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Archive for the tag “French Toast”

29 Nov 2018

Panclog #41: Cracker Barrel

Cracking wise about the Barrel

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G’Day mateys! Panclog is back and better than ever. We took a bit of a break.  But have no fear, for I am here to declare there will be THREE new panclogs before the year is up.  I am very excited you to enjoy them all. Today’s clog is brought to you by the roadtrip wonder, Cracker Barrel.

Location/Environment: There are 5 Cracker Barrels in the Kansas City area. The Panclog Pals went to the closest one to both of us.  This happened to be the Strang Line location in Olathe.  It is located near a large movie theatre and in the same parking lot of Heartland Church.  The first impression you receive is of a butt-load of rocking chairs on the front porch.  The second impression is of a general store that you walk into from the front door.  There are old timey items and as-seen-on-TV items.  Pretty eclectic. The dining room is very wooden cabin chic.


Service: Service at Cracker Barrel was a breeze.  Granted the panclog pals arrived shortly after 7 AM.  The place was in old timey fashion, a ghost town.  Coffees stayed filled and plates were cleared when the mission was accomplished.

Menu/Selection: Cracker Barrel has a juggernaut of a menu.  Just check out how many different sections they have on their online menu. They have everything that you expect from a down home restaurant.  It plays out like more of a southern family restaurant than a greasy diner.  The breakfast menu is loaded with various options and choices. Like a lot of breakfast places though it seems to reconfigure the same set of 5 options in different ways to come up with differing menu items. Using the same 5 individual items, choosing 2 or 3 per plate, and you end up with two pages of breakfast choices. In my opinion, this is exactly what Cracker Barrel did with a just couple of “specials” here and there. I cannot say that there is anything wrong with this, but it does lack creativity. Something that needs to be pointed out is Cracker Barrel’s incessant need to brand their menu items. i.e. Momma’s French Toast, Grandpa’s Country Fried Breakfast, and Uncle Hershel’s Favorite. The menu does feature a beautiful phrase.  Check it out!
love

Momma’s Pancake Breakfast (Brent)

The Breakfast Buddies finally made it over to a restaurant seen all across America’s highways, the Cracker Barrel. I was actually not aware that Cracker Barrel served breakfast until a few years ago when your Pancloggers decided to add the restaurant to the list of sites to clog. Up till that time I assumed that the Barrel was a lunch and dinner place only. Makes sense that the Barrel would serve breakfast given that it markets itself as classic downhome cooking.

It is the rare circumstance where I frequent the Cracker Barrel outside of a road trip. I cannot say for sure why, but the restaurant always seems to taste better after 5 or 6 hours of driving. On the rare occasion that I or my family have gone to Cracker Barrel after church for instance, I seem to have walked away slightly disappointed. The restaurant is an oasis at the midpoint of a long drive and that fact cannot be undersold.

Walking into a Cracker Barrel is a somewhat unique experience. The first thing you are confronted with is a “front porch” loaded with rocking chairs available for sale. We sat in a few of them while there and all I can say is that they are fine. Given their price I would hope that they were more comfortable. But, who buys a rocking chair on a road trip?

Immediately passing through the entry doors you are confronted with an old-timey “general store”. At least that is the goal of their marketing department: to give the patron the perception of a general store. You will find the shop loaded with various kitschy items that will make you laugh, feel warmth and comfort, and seem perfectly reasonable while you are in there. My only advice is this, don’t buy anything. You do not actually want any of this stuff. Unless of course it is a pile of candy, snacks, and puzzle books for the remainder of your road trip.

Cracker Barrel seated us immediately once we arrived at the hostess station. Upon looking at the menu I was struck with a couple thoughts, first it is big. Second, it is rustic looking, implanting the idea that this is a downhome establishment. The downside to this is the contrast between the content of the menu versus the background is not great. So I wonder if a color blind individual can easily read the menu.

I elected “Momma’s pancake breakfast” which included the combination of pancakes, choice of meat (bacon in my case), and eggs.

Bmer

Jared reminded me that I made the promise to try eggs cooked different than scrambled. So I elected for over hard. My impression is that eggs cooked over hard taste eggier than scrambled eggs. Not a bad thing of course, just something that surprised me a bit.

The bacon was quite tasty and cooked exactly like I like it. I am a fan of bacon that is crispy but still retains a little bit of give in the bite rather than the crumbly snap of overcooked bacon. Granted I will take the crumbly snap over bacon that is undercooked and floppy. Cracker Barrel did quite nicely in the bacon’s preparation.

