6th & B

I do not always eat "healthy", but when I do, this is the kinda "healthy" junk I like to eat...

http://www.6thandb.com/


Place: 6th & B

Location: 452 Balboa Street
(on the corner of 6th Avenue)

Hours: open Thursday - Monday at 8:00am

Meal: quinoa bowl ~ gold and red quinoa, market vegetables (they did not specify from which market; however, in today's bowl they musta purchased their vegetables from some "vile" market like W*lmart, because there were a few pieces of "the vile weed" thrown into the mix), poached egg + avocado; and, to drink, a glassa fresh-squeezed sweet green ~ spinach + pear + lemon + apple (thankfully, none of the "green" was due to "the vile weed")

(Today's EweToobular juxtaselections are mainly based upon this semi-annual st*pid Daylight Savings Time imposed upon those of us that are temporally-challenged. Plus, the Bob video is because they were playing his music exclusively  this morning the entire time that I was eating at the restaurant. I may have lost [or gained, I never know with this foolishness] an hour this morning, but at least I could enjoy my breakfastary repast with a little Bob to make up for the time.)


I did not want to waste any more "time" this morning, so I kept it all pretty local and headed back over to 6th & B (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, February 4th, 2018).

This was only my third visit there for breakfast (I had also eaten there once before for lunch). There are still a few other viable breakfast options for stupid vegetarian-types:

egg[ sic ] benedict ~ two poached eggs[ sics ], spinach, Hollandaise (while they prefer to stylize everything in the minuscule, I am majusculing this Frenchy mother sauce name), house potatoes (their version of homefries are first-rate, too);

lemon ricotta pancakes ~ seasonal fruit (I just hope it is not more of "the vile weed" season), organic maple syrup;

french toast ~ brioche bread, coconut milk batter (interesting), seasonal fruit (see above comment), organic maple syrup;

or

b toast ~ 2 eggs, cheese, avocado, baked on vienna (again, minusculed) white bread, mini salad (if I were to order this one ~ and I might just be doing that on my next visit ~ I would definitely force myself into ordering a side of their house potatoes [minuscule or not]).

Not to worry, for any of you dead, decaying meatetarians, they offer several interesting dishes for your ilk, too:

b mix-up ~ scrambled egg, potato, crumbled bread, bacon, pulled pork, sweet onion, fried tomato (I have no idea what this dish would even look like, but it does sound intriguing);

tonkatsu sandwich ~ panko-crusted pork cutlet, aioli, house worcestershire (again, mini-schooled) sauce, cabbage, house potatoes (this dish would probably be in honour of their japanese [See? Two can play at this minuscule game!] heritage); 

or 

loco moco ~ angus beef patty, 2 eggs sunny side up, onions, mushroom, gravy, white rice, scallions.

Sadly, they no longer offer the very tasty sweet porridge (which I had on my previous visit). The owner/manager-lady told me that they stopped offering it because no one was ordering it... St*pid customers! What the h*ck do they know about good food?!

Even though the sweet green mighta had a sickly nookular hue to it, it was one mighty tasty/sweet-*ss drink. The pear and apple flavours definitely overpowered the spinach (and I love spinach).

This was one HUGE bowl o' steaming quinoa with lots of (other than the aforementioned "vilocity") good junk in it, which included (at least): sweet potato, mushrooms, julienned bell peppers (gold, orange, and red), (even more) spinach, and possibly some kale or chard. Extra kudos goes to the restaurant for not labeling the vegetables as "market veggies (uggh!)". I suppose this dish coulda been alternately named "Egg(s) Simón (José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios Ponte y Blanco)"[1].

For condimentary supplementation, 6th & B had Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce, and Frank's® RedHot (Original). Once again (in a dubiously valiant effort to try to use up at least one more bottle from my refrigerator), I used some of my own Pepper Palace Chocolate Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!)  on top of the poached egg. Now, the hot sauce poured out juuuust a bit more quickly than I was expecting and I might have overdone it a bit, but, at least, the runoff/overrun covered some of "the vile weed" junk making that a bit more palatable.


the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

After breakfast, while taking a little walk along Balboa Street (near the corner of 5th Avenue), I heard a few of the noisy little chatter-heads and looked up to see a small pandemonium (about three or four of them) flying overhead southbound (towards Golden Gate Park?).


