Alcyone Cafe & Catering (Part 2)

(Original Review -- May 2011)

I returned to Alcyone Cafe in early April to try another sandwich. It also gave me an opportunity to catch up with a good friend from law school. Our own busy schedules had kept us apart for several months.

Sunlight is not my friend on this picture

Although a couple of people in my original post thought I had a bad experience, I wouldn't necessarily call it that. It was fine for what it was. Unfortunately, I simply equate a panini as a pressed grilled sandwich with a lot of crunch. The lack of crunch made it more of a soggier, "glorified" grilled cheese sandwich than a panini.

Pesto is like a dang drug, man. You see that amazing green color, pair it with some chicken and melted cheese, and presto, you got a kickass meal. Needless to say, when I saw the chicken pesto panini ($9.25), my giddy panda self worked some overdrive. Again, I received a bag of kettle chips and a dill pickle spear.

Lunch menu
(April 2012)

Panini selections

I picked wheat bread again, only realizing later that I had picked wheat the last time I had what turned out to be a soggy sandwich. I'm honestly not sure if the other choices, such as sourdough, white, or rye, would have made as much of a difference. I didn't hear a ciabatta or rosetta option, which again would be ideal.

Chicken Pesto Panini (no mayo)
(Alcyone Cafe & Catering)

I love this cross-section shot

The sandwich was very good. I know I didn't previously care for the turkey cranberry last time because I couldn't find much cranberry goodness in there. In my chicken pesto sandwich, everything shone through very nicely. It's cold cut deli chicken, not actual meat from a real bird. To be fair, they added quite a generous portion of deli meat here. The havarti cheese melted nicely, and the delicious house-made pesto put me at peace with the world. Usually, there's mayo in this one, but I 86'd that. Saved a few calories, anyway....

As for the bread, nothing changed there. Still mostly non-crunchy. Just insert the ol' "...fool me twice, shame on me" line here. Bad panda.

Breakfast is also served from 8-11 a.m. I may give that a go, but I'm not sure when that will be.

The specials on April 11, 2012
Peppermint mocha sounded pretty good, too...

Breakfast menu
(April 2012)

In short, Alcyone has a good sandwich, and I'd probably head back there once in a great while. After having real good paninis elsewhere, I probably just have higher standards than others. Especially when the price tag is close to $10, I hoped to at least get some real chicken here. 6.5/10