Julienne | Eggs & Creme Brûlée French Toast in San Marino

December 26, 2015December 26, 2015Leave a comment

Feeling a little fancy, I decided to dress up and venture out to Julienne’s in San Marino to enjoy a nice breakfast with fancy toast. The weather was just a bit crisp but sunny. We opted to sit outdoors since the overhead heaters made for a comfortable environment. This was my first time trying the restaurant, but I had heard great reviews about it.

Julienne’s is well known for their breakfast. Their signature dish is a creme brûlée French toast served with fresh strawberry sauce and creme anglais. Of course, this was the first item I had to try!

Baked Crème Brulee French Toast with Fresh Strawberry Sauce and Crème Anglais

This dish is so decadent and sweet! I would recommend sharing it so that you don’t end up in a sugar coma.

The ambiance of the restaurant is intimate and quaint. The restaurant consists of a dining patio and three adjacent store fronts, one of which serves as a gourmet market and gift shop. During this particular visit, holiday music played in the background and the restaurant was decorated with twinkle lights and garland.

Raisin Rosemary Toast with Butter and Jam

Complimentary Rosemary Raisin Toast with Butter and Jam

After looking over all of the egg options, I opted for an omlette. While all the egg dishes sounded delicious, the Green Omlette caught my attention since it was served with avocado.

Green Omlette – Asparagus, Broccoli, Spinach, Scallions, Avocado, Feta and Roasted Pepper Salsa

Everything was fantastic. From the complimentary toast to the ambiance. Julienne’s is a great place to start your morning with your girl friends chatting over a hot cup of coffee. Or a nice date place to take that special someone or even mom and dad.

Breakfast is served Monday – Friday from 7:00 am to 10:45 am, with an intermission menu available from 10:45 am to 11:30 am. Brunch is served all day Saturday and the restaurant is closed on Sunday. Check out their website or Yelp for more information.

Urth Caffe | Breakfast in Southern California

December 6, 2015December 8, 20153 Comments

You can never go wrong with a Southern Californian breakfast. A nice big cup of coffee, fresh eggs, fruit, and bread make for the perfect comfort meal. Urth Caffe is a great place to indulge for breakfast. The cafe offers a great variety of coffee, entrees, and baked goods. Everything is fresh, made-to-order, and simple.

The spinach and feta omelette is my favorite. It is a three egg omelette with sautéed spinach, red onions, and imported feta cheese. The dish is served with a spring salad and a side of bread. A simple combination which compliments the omelettes very well. When it comes to choosing a beverage, the coffee and tea options can be overwhelming. There are hot, cold, and blended, caffeinated and non-caffeinated varieties. Out of all of the delicious coffee options, my favorite has to be the honey vanilla latte. The combination of vanilla and honey makes this choice just the right amount of sweet – no sugar needed.

Currently, the Urth Caffe has four locations throughout Southern California. Each cafe’s architecture is unique. I love the Pasadena locale for it’s laid-back ambiance and Spanish colonial design. All locations offer outdoor seating, which is a must in Southern California, and great for people watching.

Here is a peek of some of the different items from the menu. If you are ever in the area, make sure to check them out!

Enjoy!

Kona Cafe: Breakfast at the Polynesian Village Resort, Disney World, Orlando, Florida

July 7, 2015July 29, 20151 Comment

Kona Cafe is my favorite breakfast place when visiting Walt Disney World. Located across from the Magic Kingdom theme park, it is easily accessible by monorail, boat, or car. Kona Cafe is probably best known for their Tonga Toast, a banana-stuffed sourdough french toast rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with a strawberry compote. Yum! Now that I have your attention let’s talk breakfast. Kona Cafe offers lunch and dinner options, but breakfast is really what they do best. During this visit we ordered a variety of items and shared. The portions are not huge so if you go with a large appetite I would recommend that you order one dish per person to share. The breakfast menu consists of various island flavors. The Liliko’i Juice Is fantastic. It is a subtle and sweet blend of orange, passion fruit, and guava juice. Guava and passion fruit complement each other so well and have the ability to transport you back to Hawaii. The Macadamia-Pineapple Pancakes are served with a delicious macadamia nut butter and pineapple sauce. The Tonga Toast is amazing, but it’s the strawberry compote that really takes it to the next level. It tastes almost like a strawberry smoothie. When you taste it, you’ll want to just drink it up. 😉 Check out this recipe from the official Disney blog if you want to try to make your own: Tonga Toast. Here are some photos from the trip. Enjoy!

Kona Cafe Menu

Lilikoi Juice, $4.49

Condiments: Strawberry Compote, Maple Syrup, Butter, and Ketchup

Egg White Omelet: Roasted Red Peppers and Goat Cheese with a side of Fruit, $10.99

Macadamia-Pineapple Pancakes: Served with Macadamia Nut Butter, Pineapple Sauce, and your choice of Ham, Bacon, or Sausage, $10.49

Tonga Toast: Banana-stuffed Sourdough French Toast rolled in Cinnamon Sugar and served with a Strawberry Compote and your choice of Ham, Bacon, or Sausage, $12.99

Ham and Cheese Omelet: Served with Home-fried Potatoes, $11.49

Pork Sausage

Portion view

Tonga Toast Inside View

Here’s an insider tip: If you don’t have time to have a sit down breakfast or don’t want to spend that much money, checkout Capt. Cook, a casual quick service cafe located downstairs at the Polynesian Resort. While they may not have all of the same breakfast offerings as Kona, they do offer the Tonga Toast at a cheaper price, which is definitely worth a try!

Stacks Pancake House: A little bit of Hawaii in the OC

April 14, 2015August 26, 20151 Comment

I know you can sympathize with me when I tell you how disappointed I was to miss the employee appreciation breakfast my bosses had put together at the office. Not only did I miss an opportunity for free food but apparently I missed a chance to try what was described to me as ‘the most mouth-watering and delicious pancakes’. My coworker could not stop raving about them. Armed with the need to not feel left out, I was determined to try these pancakes for myself! So one random day my coworker and I were craving breakfast for lunch and decided to hunt down the restaurant where our bosses had ordered breakfast from.

Stacks Pancake House

27680 Marguerite Parkway, Suite C
Mission Viejo, CA 92692

Stacks Pancake House has successfully brought Hawaiian influence to the OC. The Mission Viejo location is in a very unassuming location in the middle of a shopping center, but don’t let the outer appearance deter you. The restaurant layout is a casual counter style where you order and pay first then they bring out your food. I was happily surprised to see the Hawaiian influence carried throughout the menu with items such as loco moco, coconut pineapple pancakes, teriyaki, spam, and coconut syrup. They are well-known for their macadamia nut banana pancakes and captain crunch macadamia nut French toast. The only thing that is missing from the menu is Kona Coffee, which I am very surprised that they don’t offer.

The breakfast that we had that day was fantastic. Since I didn’t have a huge appetite, I opted for what I thought would be a small plate, but, as you can see from the photos, clearly was not. I ordered the eggs florentine and my coworker ordered the eggcellent breakfast, both which came with pancakes. As I’m writing this I’m still savoring their pancakes (light, fluffy, and slightly crispy) and utterly regretting that I didn’t opt to try the macadamia nut banana pancakes. Oh well, at least I have a reason to go back.