The main item of “Momma’s Pancake Breakfast” is of course the pancakes themselves. My plate came with three cakes and one small, pat of butter that was just enough for one individual cake. I am not sure why restaurants are stingy with butter, but they I would rather they place a large amount on the side. Seeing one small, barely melting pat, sitting in the center of the top pancake bums me out a little.

By default the cakes were served with maple syrup on the side. In a nice twist, Cracker Barrel serves their maple syrup in small, airline sized, sealed bottles. This allowed me to avoid soiling my pancakes with maple syrup. I did have to ask for various jellies on the side. Speaking of jellies, Cracker Barrel only offered two options, Concord grape, and Strawberry. As everyone knows Concord grape jelly is a vile substance. I opted for the Strawberry jelly to spread on my cakes.

Cracker Barrel’s pancakes have a nice crunch on the edges which I am a fan. This crispness on the edge added a nice twist to most other breakfast places that I enjoyed a lot.

Momma’s French Toast Breakfast (Jared)

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First things first. YES I do have 2 of those mini syrups in my glove box.

Did you know that Golden Corral and Cracker Barrel are NOT the same restaurant?  I don’t know why but my mind always puts them in the same box.

I’m not saying anything negative about either, just saying my mind is a sick place that equates chocolate fountains to rocking chair city.

The past few months of breakfast buddy life has been extra full of morning joy.  I have been able to pick up my boy, Brent, dine with him, and take him to work after.  These extra moments have given me not only reason to keep my car tidy, but also a few more conversations about fantasy sports and music trivia.  I can not recommend enough the joys of driving around with friends.

Cracker Barrel is known for being the roadtrip restaurant.  They have 658 locations in 45 states.  This leads me to sharing my favorite Cracker Barrel fact.  They are known for their extensive audiobook selection.  The cool part of this audiobook selection is that you can rent these books by the week for $3.49 and return them to any Cracker Barrel.  How freaking cool is that. Another fun Cracker Barrel fact is that they have put out some albums exclusively. They are not just in food game.

Shall we chat about my dining experience? We shall.  I had Momma’s French Toast Breakfast.  It came with 2 eggs and 2 pieces of meat.  I chose sausage patties.  I used to be a sausage link guy,  but i switched teams for a few reasons I have received undercooked links at breakfast before and they are gross! I also believe that you can get seasoning throughout in patty-form. Yes patties are much more likely to be dry, but a patty done well is worth that chance. The sausage on this visit had a slight funk to them.  Not a gross taste.  I believe it was a spice mixture issue.  I should probably go back and give them another shot.

I need to point out something.

syrup

This syrup is 100% syrup.  But sadly is not 100% Maple syrup.  Once you have had the amazing complexities of pure maple syrup, you shake your head gently at anything beneath it.

My French Toast was standard.  Not too egg-y. Not too bread-y. It was right down the middle.  I will say it was on the griddle for the perfect amount of time.  It wasn’t crispy nor overly moist.  Cracker Barrel seems to have a few signature latte drinks on their menu.  My mother has been craving them since she heard about them.  I now know where she and I will be having a meal next time we hang out.

Cracker Barrel serves breakfast all day. Please call your senator, representative and local government officials and ask them all to make it law that breakfast be an all day affair.

I am thankful for everyone who took time to read this.  This is your gift.

Overall: Cracker Barrel is a beautiful roadtrip oasis.  Outside of travel, the restaurant struggles to hold the same appeal.

Grade:
Brent: Don’t take the negatives too seriously though, Cracker Barrel’s breakfast is fine. I wouldn’t put the Barrel in the regular rotation but I would not refuse someone who suggests it. Cracker Barrel earns a C-.
Jared: C- is the perfect rating for CB.

Send recommendations and feedback to the Panclog’s Twitter.

You can also follow Jared and Brent.

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Posted by stephentshaffer in Reviews and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
26 Jul 2018
1 Comment

Panclog #40: Original Cafe

Orating about Original Cafe
June 21st, 2018

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Lovely Lads and Lasses of the interwebz, Panclog is back with a special guest writer,Colby Leseberg! Original Café is owned by the founder of former panclog topic Jerry’s Café. Original Café rose like a phoenix from the ashes of FreeBirds Burritos.  Is it everything that a phoenix should be? Find out now on this episode of Buddies in Bruncheries getting Breakfast!