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
quinoa bowl ~ 6.8;
sweet green ~ 7.0;
the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5

___________________

1. Okay, so maybe to get that silly little joke, you might have to understand that quinoa was first cultivated for human consumption in the Andes Mountains, along the Bolivian (Now do ya get it?) and Peruvian borders of the Lake Titicaca basin, three to four thousand years ago.

Chloe♥s Cafe

♪ "'Cause I was just thirteen when I got my first taste of... Brie and leeks... "

"... and the kids are lined up on the wall and they're ready to... dine... " ♫

https://chloessf.com/

(Wow! This must be a brand new[-ish] web-site for them. It was not active last year when I ate there.)


Place: Chloe♥s Cafe

Location: 1399 Church Street
(on the corner of 26th Street)

Hours: open Monday - Sunday at 8:00am

Meal: Special Scramble (off their weekend Specials Board) ~ 2 scrambled eggs w/ spinach, mushroom, leeks, fresh red bell peppers, basil, & Brie (the Frenchy soft cow's-milk cheese, not the Academy Award-winning actress... although, I am sure she woulda been plenty melty and tasty in a scramble, too), served with a choice of 2: fresh fruit, home fries (which was one of my intelligent and correct choices), green salad (yeah, right!), or toast (and this was my second intelligent and correct choice, where I went intelligently and correctly with the rosemary-potato bread); and, to drink, a large glassa grapefruit juice

(Once again, there is no real EweToobular juxtaselection with these songs and today's meal. Well, I am sure that Mikel Jollett, Steven Delopoulos, and even Mr. XV like[d] Brie and leeks in their breakfastary scrambled poultry ova dishes.)


Sometimes, it is all a matter of timing... 

I had arrived at Chloe♥s Cafe (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, February 18th, 2018) at around 7:50am and noticed that there was already a small line (which for the size of the restaurant is sometimes enough to fill the place) beginning to form outside. I passed up a legal parking space directly in front of the restaurant because it looked like it might be a tight fit for my car-length (I did not want to be "that guy" that parks over the crosswalk line). No biggie, I found another (larger) spot just a half-block down Church Street, anyway. I decided to sit in my car listening to one last song (which just happened to be the first song above by those d*mn Toxic Avenger people) before getting into line myself. It was still a few minutes before they were to open their doors and they had not even put out the "Sign-up Sheet" yet (of which I was not aware). When they finally did put out said "Sign-up Sheet", I thought everyone in front of me had already signed-up, so I left my spot (I was last in line at the time, anyway) to check it out and only then found out that everyone in line was also waiting to "sign-up". When I went back to my place at the end of the line, there was a new couple (well, they may have been together for many years, I just mean that they were new to the end of the line) standing there. They offered me my spot back in line, but I told them not to bother because from the looks of the size of the line we would all probably get in on the first wave of diners...

Ooops! Guess who missed out getting in with the first group by one table?! Because of which, I am counting that as my "Pay-it-forward (... or bugger off!) Weekend" input-deed for today. Besides, the food tasted just as good a half-hour later...

Now, I coulda opted to sit outside (about fifteen minutes after they had opened, they started setting up four small, round tables ~ that could fit three to possibly four people comfortably ~ along the 26th Street sidewalk), but, by that time, I figured I could just wait another fifteen or twenty minutes for anyone in the first group to finish-up. It was not raining at that time (it had stopped raining 'round about the time I left my apartment this morning), but it looked like it was threatening to start again, anyway. (It actually did start raining about twenty minutes after I had finished eating while I was driving on my way home. Another "all a matter of timing", I suppose.)

Yes! Some things are worth waiting for! (And, yeah, sure, if you wanna get all Grammatik Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei on me, that sentence probably shoulda read: "Some things are worth waiting for, *ss-hole!") The Brie and leeks were the real standouts in this morning's scramble-mess. The leeks were finely julienned (as were the red bell peppers). Also, not many places will use "le fromage de la belle France" (Yeah, I know that was a reference to some other m*udit Frenchy cheese, Mr. Wensleydale, but you gets my point, right?!) as an ingredient. Brie is not Feta (Of course, everything's just betta with Feta!), but it did go very nicely with the rest of today's ingredients (and Brie does the melting-thing much betta than Feta). 

I did not really taste any basil, but I was so intent on getting the full Brie and leeks experience that I probably overlooked that one with all of the spinach (another favourite of mine, too) that was also in it.

