I don’t expect on-the-go food to be all that fantastic, especially when it comes to breakfast. So many places try to do it, and usual end up with mediocre, somewhat waxy bagel and other pastry sandwiches filled with highly processed meats and rubbery pre-cooked egg.
At Balthazar on Spring Street in NYC, the sandwiches are the complete opposite.
This ham and cheese croissant is probably one of the best breakfast items I’ve ever had. The croissant is fresh baked, buttery, flaky, and properly risen. The ham is really high quality, sliced thin with the savory skin on the edge of each slice. The melty cheese and slight hint of mustard round off the whole experience, making it salty with a hint of sour from the mustard. Make sure you ask them to heat it up, as the experience is not the same with a cold one.
This is not an every day breakfast sandwich (both in dollars and calories) but for the occasional “I didn’t get up in time to stop at Doughnut Inn before I caught my train” kind of day, Balthazar is the place to be. They also have the most delicious coffee EVER. Everything is completely worth the cramped 15 person wait (The staff there moves fast, they know what’s up in Manhattan in the morning).
