was Thursday, my option was the lasagna Soup. Never having encountered such a dish, I asked about it and was offered a free taste. The description of tomato base with pasta, ground beef, some vegetables and grated cheese sounded harmless enough. I waived the taste and ordered a half and half with the Signature panino (grilled chicken, avocado spread, Swiss cheese and peppers).
We gave our orders to the hostess, paid and chose a booth to sit in and await our food. It was only a moment or two, just enough time to open the bottles of water we’d purchased from the cooler, before the soup and mac and cheese arrived.
I’m still not sure as to why they called this lasagna soup. It was a pleasantly seasoned tomato sauce in which there was a mixture of elbow and rotini pastas, an abundant portion of ground beef; with maybe some cooked pepper and onion. It was warm, tasty enough and apparently made from scratch. It did the trick as far as warding off the chill.
Co-Muncher’s mac and cheese was very creamy and mild tasting. You really can’t go wrong with this.
The panini arrived when we were maybe halfway through our respective hot bowls. The breads were flavorful. I took the suggestion of having the herb bread with my choice. The ratio of filling, dressing and bread was just right. And the half portion, along with the soup made a satisfying lunch.
The same held for the Spicy Turkey panino Co-Muncher ordered. The portion was amply sized, with a good ratio of filling to bread. The sandwich was warm and satisfying.
The price of the half and half combo was equal to that of ordering a whole sandwich, about $7.50 each. East Front Café also offers a variety of salads, quesadillas, wraps and sandwiches all in that $6–$8 range.
The staff is friendly and efficient. The food is good, fresh and filling. The café offers free wifi and invites customers to sit and linger over a cup of coffee. Cash and credit cards accepted. On the Web at efrontcafe.comcastbiz.net/3301.html.
Mac and cheese and “lasagna soup” at East Front Street Cafe in Trenton. (Photo by the Mystery Muncher.)