Now, who in their right mind, when given the above side choices, would ever choose a d*mn green salad or fresh fruit over homefries?! People like that should not be allowed to go out to eat at nice joints. "But... but... Brian... what if they are on a diet and are trying to eat healthy?!" Then, once again, stay at yer own homes and "eat healthy" there and leave all the other good, "unhealthy" junk to those of us that can truly enjoy it while dining out!

Chloe♥s Cafe has both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce for use as hot sauce condimentary supplements. I used some of my own Pepper Palace Chocolate Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!)  on the perfectly crispy and crunchy (See?! If'n I had been in the first wave of diners, the potatoes may not have reached their crispiocity perfection yet. Another positive "all a matter of timing"-thing.) homefries and some Dat'l Do-it® Spicy Jalapeno Hot Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on top of the scrambled-mess.


(another not so very) Strange Coffee Interlude

When I arrived back home, to ward off some of the recent dampness and chill, I made myself a cuppa (once more via the single pour-over funnel-thing) Bettys Java Kalibaru (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!). This is another gifted-Coffee that I finally just opened this morning. Now, this ain't Bettys Jamaica Blue Mountain, but that is not a fair comparison for most Coffees, anyway. This is another one of the many really good Coffees from the tea-totaling-folks at Bettys and it is probably my 3rd or 4th favourite of theirs.

https://www.bettys.co.uk/java-kalibaru-single-origin-coffee


♪ "And the world is crying as we move along
And the world is trying as we move along
But they're still chopping our leeks and red bell peppers for a scramble... " ♫


Mikel and his band of friends owe me a half-hour of my life back...


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Special Scramble ~ 7.0;
Bettys Java Kalibaru ~ 7.3

Honey Honey ~ Cafe & Crepery

"That'll be four cuppas on Mr. XV!"
(It's okay, Karl, Mr. XV always wore 
silicon-coated long johns.)

or

Yet still another "Pay-it-forward 
(... or bugger-off!) Weekend"

http://www.honeyhoneycafeandcrepery.com/


Place: Honey Honey ~ Cafe & Crepery

Location: 599 Post Street
(on the corner of Taylor Street)

Hours: open Monday - Sunday at 7:30am

Meal: Mediterranean (Savory Crepe) ~ Cheddar, onion, tomato, Feta, artichoke, olives, avocado, served w/ salad, fruit, or potatoes; and, to drink for myself, a large glassa freshly-squeezed (right afore mine own two eyes with one of them crazy the Jetsons orange-juicer/squeezer contraption things) orange juice

(I have no idea if Mikel Jollett, Steven Delopoulos, or even Mr. XV like[d] crêpes made with avocado, artichokes, and Feta or not [well, ol' Στέφανος probably knows of αυθεντική ελληνική Φέτα]; I just like both of these songs[1] and felt they were deserved today.)


To start off this year's Pay-it-forward (... or bugger-off!) Weekend on the right foot (or maybe that should be "... on the left foot", I was never very good at that marching-thing ~ which might explain why I was stuck way in the back of my Flight as a Road-Guard in Basic Training [at least, I did get to use my cool Lackland Laser daily]), I made sure to give the counter-lady person at Honey Honey ~ Cafe & Crepery (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, May 19th, 2018) a coupla extra Abie Lincolns with which to pay for the next four standard cuppas for any customers that would be ordering after me and might want Coffee (as long as their names were not "Joseph Smith" or "Brigham Young", I suppose).

This being only my fourth visit to this particular crêperie-type establishment, there are still several other good ideas on their menu for even stupid vegetarian (sorry, you Vegan-types are just gonna be outta luck ordering any kinda crêpes or omêlêttês):

Eggplant (Savory Crepe) ~ Cheddar, tomato, garlic, fresh basil, sundried tomato, eggplant (this probably woulda been my order today if I had planned in advance);

Suzette (Sweet Crepe) ~ orange zest, orange juice, sugar, and butter (which I would probably order with a side of their great homefries, too);

Acapulco (Omelette) ~ Cheddar, salsa, avocado, sour cream, and black bean chili;

Athens (Omelette) ~ Feta, spinach, and olives;

or

Cable Car (Omelette) ~ cream cheese, capers, red onion, smoked salmon (just without any of that dead, decaying piscine flesh, Mr. Rushdie).