Location/Environment: Original Café is located in a strip mall at 119th street and Metcalf in Overland Park, KS.  It is next to a Budget Car Rental and a small tailor.  These 2 businesses take up a good amount of parking in front of Original Café.  There is a large parking lot to the north of the strip mall.  So don’t worry.  The décor of Original Café is what you’d call Freebirds chic. It looks like Original Café wanted to open as soon as possible.  We will see what they do with the space in upcoming visits. But panclog focuses on more than just décor.  Like..


Service: Original Café runs with small service crew.  This can help by creating a connection between regular guests and the usual employees.  It can also be a hindrance if there is a rush or a complicated table.  (No, the Breakfast Buddies table is never needy.  We eat what we get and drink all the coffee.) The service was extremely lovely during this visit because the Sova Babies were in attendance. Did you know that servers tend to love talking to cute little babies?

Menu/Selection: The menu for Original Café is almost the exact menu of Jerry’s Café.  Here is the menu.  A nice feature is that you can order your food online and then pick it up when it is ready.  They have some nice variety in breakfast plates.  They also have catfish fry nights and frog leg days.  So that is cool if that is your thing.

Chicken Fried Steak & Eggs (Jared)

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Chicken Fried Steak! It. is. not. chicken!

Original Café is housed in the corpse of Freebirds.  I use the word corpse because Freebirds is absolutely still apart of this building.  I was a fan of freebirds.  When they first started arriving in Kansas City, I camped out at the Lee’s Summit location for their grand opening. I was one of the first 25 in the door and I received free burritos for a year.  Easy to say that I became a frequent visitor of Freebirds.  Although all of the Kansas City locations are now closed, I still have 10 free burritos that are not in my stomach.

This visit to Original Café featured the first Breakfast Buddies that included my twins.  Brent was ecstatic to hold a 7-month old while trying to eat some delicious food.  They were amazing.  I want you all to know that if you want special attention from your server, have a cute baby at your table. Better yet, have two.

Back to the meal, I took the dive and had the least breakfast food that is on the breakfast menu.  The only breakfast thing about this dish is the eggs. and the gravy. and the hash browns. and the fact that I had it for breakfast.  I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t be breakfast shaming.  Breakfast is for all foods.  Breakfast is welcoming.  Breakfast is for everyone.

Chicken Fried Steak is a move. It is something that should not be messed around with by amateurs.  The steak must be tenderized to perfection. Then breaded and fried to perfection.  if perfection is not achieved, you get mush or worse, cardboard.  I may be exaggerating a small amount.  This chicken fried steak was grand.  It was seasoned with a heavy hand.  I enjoy a tasty piece of meat.  The downfall of the plate was the hash browns.  It may be my least favorite preparation of potato.  Over easy eggs provide some yolk-y goodness to help break down the crispiness of the hash browns. The meal also came with your choice of bread.  I chose biscuit, but it was pretty unnecessary due to the large size of the plate.

It is a joy to see how loyal people are to Jerry Naster. He opened Jerry’s Café. Sold it. Retired. Unretired to keep making breakfast for the hungry humans.

Coffee: $2.29
Chicken Fried Steak: $9.99

While deciding if you want to come have breakfast with me. Check out “Short Court Style” by Natalie Prass. It is a total banger.

Stuffed French Toast (Brenter)

There are few things in this world better than breakfast buddies. Eating the most important meal of the day with your intrepid cloggers is a truly transcendent experience. You will find it uplifting, encouraging and enabling of all your best qualities. It is in your own personal best interest to join us on these days.

On this occasion we were accompanied by a couple of additional friends. The first is a super accountant, real estate agent, and man who recommends buying Century Link stock because of the relatively high dividend payout they make. I recommended to him to buy Microsoft when it was around $50 a share. Microsoft is currently trading double that so it is pretty clear that I am better at picking stocks.

Our other breakfast buddy can make anything and everything out of wood. Not satisfied with that ability he has gone back to school to for finance. Should the economy ever get destroyed, the extended breakfast buddies community is more than prepared to handle it.

But what made the event that much sweeter is that we were joined by a couple of 7 month old, fraternal twins. Nothing makes an event better than playing with little ones. I had the joyous opportunity to hold and make faces at both of these happy children.

Conversation on this morning focused on new jobs, uncertain but exciting futures, and the potential for great, new experiences. I admire young people who are willing to make risky modifications to their lives for the potential of a greater future, and I admire every young man who sat at this table, because each one of them is doing it.

