Food+Lab in WeHo: Good For a Ham Gruyere Omelet + Latte-Kind of Brunch

I've always driven by Food+Lab, a cafe in West Hollywood that I finally visited and gave it my thumbs up.

Sure, it had its downsides, like mixing freshly squeezed orange juice with concentrate, which shouldn't be done. It offered many different kinds of juices, but the bad experience with the OJ didn't make me want to try the pomegranate or other good-sounding ones. But overall, it was a respectable breakfast/brunch spot with decent coffee and omelets.

We got the omelet with avocado, fresh cheese and another one with ham and gruyere cheese. The ham -- and there were layers and layers of it, to my delight -- was very good and took me back to Paris (maybe it was because it was called Paris Ham and I became a victim to marketing), or at least those really cool complimentary breakfast buffets they have at European hotels where they have all sorts of yummy cold cuts displayed next to the cheeses.

But I digress. So the ham was good but I was surprised to see slices of gruyere cheese in my omelet, which for $10 should really be shredded rather than be layered like the ham. So there wasn't much stringiness to the cheese -- in fact, the layers got lumped and stuck and made it clunky to eat.

As much as the flavors melded well, I prefer the ingredients to be incorporated into the omelet batter rather than have a cooked omelet as a pocket for the ham and cheese. Ok, I'm getting picky but again, it's these small things that make an omelet a great omelet.

I did like that it came with a green salad, although I wouldn't have minded having the option of hash browns or home fries. The omelet came with two sad slices of bread, one like a sourdough and another walnut raisin. They were both good but should be heated when served.

Coffee was good -- it came in what could only be described as a bowl. Here's your bowl of latte...

Good vibe and decor, with a nice outdoor patio that I hope to visit on warmer days. Parking lot in the back and it also sells packed ham and ready-made food to go. Ah, I may try some of its picnic fare for the Bowl this summer. Looked promising.

Silver Lakers -- it has a location in your hood too.