Ooops! I had actually ordered this same crêpe on my initial visit to Honey Honey ~ Cafe & Crepery, I just forgot to check what I had already ordered before heading out the door. No biggie, it was still worth reordering, anyhow. I liked it again this morning. I just have three changes that I would make if I ever made crêpes myself (insert fat-chance, wildly laughing emoji here):

1)  this really oughtta shoulda included authentic Kalamata olives, and not those sliced, tasteless, canned black olives;
2) I think that spinach in place of avocado mighta been a bit more Mediterraneany;
and
3) there really was not much call 'round these parts for the Cheddar, Mr. Wensleydale; I bet Fontina or Provolone woulda made more sense geographically and tastily (just make sure not to use any cat-eating, excrementally runny Camembert, Ernie!).

Of course, once again, I went with the side choice of homefried potatoes. These are truly some of the best homefries in town and worth a trip back over there all on their own recognizance. ("Salads?! We ain't got no salads! We don' need no salads! I don't have to show you any stinkin' rabbit-food!")

For condimentary supplementation, Honey Honey ~
 Cafe & Crepery has the Standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces: Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (both Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Sauce), Cholula® Hot Sauce Original, and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce. I used some of my own Peaks of Otter Peppers Cremation Drops Hot Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) all over the potatoes (this one is only about as hot as your standard Lou'siana cayenne pepper sauce, so I used a fair to Midland-Odessa amount of it) and some Old St. Augustine Datil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) inside the crêpe (now this one is about as hot as any habanero hot sauce, so I went a bit more lightly with it, probably ten splashes/drops only).


(another not so very) Strange Coffee Interlude

Before even heading out into the mighty misty morn, 
I prepared myself a cuppa (via single pour-over funnel-thing) Cops & Doughnuts - Cops Coffee ~ Morning Shift (Medium Roast) (Thanks, Greg & Cindy [and possibly Amy, too]! [Please note, these felons are not related to the above hot sauce-gift-givers in any way.]). This is another Christmas gift that I am finally getting around to trying (in addition to already having three other opened bags of Coffee in my refrigerator, I still have another five 12oz to 16oz bags unopened in my freezer from Christmas and before). This is a very good, smooth, morning-style Coffee (but I am sure that I will enjoy it in the evenings as well). It is a very robust Coffee... even though it is made outta 100% Arabica beans. (hahaha... just a little Coffee-geek humor there.)

https://copsdoughnuts.com/product/cops-coffee-12oz-bag-ground/


Additional, Pay-it-forward (... or bugger-off!) Interlude 

After breakfast and while on my way to the bus stop homeward, I saw a domicile-challenged guy out in front of the Walgreens on the corner of Geary and Taylor Streets. I had to stop in and top-off my Clipper® card anyway, so I figured I would give the guy a buck or two on my way out of the store. As luck would have it, I also had an extra umbrella that I had found on the bus earlier in the week (some people find money, I find umbrellas) in my backpack. It was not raining hardly enough for me to even bother breaking it out for use myself this morning, so I offered it to the guy when I walked outside. He was very grateful for the gift and told me his name was William. He also told me that someone had recently stolen an old umbrella that he had. I did also make sure to give William two Georgie Washingtons for later use. Not that I am expecting William to "pay-it-forward" with either his new (used/found) umbrella or cash to anyone else on the street, though.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Mediterranean (Savory Crepe) ~ 6.7;
excellent homefries (all on their ownsome) ~ 7.4

___________________

1. Yeah, so, the second song may be one of them "Jesus"-y kinda songs. You gotta problem with that, take it up with Στέφανος and his boyos.

Boogaloos

https://boogaloossf.com/


Place: Boogaloos

Location: 3296 22nd Street
(on the corner of Valencia Street)

Hours: open daily at 8:00am

Meal: Soyrizo Hash & Eggs ~ 2 eggs any style (wherein my style this morning felt like "over-medium") in a pile of our own vegan chorizo hash with cilantro and corn tortillas; and, to drink, a glassa Mexican Hot Chocolate... with a paper straw (Chocolate Caliente Mexicano... con paja de papel)

(Because I could not find a "Taste of Mexican 
Hot Chocolate Boogaloo" EweToobular video.)


Volví a visitar Boogaloos (see last 'blog-entry from sábado 26 de mayo, 2018). I was lucky enough to park directly across the street again. Of course, that early on una plácida mañana de domingo, a person (incluso yo también) can usually be assured of finding a close parking space.

