Monday, December 15, 2008

Nora Cafe & Bakery in Ellicott City

Winter is the season for cookies, and Nora Cafe & Bakery in Ellicott City offers up boxes of sweets for your home or a hostess gift.

I carried a plastic box of Nora's cookies to Chicago, and they were a great dessert at my friend's house. I love staring into a lighted display and picking out whatever catches my eye. The round sandwich cookies with powdered sugar on top and a red jam in between. The butter cookies covered with twirls of chocolate. The almond-flavored ones with the crinkly texture.

The kids in Chicago ate up the almond ones before I could get a taste, but I really enjoyed everything else. A half pound disappeared in a flash.

Nora Cafe also offers a full menu of breakfast, soups, subs, paninis, and pizzas. It is an extensive selection, and everything is made at the restaurant. They also deliver breakfast and lunch. I drove there for a nice Sunday morning bagel sandwich. Real eggs and bacon, not just a kit microwaved somewhere in the back. Based on comments on other posts, people seem to like Nora's bagels.

If you are looking for a Howard County bakery, you should also check out Bonaparte Bread in Savage or French pastries and baguettes or La Boulangerie in Ellicott City for formal cakes and for breads and buns filled with sweet red beans, chocolate, hazelnut cream and other delicacies.

Nora Cafe & Bakery
8450 Baltimore Natl Pike # 8
Ellicott City, MD 21043
(410) 461-6902
thenoracafe.com‎

NEAR: Nora's is in a shopping center with a Safeway. It is on Rte 40 just east of the intersection with Rte 29.

Nora's Cafe & Bakery on Urbanspoon

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I live within walking distance of Nora Cafe, and enjoy their sandwiches. The pasta sauce they use for their italian dishes isn't all that great, and you're much better off going to Ledos in the same shopping center.

I'm also a big fan of Niko's Japanese Restaurant, down at the other end. Granted, I haven't tried many of the other sushi restaurants in Howard County, but Niko's has an all-you-can eat sushi lunch buffet Mon-Sat for $11/$13. The staff is friendly, and the variety of sushi is excellent.

Anonymous said...

The Safeway has now closed. Here's hoping the rest of the center survives.

lroylo1 said...

The first thing the waitress asked us was, "Are you planning to eat in?" That should have tipped us off that the staff wanted to close and go home. It was 8pm, the restaurant was empty. But the posted hours said that 9pm was closing time so we sat. After perusing the menu we ordered. There was no cutlery on the table. So when my daughter's order arrived--a sandwich salad combo, and my son's cheeseburger, they started eating. We thought that the waitress would bring utensils with the rest of the order. She didn't so I had to ask for it. when my wife's and my entrees arrived. My daughter did not like her salad because the avocados on it were not ripe. My son liked his cheeseburger. My entree was delicious. My wife liked her entree. We had a restaurant.com coupon which required the minimum purchase of $50. Our bill came to $56. We overheard one of the managers complain to the waitress that our bill did not amount to the required $50. We were planning to buy a pound of the Italian cookies advertised for $10.99 to take home. They looked delicious. But after hearing that remark we changed our minds. Overall our impression on this visit was that we were imposing on them by ordering a meal an hour before closing. Perhaps Nora's should change their closing time to 7pm.