10/02/08

Friendly service, GREAT FOOD, and gluten free options!

by erialcp

This restaurant is an undiscovered gem. The food is some of the best I have had in Portland. I have eaten there for dinner on several occasions, and everything I have ordered there was flavored with nuance and cooked to perfection. And for the price. I think the most expensive item is around 20 bucks, while most are closer to 12. The ambiance is quaint and romantic. The wine list is amazing (albeit they haven't always had everything in stock), and the beer list is unexpected. Service is informal and friendly. It's as if you are eating over at a friends house. I even brought a friend there who was neither ate meat or gluten, and Lili was happy to make a dish to order. Really, I can't speak highly enough of this place. Try it for yourself!

• Pros: Ambience, Friendly Service
• Cons: Food is not the fastest

08/17/08

Excellent breakfast, veggie sausage!

by megabites

Went here for breakfast on a Saturday morning with a couple of friends and we all agreed that the food was top-notch! As a vegetarian, I was pleasantly surprised, nay, astounded, that I had so many options on the menu... that's far from typical. I finally decided on the swedish pancakes with lingonberries and vegetarian sausage (which is offered as one of the "meat" choices on most or all of the menu items, the other being bacon). The pancakes were perfectly textured and the lingonberries were tart with just the right amount of sweet. And the traditional powdered sugar was spread around the outside of the plate so that I could use as little or as much as I wanted (okay, I used a lot; 20 extra minutes on the Wii Fit for me). The decaf coffee was fresh and strong without that "I've been sitting here all morning waiting for you to come drink me" bitterness that us decaffers are so often subjected to...

The wait staff was friendly and on top of things. The food prep took a little longer than usual, but, hey, this isn't a breakfast mcmuffin and this kind of quality is worth the wait!

03/01/08

Excellent brunch!

by RandaPrince

We went to Cafe Lili for brunch with friends on a Saturday in March. It wasn't too crowded at 11 a.m. -- full, but there wasn't a line stretching out the door or anything. The service was a bit slow -- it took maybe 10 minutes for someone to come and take our order, and it seemed to take longer for our food to be prepared than I would consider usual. However, the waitress was friendly, and the food was really, really good. I had the biscuits with mushroom thyme gravy. Everything was excellent -- the potatoes, the bacon, the biscuits themselves, and the gravy -- yum!

The decor is cute, very country French in feel. The pastries in the case -- apricot tarts, a chocolate cake, and a couple of other things -- looked delicious, and I will have to try one next time.

The prices are on the high side -- my dish cost $9.50 and it was one of the less expensive items on the breakfast menu. But the food is well prepared from high-quality ingredients, and I'd rather pay $9.50 for something wonderful than $7.50 for a plate of bleah at Denny's.

I knocked off one star for slowness, but really, I have no complaints. I'll definitely go back.

• Pros: Excellent food, charming decor
• Cons: Service is a little slow

02/23/08

Amazing, local, filled with heart

by undercaffeinated

Lee provides the scrumptious pastries and quiches for the cafe where I work, so I decided to stop by and sample the full Patisserie Cafe Lili menu. My friends and I shared this grilled asparagus appetizer with tangerine and toasted almonds, and we were mopping up the sauce with our fingers. A glass of red wine, and I had the wild mushroom ragout with creamy, cheesy polenta. Amazing tomato flavor, and the mushrooms were perfect. One friend had the truffle tagiatelle, and loved it (and let me have a bite--totally explosive!), and the other had the grilled veggie panino, and was equally excited about it.

I am so jazzed to go back for a brunch, mimosas, any excuse to head to Patisserie Lili!

01/26/08

best breakfast spot in portland

by jdfhgdj

i really like this place, the food is top notch and they have a very eclectic menu, sevice is good too

• Pros: good breakfast, ambience
• Cons: very crowded sometimes

10/19/07

Undiscovered Sellwood dinner jewel!

by lsuran

A lot of people know that Lili's is a great place for breakfast. They are packed on the weekend and for good reason. What isn't well know is that they do fantasic dinners. My husband and I have been there several times and each time we have enjoyed our meal tremendously. The wild mushroom and polenta ragout is one of our favorites. We've also had the fresh pasta, salmon and lamb shank. Friendly staff, good wine list & lovely desserts. Skip the wait at Gino's & Portofino and give this place a try for dinner.

• Pros: Excellent food
• Cons: They need better signage

06/30/07

Best breakfest in sellwood

by eli123

Lili's is so good that I have become a breakfast snob were ever else I go. Other over-rated places such as Zell's and the Cadilac Cafe, do not even get close to the quality and flavor of Lili's. I enjoy their Moral and Brie Omellete. The flavors blend so well. I always look forward to my saturday stop at Lili's. It is like the excelance of the Bijou cafe, without the massive wait.

• Pros: the lovley flavor
• Cons: slightly over priced

06/11/07

yum!

by foodgodess72

best breakfast i've had in selwood for quite some time.

try the biscuits and mushroom thyme gravy, you'll die and go to heaven.

• Pros: delicious freshly made to order food
• Cons: extremley crowded on weekends, make reservations.

05/12/07

Best Breakfast in Sellwood

by quitogirl2000

I was lucky enough to move to Sellwood and a few months later have Patisseria Cafe Lili open up a few blocks from my house. I regularly eat there for brunch on the weekends, and even though it's not cheap, it's definitely worth the price. Everything on the breakfast menu, even the most simple eggs, bacon and potatoes plate, is absolutely delicious. The menu changes every few weeks, but favorites (like the huckleberry blintzes or asparagus crab benedict) do come back. Lili's is a great place to hang out on a Saturday morning and just sip a cup of coffee and relax. Service is friendly but not fast, and the place has become a neighborhood favorite. There is a little table in the corner where kids can color pictures with crayons, and their artwork is displayed on the wall. It feels like you're at a friend's house instead of at a restaurant when you're at Lili's -- everyone is very nice, and it feels like whatever you order was made especially for you, and not mass-produced or slapped together like so many other breakfast places. Lili's pastries are alway delicious, although by mid-afternoon most of them have sold out.

Lili's also serves breakfast and dinner, which are also very good, but breakfast is definitely their specialty. The cafe is the perfect place to catch up with friends or to take kids for brunch, and fortunately it remains fairly undiscovered to the rest of Portland, so there is rarely a line to get a table.

• Pros: High-quality food, friendly staff, great atmosphere
• Cons: Not a great place if you're in a hurry

04/23/07

Wonderful, quaint oasis!

by brandisue2001

We frequent LiLi many times a month. Love their coffee, the food, the chef, and the quaint ambiance. Always a nice, quality meal for us!

• Pros: food, coffee
• Cons: slow wait staff