Category Archives: Breakfast & Brunch

Georgie

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Pate

Salmon

Salad

Crudo

Scallops

Oysters

Interior

Outside

**** (4 stars)

If you’re looking for a romantic outdoor dining experience in Beverly Hills, this is the spot. It overlooks the park, is away from the street, and it’s dimmly lit. It’s really the perfect spot for a quiet and intimate dinner.

That the food never quite lives up to its ambitious aspirations is really beside the point. It’s nicely presented and pretty good, if not exactly superb. But given its location, and the excellent service, it is reasonably priced.

The wine list, which has to be requested, is extensive and interesting, with many big names but also lots of obscure gems. There are no deals on the list, but you’ll find some very intriguing selections.

In short, this is a great place to come with someone when you want the focus to be on your time together. A lovely experience.

Georgie
225 N Canon Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 860-7970
https://www.yelp.com/biz/georgie-beverly-hills

Bouchon

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Steak frites

Mussels

Interior

Pate

**** (4 stars)

There are three Bouchons at this location and Google maps, for one, is very confused about that. The Bouchon Bakery is a counter serve and Bar Bouchon offers downstairs patio seating on the park. But the real Bouchon is upstairs, and offers a brasserie-like atmosphere plus outdoor balcony seating.

The menu is similar to Las Vegas, but not to Santa Barbara. A bouchon is a cafe typical in Lyon that focuses on meat-based dishes, and that is the case here. The French classics are all exceptionally well prepared, from mussels to onion soup, pate to salade Lyonnaise.

As is typical in France, the meal begins with bread served on the paper table covering. Be sure to order something to use the wonderful pot of mustard on; there’s nothing like pate and genuine Dijon on fresh crusty French bread.

Service is professional yet friendly.

This is actually one of my favorite of Keller’s restaurants. I even like it better than Per Se. The only negative is that the room has no acoustic treatment at all, and even when half empty it is very loud.

Bouchon
235 N Canon Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 271-9910
https://www.yelp.com/biz/bouchon-beverly-hills-4

Ladurée Beverly Hills

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Breakfast

Interior

**** (4 stars)

I’ve never been a fan of macarons, so I was pleased to see that this Ladurée, which looks like a confectioner’s shop, serves the full range of authentic Ladurée croissants. I was also pleased to discover they are just as good as the ones in Paris. The plain is still the best, with the pain au chocolat and the rose coming in second and third.

What’s not as good as Paris is the coffee. It’s just typical American coffee. Perhaps a double espresso would be better, but I was hoping for authentic French coffee. No such luck.

If you’ve been to the Ladurée in Paris on the Champs Elysee, or the original one on the Place de la Madeleine, this one is a sort of cross between the two. It’s certainly much larger than the one at Harrod’s in London.

The service was fast and friendly, and with just enough of a French accent to whet the taste buds.

Ladurée serves hot items for breakfast, too, but of course the emphasis is on the baked goods. And the case of macarons.

Ladurée Beverly Hills
311 N Beverly Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 623-1100
https://www.yelp.com/biz/ladur%C3%A9e-beverly-hills-beverly-hills-2

Marché Artisan Foods

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Croissant French toast

Quiche

Chocolate croissant

Brunch menu August 2017

Kitchen

Interior, brunch crowd

**** (4 stars)

We stopped here on the way from the airport, and it was worth the detour. They serve a very good brunch.

The Croissant French toast is good, but maybe not quite as good as it looks in all the pictures. Croissants tend to be a bit hard to tear apart, which isn’t necessarily what you want in French toast. But the accompanying maple syrup was great, and I’m glad I ordered the delicious bacon to go with it.

The quiche and the chocolate croissant were two other things we sampled that were good. And the coffee drinks are excellent, with lots of options for preparation, flavors and type of milk.

Be aware that Sunday Brunch is really popular, right up until closing time, so there will be a wait, and it will be noisy.

Marché Artisan Foods
1000 Main St
Nashville, TN 37206
(615) 262-1111
http://www.yelp.com/biz/march%C3%A9-artisan-foods-nashville-2

Johnny’s Fillin’ Station

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Sign

Bacon cheeseburger

Fries

Interior

***** (5 stars)

For at least 20 years Johnny’s has been acclaimed for having the best burger in Orlando (they even have the 1998 plaque on the wall to prove it), and it still is. The secret is a thick, meaty patty perfectly cooked to order served on a bun with some substance. And the bun is grilled on the insides to make sure it doesn’t get soggy as you make your way through the burger. The bacon cheeseburger is the way to go. And it comes with all the fixin’s you’d expect of a fillin’ station.

The fries that come with the burger could be better, as they are steak fries rather than something skinnier, but if you order them crispy they will do.

