Paris Guide: Breakfast at Mokonuts
Address | 5 Rue Saint-Bernard, 75011 Paris, France
Remember Mokonuts? We wanted to eat breakfast here on day one in Paris but it was closed for Armistice Day. So, after a full day and night that went into early morning hours filled with wedding revelry, we were motivated by the promise of a delicious meal to wake up early for a sit down breakfast before our outing to Versailles. Mokonuts, like many of the restaurants we tried, is located in the 11th arrondissement. Sabrina and Mike had a really difficult time getting to us. We're still not certain what happened that day, but in the 11th arrondissement police had cordoned off several blocks and most foot and car traffic could not go through. This created some issues for our path of travel the rest of the day. Anyways back to breakfast...
While we waited for the rest of our party, Lynette and I happily enjoyed cappuccino and espresso and reviewing the menu. It was a bit of an unlucky day for Mokonuts. I would love to return another time to see them at peak performance. I wanted waffles but their waffle machine was broken. The mana’eesh of the day was unavailable and they had none of their famous sesame cookies which broke Lynette and Sabrina's hearts...sorry that's a little too dramatic, but they were disappointed.
Despite the setbacks, Moko was very helpful in improvising and giving us a delicious breakfast experience. She substituted my waffles for pancakes. Truthfully, the pancake was good but too flat and dense. That being said, it was presented in a lovely way and I appreciated the effort. I imagine that as a waffle it would have made a big difference. The mana’eesh of the day was substituted with a cheesy toast topped with broccoli greens. Again, the roll it was served on was a bit too light and airy to hold the toppings but the flavors were good.
Fortunately for Lynette, she got exactly what she wanted. The labneh toast. It was everyone's favorite, me included. The bread was delicious and the toppings were the right ratio of creaminess to saltiness.
Moko co-owns the cafe with her husband Omar. Moko and I were immediately sympatico. Like me, she is American Japanese and grew up/lived in San Francisco and New York. Omar was born in Lebanon but grew up in Paris. Together they have created a lovely cafe and I have no doubt that on most days it holds up to the hype that it has been attracting from the New York TImes and popular food and chef blogs. Like I said, I need a do-over visit. The experience was nice and the food was okay.