Todavía otras ideas de desayuno:

Huevos Rancheros ~ 2 eggs over-easy on a corn tortilla with Jack cheese and ranchero sauce, served with black beans, sour cream and cilantro;  

Polenta - n - Eggs ~ grilled polenta with ranchero sauce and Feta cheese, served with 2 eggs any style, black beans, sour cream and cilantro (they also make a Vegan-friendly version of this dish, without the Feta and eggs, adding sautéed mixed vegetables instead);

and they also have a few Weekend Specials (served on Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays)

Eggs Flor-n-Tom ~ spinach and grilled tomato, 2 poached eggs on an English muffin with Hollandaise sauce, served with your choice of homefries or fresh fruit;

or 

Eggs Valencia ~ avocado and grilled tomato, 2 poached eggs on an English muffin with Hollandaise sauce, served with your choice of homefries or fresh fruit (this might have to be my choice on my next visit).

¡Mano, was this muy bueno! 

It was also a very YUGE mess o' food... luckily, I did not need to have a wall built around it. It is exactly junk like this why I like going back to Boogaloos and why they were once ensconced in my Breakfastary Starting Rotation. There were three warmed-up corn tortillas on the side; these were just the plain ol' store bought kind; this would probably have earned an extra Glen Bacon Scale Rating point of 0.1 or 0.2 if'n these were fresh-made corn tortillas. This also mighta coulda used some kinda cheese product sprinkled on top of it (queso fresco woulda been good and gone nicely with the theme); of course, that would have negated the whole Vegan-friendly aspect of the dish.

As far as condimentary supplements, Boogaloos now offers solamente Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce on the tables. I went with some of my own Punch Drunk™ Chocolate Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce (¡Gracias, Seanalito!) on top of one of the eggs that was peaking up from under the pile.


Glen Bacoon Scale Rating:
Soyrizo Hash & Eggs ~ 7.0;
Chocolate Caliente Mexicano ~ 6.8

café bean

♪
"Sunny, sunny morn...
Paint your omelette green and gold 
(and red bell peppers)... "
♫ 

(No official-type web-site thing.)


Place: café bean

Location: 800 Sutter Street (on the corner of Jones Street); phonicular contact: (415) 928-0888

Hours: at this point, I really have no idea; at least they were open after 8:30am or so when I arrived this morning, which was good enough for me

Meal: Van Gogh Omelette ~ bell pepper, onion, avocado, and cream cheese, served with whole wheat toast; and, to drink, a medium (16 oz) cuppa de Huiskoffie ~ Chester's[1] Dark French[2]

(I know you must be a-wonderin' just what exactly is the juxtaselection with today's EweToobular video/song. Well, I will bet that you were not aware that Donald McLean III is a big fan of cream cheese and avocado in his omelettes, too.)


Eindelijk, ik ging terug naar café bean (see last 'blog-entry from Zaterdag 21 november, 2015) after many failed attempts over the past several months. Possibly their current opening time is 8:00am. The times are not listed/posted anywhere, but their "OPEN" sign on the door had a little clock-thing that was set to 8:00 (whether that meant ante or post the meridiem, I have no idea). However, just in case ("fool me five or six times... "), I did have a back-up plan planned, Stan: I would have just walked the two blocks over to 
Honey Honey ~ Cafe & Crepery instead (see last 'blog-entry from Saturday, November 21st, 2015).

Chester (who I am pretty sure is the owner/manager-guy) works the till and makes any Coffee-drinks that are ordered. Mrs. Chester (who I am pretty sure is de echte baas) does all the cooking/food preparing in the back kitchen-space. I am not exactly sure what their kitchen set-up is like, but for a neighborhoody corner coffeehouse joint, they do a pretty good job with their breakfastary dishes. 

Even if I only get over there every two to three (or more) years, there are still some other ideas that I would like to try (that is, if they happen to be open again when I do stop by):

De Vries Omelette ~ egg white, tofu, bell pepper, onion, and tomato;

Michelangelo Omelette ~ egg omelette with tomato, pesto, cheese, spinach (I was not aware that Mamma Buonarroti's little bambino was actually from Olanda... );

Daniel's Omelette ~ onion, mushroom, spinach, artichoke, olive tapenade (now this "Daniel" guy may or may not be Dutch himself); 

or

Hot "Veggie" (How do you say "uggh!" in Dutch?) Breakfast Burrito ~ onion, bell pepper, chilies, tomato, cheese, spinach.

Plus, their Cinnamon Apple Dutch Pancake (which I had on my initial visit there) is always worth reordering. 