The atmosphere is also unchanged in at least twenty years: quintessential dive bar. It’s a real dive bar that has earned its designation, not some artificially decorated pretender. The junk on the walls is all there for historical reasons.

Service is not what you’d call attentive, but it is pleasant.

Johnny’s Fillin’ Station
2631 S Fern Creek Ave
Orlando, FL 32806
(407) 894-6900
http://www.yelp.com/biz/johnnys-fillin-station-orlando-2

Taco Norteño

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Nachos with ground beef

Tostada Barbacoa, taco pastor

Exterior

Interior

Salsa bar

**** (4 stars)

This neighborhood Mexican restaurant is very popular, probably in part due to the fact that their tacos start at $1.85.

I tried the taco pastor with a soft corn tortilla, the tostada barbacoa, and the nachos with ground beef.

My favorite item was the tostada, which had a nice, crisp, sturdy tortilla and generous slices of avocado. The barbacoa didn’t have a lot of flavor, but the refried beans did.

I didn’t care for the pastor, which was completely dry, with no evidence of marinade or sauce, and didn’t include the somewhat traditional pineapple either.

The nachos were by far the most expensive, but the serving was giant. You have a choice of meat, and indeed they were all about the meat, with very little cheese, and the limited cheese was a thin queso anyway.

The best feature of Norteno is the salsa bar, which offers not only an array of salsas, but also fresh cilantro, onions, jalapenos and limes, so you can deck out your food however you like. There are also free chips to accompany it.

Taco Norteño
12307 W Colonial Dr
Winter Garden, FL 34787
(407) 656-2567
https://www.yelp.com/biz/taco-norte%C3%B1o-winter-garden

Breakfast Club

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Club skillet

Exterior

Interior

**** (4 stars)

This is an old style coffee shop that emphasizes breakfast but also serves lunch food.

My “skillet” was actually just a plate, but I liked that I could select every ingredient, including choice of potatoes, veggies, meats and eggs. The hashbrowns were nice and crispy as requested.

The room is bright and airy and the servers are friendly, even when swamped, as they are on Sunday mornings after church.

Breakfast Club
13750 W Colonial Dr
Winter Garden, FL 34787
(407) 347-9726
https://www.yelp.com/biz/breakfast-club-winter-garden

Haven

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Peel and Eat Shrimp

Cheese Monger

Hamachi crudo

Interior

**** (4 stars)

If you are a cheese lover, Haven is a must visit. There are dozens of cheeses on their menu, and the “Cheese Monger” offers a selection of 18(!) of them on one well-organized plate. My only wish was for more variety, as they were almost all cow’s milk, and mostly the same firmness. I’d have liked some more soft ones, and some stinkier ones. But that’s just me.

The menu also offers a nice selection of other small plates. We liked the hamachi crudo. The peel and eat shrimp was okay, but I didn’t care for the harissa flavor of the accompanying remoulade, as it overwhelmed the other flavors.

The interior decor is gorgeous, with reasonable lighting levels and not too noisy, even though there are no soft surfaces except the booths (which offer the quietest place to sit).

The wine list is extensive, and the more expensive wines are actually the better deals.

Service was friendly and efficient.

Haven
2208 W Morrison Ave
Tampa, FL 33606
(813) 258-2233
https://www.yelp.com/biz/haven-tampa-3

The Tam O’Shanter

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Prime rib English cut

Toad in the hole

Exterior

Bar

Interior

***** (5 stars)

Opened in 1922, Tam O’Shanter is one of LA’s oldest restaurants. Although it is owned by Lawry’s, the atmosphere is quite different, with cozy nooks and fireplaces everywhere throughout the rabbit warren of rooms.

As at Lawry’s, prime rib is a major attraction, but there are many other interesting dishes, some with an Old World history, such as Toad in the Hole, which here is served as a large Yorkshire Pudding filled with stew ingredients.

The wine list at first looks small, but it is simply compact. Extensive selections are available in every category, and pricing is reasonable.

Our server, Mark, was that rare mixture of professional waiter, interesting personality, and gracious host, and he made our evening a delight.

The Tam O’Shanter
2980 Los Feliz Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90039
(323) 664-0228
https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-tam-o-shanter-los-angeles

Dialog Cafe

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Macchiato

Interior

***** (5 stars)

This cute, family owned coffee shop just off the Sunset Strip offers friendly service and excellent coffee drinks. There are also a large number of breakfast items, and tasty croissants. My macchiato was perfect and attractive.

Dialog Cafe
8766 Holloway Dr
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 289-1630
https://www.yelp.com/biz/dialog-cafe-west-hollywood