I actually got so lost in all the company that I forgot that I was supposed to panclog the establishment. And while I would prefer to regale you with tales of our friendship and conversation, we are here for the purposes of the clog. Specifically the Original Café in Overland Park, KS.

The Original Café took over a defunct Freebirds Burrito location a few months ago.  I must admit that this makes me happy, I am not a fan of Freebirds. I am more of a Chipotle man, even though I grow more bored of Chipotle week after week. You can tell that Freebirds was once in this location because the Original Café hasn’t taken down all of their decorations yet. This surprises me for some reason. I would assume any restaurant would want full control of their brand, but it seems that the Original Café is cool with it.

This is our third attempt at eating the Original Café and our second successful excursion to this establishment. It seems that the Original Café is closed on Mondays, which is an easy thing to forget (which foiled us on our second visit).

For the intrepid souls out there the restaurant does offer Frog Legs on certain days of the week. I have had frog legs once and I cannot say that I am a huge fan of the delicacy. That being said, I know of only one other eatery that offers leg of the frog on their menu and that is the elder sister restaurant of the Original Café.

The Original Café seems like your standard run of the mill kind of diner, and, quite frankly it is. The menu covers your standard breakfast and lunch type items with a home cooked flourish here or there. My guess is that the “Liver & Onions” menu item is just there for show. I am curious to know how many folks actually order it. I will give anyone $100 who can convince my spouse, the most wonderful woman in the world, to eat an entire plate of liver and onions.

As noted in the prior paragraph the breakfast menu covers your standard fare and so I elected sausage, eggs, hash browns, and toast. I like how restaurants try to make you feel good about your order by naming it something like “The Classic” in the menu. Yes, I do read Chaucer, Dante, and Shakespeare and I like to eat the plainest breakfast possible.

Before I get to my actual breakfast I do have to mention one of our truest of friends ordered a giant cinnamon roll for the table. The kindness of friends warms my heart, especially those that share sweet breakfast treats with me. The cinnamon roll is big – it is slightly smaller than a dinner plate. Its flavor is quite good, but not earth shattering. You can taste a little bit of doughy-ness in the cooked roll. However, the butter cinnamon mixture in the roll is well balanced, and the icing is made just right. I do not expect I would ever order one for myself, unless I was on some major downward spiral, but it is definitely worthy of splitting with a group of friends.

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Back to my breakfast. The Classic comes with two jumbo eggs cooked to order. I, big surprise, chose scrambled. The two eggs provided a large amount eggs on the plate. The eggs are light, fluffy, but not well seasoned. You will need to grab some salt and pepper to fully dress them out. The eggs are good, but not worthy of note. My favorite scrambled eggs still belong to Eggtc.

Speaking of eggs, I need to start branching out in how my eggs are cooked. I think the next step should be over hard. At the next breakfast buddies event, I hope my cohort remind me to try them cooked differently.

My particular order also included a couple of sausage patties. These particular patties came out as a couple of hockey pucks if you will. That may seem harsh, but I don’t think of it as a negative per se, it is just that the sausage was good and flavorful, but could have been much more flavorful.

A classic breakfast wouldn’t be complete without some carbs of course. At the Original Café, this includes a potato option and some toast. I love toast, with a small amount of real butter. While a jam or jelly option is nice, it is certainly not necessary.

I elected for hash browns in regard to the potato option. The Original Café does a terrific job getting both sides of a set of hash browns crispy, but the internal was not consistently soft throughout. This gave the impression of some potato bits not being completely cooked. When it comes to the preparation of hash browns it seems that most folks lean towards the idea of creating a potato pancake of sorts. Basically leaving a set of grated potatoes sitting on a griddle until one side browns then flipping the mess over to brown on the other side. I am more of a fan of consistently stirring the shredded potatoes throughout the cooking process so that each small piece gets evenly cooked with the rest and also includes some crispy browning. The Original Café goes for the potato pancake method, when they could reach for the stars with consistent movement and browning.

I like The Original Café. Their staff is super fun and friendly and I hope it lands in the regular breakfast rotation. Plus, on a random Tuesday, I would like to go toe to toe with someone over a cinnamon roll.

