Welcome to Phantom Gourmet's Online Dining Community

Atmosphere:

Nashoba Brook Bakery in West Concord has converted its wrap around, industrial space to a cheery café with cherry red walls, blond wood tables, rotating art exhibits, and couches. Retired farming antiques and fluted metal lamps add rustic appeal to the lofty suburban spot.

Menu:

Classy carbs rotate through a weekly schedule, with luxury tarts, cakes, sandwiches, pastries, and gorgeous breads.

Appetizers:

Starters included a golden croissant with a feathery light interior and a subtly sweet glaze to the almond coated surface. An English cream scone ported too much sugar for Phantom’s taste, but the crumbly round packed an incredible number of juicy currants.

Entrees:

For entrees, the pure butter crust of the warmed quiche was the perfect platform for the fluffy egg, jammed with mushrooms, red peppers, and Swiss cheese. A creamy curried chicken salad sandwich made a gorgeous mess of poultry, red grapes, onion, nuts, and sprouts between springy slices of sourdough bread.

Dessert:

To finish, a captivating carrot cupcake smoothed orange cream cheese icing over a moist, spice filled stump, thickened with carrots, walnuts, and pineapple. A plum galette bulged fat, juicy fruit from a carefully molded, if undersalted pie shell.

Portions:

Portions are standard for cookies, sandwiches, and every beautifully crafted loaf of bread.

Service:

Quick counter servers sold everything except hospitality during the lunch rush.

Cleanliness:

Cleanliness held its ground in the tidy seating area and the spotless kitchen, visible through glass windows.

Value:

When did the burbs get so expensive? Quiche costs a startling $4.50, sandwiches are $6.50, and pastries range from $1.50 to $3.

Location:

The original location in West Concord is set back from Commonwealth Ave, with a second site in Boston’s South End.