(When ordering this particular omelette, be sure to speak loudly and clearly into Chester's left ear... )


This omelette was made with three different coloured bell peppers: red, green, and gold (which, coincidentally enough, are the colours of the Dutch National flag). Now, I am not normally a fan of cream cheese in an omelette, but with the addition of the avocado, this actually worked for me this morning (I am not so sure what ol' Vinnie the V would know about avocados, though).

I did not bother to ask Chester what they might have had to offer in the way of any hot sauce condimentary supplementation. As per the norm, Mr. Peterson, I had come prepared with a few of my own bottles of hot sauce, anyway. I used some Chili in Hawai'i Habanero Garlic Hot Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on top of the omelette (just about ten drops or so only).

Overall pluses: they offer a good, robust Coffee; and it is a very friendly little joint
Underall minuses: unfortunately, they do not offer any potato side-dishes (probably due to their limited kitchen restrictions); and not knowing exactly when/if they will be open in the mornings


the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

Now this was a very strange sighting. On my way home, while waiting at the bus stop on the corner of Arguello Avenue and Geary Boulevard, I first heard ('cause that is how these flying chatterboxes are usually spotted), then looked up and saw a pretty large pandemonium (easily thirty or more of the colourful feather-brains) flying overhead heading southwest towards Golden Gate Park. You do not normally see them this far westward (ho!) in the city. I really had to wonder just where the h*ck were they heading to? (And, yes, I am well aware that grammatically the sentence should read: "... where the H*ll were they heading to, *sshole?")


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Van Gogh Omelette ~ 6.5;
Chester's Donker Nederlands ~ 7.0;
the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5

___________________

1. I can only assume that the owner/counter-guy's name is "Chester". Several other regular-customer-type persons greeted him by that name when they came in (either that, or he was just too polite to correct de domme Amerikanen). 

2. I did make sure to ask Chester why this was not called "Donker Nederlands". However, he did not have a good answer for that zinloze vraag.

Home Plate

https://www.homeplatesf.net/


Place: Home Plate

Location: 2150 Lombard Street 
(between Fillmore and Steiner Streets)

Hours: open at 7:00am every d*mn day of the week

Meal: Dulce de Leche Pancakes ~ banana, caramel, sliced almond and whipped cream; a side-starter of Brussel[ sic ][1] Sprouts ~ fried Brussel[ sic ] sprouts, orange, grapefruit, honey citrus vinaigrette; as always, the meal starts out with a complimentary mini-scone (usually of the raisined variety) and some of their Home(Plate)-made jam (today's edition was strawberry); and, to drink, a large glassa fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice

(Yeah, I really have no idea what they are saying in this song. I am pretty sure that it has something to do with either Brussel[ sic ] sprouts or bananas.)


I generally like to start out any new 
Ⓑⓐⓢⓔⓑⓐⓛⓛ Season (Go RED SOX!!!) with a return visit to Home Plate (see last 'blog-entry from Sunday, May 6th, 2018). I have been going to this great little (well, it has expanded in size by at least twofold from their former location just a few blocks down along Lombard Street) family-owned restaurant for over twenty years now. The food is always interesting and very tasty. If it were not located "all the way over" in the Marina, it would easily be in my Breakfastary Starting Rotation and I would go there more than just once or twice a year. 

Plus, I like a place that opens up much earlier than anything else in the neighborhood. Because of this, they get a lot of the early tourista crowds from the surrounding motels along Lombard Street. I arrived there a little before 8:00am and they were already about three-quarters full (I do not know what a pessimist would say about that). The couple at the next table told me they were from Atlanta and staying at a motel across the street. ("But, Brian, why are you bothering complete strangers when they are just trying to enjoy their breakfastary repast?!" Well, first off, they started a conversation with me when they saw me taking a photo of my pancakes. The wife thought it looked good enough to share, too, and took a photo of my Plate [Oh, wow! I just got that whole "Home Plate" thing now... it is a reference to both Ⓑⓐⓢⓔⓑⓐⓛⓛ and where "Plate" could double as a meaning for a food serving dish. That is clever.] to show her daughter back home. Secondly, why would I start a conversation with any incomplete strangers?)