Special Guest Writer Colby!
French Toast, Bacon, Giant Cinnamon Roll (Split)

”Am I really just a narcissist/’Cause I wake up to a bowl of lobster bisque?” – Rick Ross

I feel it fitting to begin a review of a breakfast establishment with a rap lyric regarding breakfast.  Here we see Mr. Ross displaying a view of the most important meal of the day which diverges completely from my understanding of the same.  While a fan of lobster bisque, I find it best served at lunch or dinner and as an accompaniment to another form of protein, such as filet mignon.  I promise that will be the only such digression of this Panclog.

When I met the ‘Clog Crew (some of the most wholesome folks I have the privilege of knowing) at Jerry’s Original Café for breakfast it marked my first experience at the restaurant.  The ambience and décor call to mind the word “simple”, presenting Jerry’s immediately as a relaxed diner-style atmosphere.  You determine pretty quickly that this isn’t the place for your lobster eggs benedict.  It is, however, a place for a sensible morning meal.

From the outset our server was welcoming and diligent.  Our coffees stayed full and we were regularly checked upon.  The meal started with Jerry’s Giant Cinnamon Roll shared between the four ‘Cloggers.  It was giant indeed, enough that each of us could enjoy a good-sized chunk; eating the full cinnamon roll seemed to require a hero’s effort, and a hungry hero at that.  The amount of cinnamon flavor was just right for me and the icing did not overwhelm with sugar, cream cheese, or any of the other distractions that can make a cinnamon roll’s icing go astray.

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As for the main course, our food was served in a timely fashion.  I ordered the French Toast with a side of bacon.  The French Toast was truly unique in that it was made from challah bread, a favorite treat of mine.  The challah bread lends itself well to French Toast due to its perfect texture and the end product did not disappoint.  The bacon was cooked appropriately and very flavorful without an overwhelmingly salty cure.  I certainly felt full after the meal which is a must when ordering a griddled item with a side of breakfast meat.

 

The food was reasonably priced (about $10 for the French Toast and bacon, plus a couple bucks  for the coffee and $4 for the cinnamon roll – not bad for a tasty meal in southern Johnson County) and did not leave me feeling as though I’d been cheated.  As for ways to improve, it’s my opinion that Jerry’s serves standard diner coffee (not swill, but not particularly flavorful) as well as maple syrup that was likely ordered in bulk.  I also felt like the sun was annihilating me in the face and there were few lights on in the restaurant to boot – throw a few shades up, flip the switches, and you’re in business.

Overall: Original Café is worth a trip. If they change the décor, they could become a brunch destination in south Overland park.

Grade:
Brent: A-
Jared: B
Colby: B+

Send recommendations and feedback to the Panclog’s Twitter.

You can also follow Jared and Brent.

Posted by stephentshaffer in Reviews and tagged , , , , , , ,
11 Jun 2018

Panclog #39: Ronnie’s Restaurant

 Writing with Rhythm about Ronnie’s
5/8/18 7:00 AM
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Panclog Pals! Have you missed us?  Well, miss us no longer.  If you read the title above you will see that this we review Ronnie’s Restaurant.  I hope you are all thinking, “Oh wow! I’ve been waiting for this Panclog since Ronnie’s opened!”  Ronnie’s and it’s sister (literal) restaurant Kate’s Kitchen are both ran by the parents of the Ronnie and Kate.  Ronnie’s Restaurant is located in Lenexa at 12812 W. 87th Street Pkwy, Lenexa, KS 66215.  Ronnie’s opened in November of 2016. Check out their website to learn more of their story.

Location/Environment: Ronnie’s Restaurant is located within 3 minutes of I-35. This helps you get to a local bruncherie quicker, therefore the food will be in your mouth quicker! The environment is baseball themed.  There are many Norman Rockwell prints on the wall. Here is one of the more prominent pieces:Norm

You will also find a giant picture of the victory parade that celebrated the World Series Champion Kansas City Royals, the greatest baseball team that has ever existed. Actually, Brent says they are tied with the Cincinnati Reds as the greatest baseball team ever.

The downside to the atmosphere that Ronnie’s is trying to present is that all these wonderful pictures get washed out by a bland set of wall paint. Many of the pictures lack a frame to provide contrast with the off white walls. If Ronnie’s could somehow up the contrast, the art and pictures on the walls would really pop and add texture to the environment. The atmosphere is pleasant, but not striking.


Service: The staff at Ronnie’s is amazing. They do a wonderful job at making you feel a part of the family. Family comes across as one of the more important aspects of Ronnie’s Diner. COFFEE ON THE TABLE FOR THE WIN!

Wait for food: 8 minutes.

