Another Broken Egg offers superb breakfast, brunch fare

• By LISA TRAMONTANA
• Restaurant reviewer
• Published: Jun 12, 2009

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When one imagines the menu at a breakfast restaurant, the choices seem pretty limited. But we were pleasantly surprised by the breakfast, brunch and lunch dishes available at Another Broken Egg Café. It has a rustic, cozy feel with high ceilings, lots of natural light, antique furniture and cheerful décor. The service is friendly and the menu promises the best farm-fresh ingredients available.
Our first visit was on a weekday and we were immediately drawn to the wide selection of omelets.

From more than a dozen omelets with names like Italiano, chicken Florentine and Mardi Gras, we selected “The Works.” This omelet ($11.99) features sausage, onions, mushrooms and bacon, and is topped with melted Jack and cheddar cheese. It’s listed on the menu as a favorite and it’s easy to see (or taste) why.

The ingredients are traditional and they combine to create a great, home-cooked flavor. The dish was served with country potatoes, an English muffin and orange slice.

One guest wanted to keep it simple and ordered two side dishes as a meal.

The grits (99 cents) were a strong reminder that those instant grits in the grocery store don’t even resemble the real thing. The grits at Another Broken Egg are creamy, well-seasoned and delicious. We also agreed that the side order of bacon ($2.99 for two extremely thick slices) was the best bacon we’ve ever tasted. Thick. Crisp. Baked, perhaps? We were just surprised that bacon could make such an impression.

Hot fresh-ground coffee and cold orange juice were offered frequently during our meal.

Our second visit was on a Sunday about noon, and the restaurant was packed with diners, both indoors and outside at several patio tables.

We sampled two brunch items and the pancakes we had heard so much about.

The gourmet pancakes can be ordered as one large (make that “giant” pancake) or a stack of three ($8.99). We selected the stack, which was served with whipped butter and syrup. The pancakes were light and fluffy, and come in a number of flavors, including blueberry, strawberry, apple cinnamon, banana and other flavors. For an extra $3.99, diners can call it a combo by ordering eggs and bacon or sausage to go with it.

The crab and shrimp pasta ($13.99) was very good. The penne pasta was tender and covered with a creamy, well-seasoned Alfredo sauce.

The dish was topped with two lightly battered and fried crab cakes that were flaky and tender.

The grits and grillades ($14.29) were a disappointment. The grits were fine, but we didn’t care for the bland onion and tomato gravy that topped them. The grillades  were tough. Cutting them wasn’t easy and chewing was just as difficult. The waitress insisted on replacing the dish with another cutlet, but it was just as tough as the first.

Later, we saw on the menu an item called lunchtime soup connection — soup of the day with a sandwich (ham, turkey, BLT or chicken salad). We’re guessing that would have been a better choice, and we will try it on our next visit.