Normandie Pate

Haved loved Josette’s baked goods and pates for many years! Her baguettes are the only ones in Los Angeles that taste like like they were made in FRANCE!

This Bakery definitely isn’t French”. One if the three items I got my there yes was some custars-​filked concoction that had the taste and texture of Central American pastries– coarse and less-​than-​flavorful. I suspect Josette has given over her kitchen to the help.
The next item was a ham and cheese croissant. Meh. If this was served in Paris, the baker would be run out of town on a rail. It was neither flaky nor flavorful.
The last item were the «mini cro-​nuts». Really? Instead of having a flaky, almost crispy exterior they were soggy and tasted like grease.
⁰⁄₃. I only gave it two stars because of the distant memories I have of the Normandie Bakery the way it used to be before the owner gave up control.

My friend loves their omelets. Me not so much of a fan, at least not enough to come back for them. So why did I give it four stars? The pastrami sandwich.
Warm soft bun, with healthy serving of moist pastrami slathered with dijon mustard. So simple yet so good. Nom nom nom…

They’re not bad, but I felt a little expensive for their product… perhaps I’m just not used to American bakeries. Their pain au chocolat (they call it a chocolat crossaint) is 2.25 each. They’re good, but also HUGE, another thing I’m not used to.
It is very fresh, but my pain au chocolat was a little chewy, and nothing was warm even though I went very early in the morning.
I did not like their baguettes. It tasted too much like American bread: soft crust instead of crispy, chewy thick texture on the inside… there was nothing French about it.
Overall, I did very much enjoy their product, and they had nice servers, but if you are looking for something truly «authentically French,» I do not think this place is it.

I have seen this place for some time now and always just drove by. Then my parents were visiting and my Mom was curious about it… luckily they had a website so we could get the hours.
The place is really small inside, but has a great selection of cookies, pasties, and of course… some breads. Being it Christmas season, they had some very elaborate ginger bread houses out on the counters. They looked amazing!
Nice hidden spot for some good French country style baked goods!

Another of those places I always drove by and ignored. Until i read a review in the L.A. times. Apparently, the bakery/​café has a lot of history and deep French roots. And those roots have been transplanted to a café about 5 minutes from mi casa. :-)
Great place for brunch, pastries, coffee, alone with a newspaper or with good company and lots of time to chat.
Great quiche and like I said, great pastries.
It’s fun to sit and have an outdoor café experience in an otherwise forgotten residential/​industrial spot in the city.
I imagine when the new Light Rail line runs across the street from it, it’s popularity will surge with beach city folk spotting it on their way into downtown.

This is a fantastic bakery. I stop here a lot on my way between LAX and my house to pick up pastries. They have wonderful croissants, pastries, olive bread, french rolls, all at fairly reasonable prices (although I wish they gave a discount for buying pastries by the dozen, because I would definitely take advantage of it!)
I’ve never eaten lunch here but it seems to be a popular spot. Considering that most of the immediate neighborhood is full of fast food joints, I’m not surprised.
One drawback is that they are closed on Sunday.

Eh… I go here because it’s the closest place to my office. I guess I can’t really say too much about the food because I’ve never really ordered any of it. I have eaten a lot of croissants from them that are good. I’ve also had the smoothie which is really tasty. The staff there is friendly and they are always busy. I wish the menu was a little cheaper, I have trouble paying so much for a little sandwich or salad.
Tip: cans of soda are cheaper at the little pharmacy across the hall.

I love their baguettes that come with every entrée (breakfast or lunch). So fresh, crusty and yummy. This is what they use for their sandwiches, too. I love the fruit cups, sandwiches, and breakfast plates. They also make a nice quiche. Normandie is another café that I would call «vanilla’. Not so remarkable that i’d go out of my way to come here, but if you happen to be in the neighborhood or work nearby, it’s a nice little spot to grab lunch or pick up breakfast in the morning before heading into the office. Everything listed on the menu will likely taste like you would imagine… can be a good thing.

Eh… This is one of the few places I can walk to from where I work, thus making me a very captive audience. I think that is the case for most people who grab lunch here. I usually order the soup of the day which comes with yummy baguette. Most of the soups are waaaaaaaay too salty (Chicken tortilla and Tomato) so I’ve come to realize that the only one that’s any good is the chicken noodle. Normandie is nothing special but will get the job done in a pinch.

If you’re interested in the best French baguette and country-​style pâté, this bakery and bistro is for you. They also have a variety of butter cookies, Croissants, Madeleines and offer an assortment of sandwiches. Of course, I’ve only managed to walk out the door with the bread, pâté and a great Port-​Salut cheese. This restaurant is truly incognito amongst a fairly instustrial area of Los Angeles. The owner is very friendly and a little eccentric, but nonetheless accomodating and certainly adds to the flair of the bakery. If you’re in the mood for a picnic or a deliciously simple meal, head over to the Normandie Bakery and Bistro. You won’t be disappointed!

I stumbled upon this lunch spot on a Saturday afternoon when it was pretty dead along Sunset Boulevard. I was needing to kill about 45 minutes, and in feeling a little «peckish» as my better half might say, I was in the market for a healthy and convenient something to eat.
Healthy and convenient is about exactly what I got. My smoked turkey and brie sandwich was pretty unremarkable but functional. I liked the setting, and got a kick out of hearing Depeche Mode on the sound system, reading the local LA weekly rag, in a supposedly French setting.
Decent.

I’m surprised there hasn’t been a review about this place yet.
Normandie Country Bakery is a small coffee/​pastries/​sandwiches/​salads café in a large building on Sunset and Cory, in West Hollywood.
Their iced (not ice-​blended) coffee drinks, such as their iced mocha or iced vanilla lattes, are very good and I often times walk across the street to pick up a croissant which is appropriately flaky and buttery (not as good as Amandine in West LA but still very respectable).
They serve salads and sandwiches for lunch which are also pretty solid; I prefer the homemade sausage sandwich or any number of their specials they have daily (i.e. turkey mushroom sandwich).
Their non-​caffeinated drinks leave a lot to be desired; I don’t enjoy their iced tea and their bottled drink cooler could stand to have a few more options.
Otherwise it’s a great place to grab a quick coffee and breakfast or a nice leisurely lunch on their patio, especially right now during the summer where the sun is out and the skies are clear.

This is really a hidden treasure. It is a pretty large industrial bakery, but there is also a small café in the back that serves lunch. The sandwiches are enormous and are made with fresh baked bread. Being a vegetarian, I’ve only ever tried the veggie sandwich, though the meaty ones look pretty darn good as well. A side order of potato salad is a reasonable $ 1.25 or so and is enough to feed an entire table of mayonnaise fiends.
There is also a pastry case with all kinds of yummy goodies. A word to the wise: eat the pastries right away! I have neglected to do so and the flavor is really compromised if you wait until the next day.
My only beef with the Normandie Bakery is that the service is at times (okay let’s be fair — at ALL times) a little indifferent. To boot, I once ordered a fancy pastry swan complete with a tall neck to give to a friend, and the woman behind the counter smashed it into a too small box and effectively killed the swan. If you are going to have elaborate baked goods, please let’s have a container that won’t destroy them.