Menu/Selection: Simply reading through the menu drives that feeling home. Ronnie’s menu has several selections named for various family members, and, if you look at the back page, you will find a bit of history about Ronnie and his sister Kate. Actually Kate has her own place in Gladstone named Kate’s Kitchen. The menu is full of classic brunch items. They have varieties of all your favorite staples, be that benedicts, omelettes, or pancakes. Let’s dive into what we ordered:

The King waffle with a side of sausage (Jared)

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Baseball, Breakfast, and Buddies.

Ronnie’s has it all. Well once the buddies show up they do.  No nix that.  The servers at Ronnie’s treat you like a certified buddy.  How do you become certified in buddy-hood?  That is the question that many people have asked and only a few have answered.  The first few steps starts in early childhood.  Young buddies need to be mentored by a nice adult who own very fancy hats.  Then you have to take 15 weird magazine quizzes like this one. After that, just try being cool and maybe your buddy certificate will come in the mail.

Let’s get back to business. I decided to get The King waffle.  This consisted of a beautifully crafted waffle topped with bananas, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and butter.  The King is the perfect amount of overkill to either start your day or to keep your day going.  The peanut butter is more in sauce form than the sticky mess that you will get when you try to create this art at home. Syrup is unnecessary for The King.  Usually syrup is key to begin the breakdown of the stability of the waffle.  But I believe the peanut butter sauce was just enough to tame the waffle monster and make it easy to cut with only a fork.

I asked for sausage as a side to give me a savory/sweet balance during this meal.  The Snausage links were a good pairing.  They were thicker than your average sausage link. If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a thousand times.  Coffee on the table is the X-factor to any great bruncherie.  I am a big fan of the coffee mugs that they use. They are unique to Ronnie’s.

Coffee: $2.15
The King: $6.35
Side of Sausage: $3.15

On to my unnecessary recommendation of what to listen to when thinking of breakfast.  I recently went through a deep dive of HelloGoodbye’s discography.  I want you to listen to (Everything is) Debatable.

Stuffed French Toast (Brenter)

The restaurant offers up a Norman Rockwell’esque type of atmosphere. They actually have several Rockwell prints on the walls.

Just as a brief aside, Norman Rockwell happens to be one of my favorite artists. Much of his work highlights an idealized version of Americana from various paintings featuring baseball, to classic schoolrooms, to children heading off to the fishing-hole. One of my favorites actually adorns the walls of Ronnie’s Restaurant:

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Rockwell also has the ability to convey a powerful image that subverts much of the culture that he lived in:

Normy

On this fair occasion I ordered the Stuffed French Toast. I was hoping for a fun family name for the dish but it was simply named “Stuffed French Toast”. Thinking about this unfortunate naming situation has provided me with a new life goal – to get Ronnie’s and Kate’s restaurants to name the menu item “Strange, short, fat, bald guy, who is overstuffed French Toast”.

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More often than not a stuffed French toast is loaded with sweet ingredients rather and savory. While I am a fan of sweet stuffing, especially a fresh, warm, cinnamon, apple compote, this one comes with a set of savory ingredients. Imagine a pleasant sausage and cheese omelet shoved between two slices of French toast, and you will know exactly what this dish is all about.

Just some quick comments about the stuffed French toast:

1. The sausage could have been a bit more flavorful and abundant. The sausage flavor didn’t detract from the dish, but it had an opportunity to transcend the shell it was encased in.

2. Eggs are eggs. While Eggtc. makes the best scrambled eggs in the KC area, everyone else delivers a consistent level of flavor here. As does Ronnie’s.

3. On this particular visit the cheese seemed to be weighted on one half of the dish. I suspect that this was just an oversight and that a more even distribution is the norm.

4. The stuffed French toast was served with a side of syrup, which I do not quite understand. If a restaurant is making a savory dish, they should up the savory side of the thing rather than offering a weak sweet sauce, like maple syrup.

Overall the stuffed French toast is eminently enjoyable. If you ever go to Ronnie’s establishment ordering this item would not be a mistake. If you order the stuffed French toast as the “Strange, short, fat, bald guy, who is overstuffed French toast” will instantly make you a champion. Costing you only $6.50 plus tax and tip.

So get out there and do it. I am a fan of Ronnie’s and I look forward to eventually making it to Kate’s, the sister restaurant.

Overall: Ronnie’s is a highlight in Kansas City’s bright brunch scene.  Check them out!