Even after many trips there over the years, there are still a few (new?) menu items that I would like to try:

Eggs Florentine ~ two poached eggs, spinach, broccolini; served on English muffin, Hollandaise sauce, with salad and potato medley or potato latkes (spinach and broccolini?! this will probably have to be my order the next time that I go there);

Special Crispy French Toast (where they even have the "Special" in red lettering to distinguish it as such) ~ fresh mixed berries, nuts with Mascarpone mousse (this one also sounds intriguing for the next time that I want a sweet dish);

or maybe even

Huevos Ranchero[ sic (I really do not know what they have against all these missing "s"s) ] ~ two eggs over easy, black beans, avocado, tomatillo sauce, salsa, Jack cheese on a handmade corn tortilla.

This is not to mention Greek Frittata ~ spinach, tomatoes, Calamata[ sic (however, because they do use authentic Kalamata olives in this one, I will let that mispelink slide) ] olives, Feta cheese; which I have had on several previous visits and really liked and would never be averse to reordering.

Fear not, those of you that do partake of the dead, decaying aquatic insects, they also offer a few dishes with shrimps[ sic ] in them (Hmmm?! Now I think that I know where all the mising "s"s from Brussel[ sic ] sprouts and Huevos Ranchero[ sic ] went.):

Special Bangkok Frittata ~ shrimps[ sic], tomato, mushrooms, scallion, herbs; three-egg pancake-style omelettes served with potato medley or potato latkes, sourdough toast;

or the more intriguing-sounding

Angry Benedict ~ shrimps[ sic ], spinach, jalapeño, Cajun Hollandaise sauce (I even ordered this dish sans any shrimps[ sic ] two visits previous to check out this version of Hollandaise sauce).

Sadly, they no longer offer the Marco Polo Benedict ~ two poached eggs, turkey, tomatoes, avocado, served on English muffin, Hollandaise sauce with salad and potato medley or potato latkes. I was thinking of getting that one this morning if it were still available. Maybe too many people (wiseacre-types for sure) commented on it being neither Italiano- or Asian-related (see, turkey, tomatoes, and avocados are all New World items and would not have been available anywhere in either Europe or Asia in the 13th Century).

These might not prove to be the Best Pancakes that I might have in 2019, but they were definitely the Best Pancakes that I have had thus far in 2019! (insert drooling-emoji here) I suppose this dish could also easily have been called "Bananas Foster Pancakes" (Sorry, Gretchen! [For some reason, I think she really hates caramel.]). There was at least one whole banana sliced and fanned out on top of the pancakes. While the banana itself was not actually flambéd or brûléed, it is the idea that counts, Chef Blangé. (Maybe I shoulda asked for a shot of Rum on the side.) This came as two medium-sized pancakes, but do not let that wording fool you; these were extra thick and fluffy and two were about my limit this morning, anyway.

I would normally get a potato-based side dish (they offer hashbrowns, homefries, and sweet potato tots), but I saw the fried Brussel[ sic ] sprouts dish on the breakfast menu and had to get it. "But, Brian... Brussel[ sic ] sprouts for breakfast?!" Jazeker! Zur Hölle, ja! Enfer, ouais! (Take your pick from any of the languages that they may speak in the town of Brussel
[ sic ], Belgiums.) Besides, there were sections of orange and grapefruit throughout, and that spells "breakfat" (with or without any d*rn "s") to me. As it turned out, the Brussel[ sic ] sprouts starter was the perfect way to go; this made the meal savoury-sweet in its entirety. The Brussel[ sic ] sprouts were excellent and extra crispy (read: burnt just how I likes 'em).

Home Plate offered both Tabasco® Brand 
Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula® Hot Sauce (Original) for use as condimentary supplements. I had come prepared with a few of my own hot sauces, too, but due to the meal ordered this morning, none were needed or used, anyway.

Now if they had only drizzled some of that caramel sauce on top of my Brussel[ sic ] sprouts, I bet that would have made them even more awesome.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Dulce de Leche Pancakes ~ 7.0;
Brussel[ sic ] Sprouts ~ 7.3

___________________

1. "Hey, Brian, why do you always feel the Grammar Nazi need to point out when a restaurant mispels 'Brussels sprouts'?"

First off, I prefer the more PC-term: "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei Grammatician". 

Secondly, I am sure that their computers also have a "spell-checkering" function-thing that would inform them of any missing "s"s before they print their menus.

Thirdly, you must be one of them d*mn linguistic prescription-hating Jews!

(Actually, I am getting pretty [ sic ] and tired of all these places manglising owr hilee vonted 'merican langwidge!)