Grade:
Brent: 6.7 out of 7.4 forks
Jared: A

Send recommendations and feedback to the Panclog’s Twitter.

You can also follow Jared and Brent.

Posted by stephentshaffer in Reviews and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
09 Mar 2018

Panclog #37: Downtown Diner

 Dining at a Diner in a Downtown
2/26/18 7:00 AM
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Downtown Diner is right down the road from another Panclog spot, Mom’s Kitchen! Downtown Diner is located at 409 E Santa Fe St., Olathe, KS 66061. They are open Sun-Tues 6A-2:30P and all the other days 6A-9P. Downtown Diner does not have a website.

Location/Environment: Downtown Diner is right next to the Olathe courthouse.  Courthouses are almost always surrounded by a certain type of business. That business is bail bondsman.  Downtown Diner shares a parking lot with Shane’s Bail Bonds.  The environment is one of an old Chinese restaurant. The building once belonged to Ping’s Chinese Restaurant. The dining room is divided into 2 sections and a bar with seating area.

Service: Service at the restaurant was interesting although it was rather slow.  Our server spent a good portion of the morning chattering away with family in China over skype. It seems her mother or mother-in-law was facing surgery and she called to help provide some cheer and comfort. We hope everything turned out well for her family. The gregarious server did interact with us in a fun and open way throughout the morning. She even impelled Brent to sign up online at the DMV so that he would not have to wait too long once there.

Menu/Selection: Downtown Diner has a pretty standard diner menu.  They boast a menu with 16 different omelet varieties, 8 egg benedict varieties, and a burger called “Heart Stopper.” The heart stopper is 2 grilled cheese sandwiches as buns, double burger patties, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, and of course bacon.  So i’d say they have a bit of variety, wouldn’t you? Let’s stop talking about what we didn’t get and dive in to what we did:

Banana Caramel French Toast (Jared!)

My panclog pals, I do not know if you know this about me, but I am a big big fan of disc golf. I have been playing regularly for 3ish years now.  I have a good pal at work, Matthew, who invited me to play randomly once and we have been playing at least once a week since. Rain, snow, or shine we get to playing sometime.  Why am I telling you about this lovely hobby of mine? It’s because if it weren’t for disc golf, I would not know about Downtown Diner. We were playing the Lakeside Hills course in Olathe and our coworker at the time, Karla,  said we should grab breakfast after the round.  She questioned if any of us had tried Downtown Diner. None of the group had. She said we have to go. I never object to breakfast. A Peanut Butter & Jelly French toast later and I knew there had to be a panclog review on this fine establishment.

Let’s chat about the toast from France.  I tend to not choose french toast over the other breakfast breads.  I think I would rank the hierarchy of breakfast breads as followed:     1. Pancakes. 2. French Toast. 3. Waffles

I think I shy away from French toast because I find pancakes more filling and I have been scorned by very egg-y toast before.  I must say the french toast in the picture below are quite delicious. I mean, just look at them.

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First I will say that this french toast did not need the bananas nor caramel to be some of the best french toast that I’ve ever had.  This toast does not seem to be cooked on a griddle or flat top. I may be wrong, but I believe they are shallow fried.  I’m sure that’s a thing. The banana and caramel did not enhance the meal above and beyond.  It was simply some nice fluff.  Next time I will not be choosing these add-ons.  I did not need any syrup for the french toast. The caramel and whipped cream added enough moisture to start that critical breaking down of the structure of the french toast.  Bacon is always a great pairing with a sweet breakfast treat. The crispy, peppery flavors of bacon reminds your mouth not to go all-in on the sugary goodness of the french toast.  Sometimes you just have to put your taste buds in their place.

I will absolutely be having a meal at Downtown Diner again.  I sure hope it is busier next visit.  This place deserves business.

I got coffee, bacon, and the caramel banana french toast with tip for $16.79.

I’d like to recommend you listen to Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al.” It is just a beautiful upbeat song.  Plus it is a nice mystery. Why is Paul wanting to be called Al?  If you find out please let me know.

French Toast Platter (Brent)

Stepping into the Downtown Diner in Olathe, KS is quite a striking experience. The initial impression the establishment provides is one of a gritty, old, experienced diner. From the inside out you feel diner’s age as it permeates every aspect of the restaurant. I expected to see a couple truck drivers sitting at the counter swapping stories and lies about the road with a loud cook in the back slinging hash.

Upon closer inspection though, you notice the accouterments of a Chinese restaurant. The tables are stamped with various logograms that I assume are hanzi. The diner also displays other artistic elements of East Asian stylistic origin. This diner forces a fusion of cultures that is absolutely delightful. Common ground can be found between art, décor, and, most importantly, breakfast.

We entered the Downtown Diner to a space devoid of customers. This concerned me a little thinking that there is something that others know that I do not know about this place. Sitting there for a bit, Jared wondered if we would complete the entire breakfast buddies experience without another customer entering the building. We came awfully close to seeing this happen, as we made it all the way through eating our meal before another soul showed up.

The menu options offered are all pretty standard. As we perused the menu our first cup of coffee was delivered. Their coffee was fine. Nothing special. Nothing earth shattering. It simply tasted like a cup of Folgers. This isn’t a bad thing, just not an exciting thing.

I ordered French toast for breakfast, which caused our server to emphatically say, “Our French toast is the best!”

“Bold words,” I thought to myself as I squinted back at her with a steely glare. Bold words indeed.

An order of French toast comes with a few side options: eggs (scrambled of course), choice of meat (I went with sausage), and choice of potato (hash browns). The eggs and sausage were pretty nondescript. I would not go so far as to say flavorless, but the word bland comes strongly to mind.

I had high hopes for the hash browns though. Getting hash browns at a seedy diner is one of my favorite things, because they are usually fried crisp with a hint of onion, and a fair amount of black pepper. These came out slightly crispy but I could not taste much in the way of seasoning. To make matters worse, the hash browns were slightly undercooked and soft in my opinion. I did share them with Jared – I wonder if his opinion differs.

The French toast was excellent. This tasty treat lived up to exactly what our host said it was. Downtown Diner makes amazing French toast. The French toast had a distinct sweetness to it with a hint of cinnamon. The toast actually had a streusel like crust to it. Not an overwhelming amount of streusel but enough to add an interesting texture. Speaking of texture, the toast had a pleasant crunch on the outside and a soft tender center. It is usually necessary to add something sweet to French toast like syrup or a fruit compote, but Downtown Diner’s does not require it. All that is necessary is a little butter and you can experience a quick trip to joy.

Overall: We would be happy to add the Downtown Diner to the regular rotation. The overall experience was interesting and fun. Of course every breakfast buddies is interesting and fun.

Grade:
Brent: B
Jared: B-

Send recommendations and feedback to the Panclog’s Twitter.

You can also follow Jared and Brent.

Posted by stephentshaffer in Reviews and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
24 Mar 2017
1 Comment

Panclog #32: Perkins Restaurant & Bakery

Palin’ Around at Perkins

3/14/2017

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This is the March-iest Panclog since our fantastic and controversial review of John’s Space Age Donuts.  It was pretty epic.  I assure you that this edition is going to be tasteful and elegant.  If you don’t think so, the Panclog Pals recommend you watch a  couple episodes of Masha & The Bear in its original Russian.  This will calm you down and make you happy. Enjoy today’s Panclog review of Perkin’s Restaurant & Bakery.

Perkins Restaurant & Bakery is a chain restaurant that specializes in tasty pies and greasy (in a good way) food.  We went to the Perkins at 87th Street and I-35 in Overland Park, KS.  This location is open 6 AM – 12 AM Sunday through Thursday and open all 24 hours on Friday and Saturday. Check out their website to find a location near you.

Location/Environment: The environment is cultivated, like many other chains, in a style that promotes continuity between locations.  The first thing you see when walking in is a tantalizing baked goods section. This comes into play later. Keep your eyes peeled. The environment is one that is warm with wood – paneling, booths and checkout counter all be-decked in a light stained oak.  The location of this Perkins is perfect for people getting together.  It is right off the highway and has ample parking.

Service: The service at this Perkins is everything you want from a chain restaurant.  Our server not only gave us recommendations, but also kept our coffee full at all times.  Coffee being full is the key to being an awesome server.

Wait time for food: 5 minutes

Menu/Selection: Perkins specializes in American cuisine.  They are known for their baked goods that they hawk at the front counter.  The Peanut Butter Silk pie is something that every  human deserves.  Buy one for your favorite Panclog writer.  The menu offered by the restaurant is quite large with many options, with breakfast getting a couple of dedicated pages. The devotion to breakfast is much appreciated. The breakfast choices are typical, including various styles of pancakes, French toast, eggs, and assorted breakfast meats. Perkins does have a wide assortment of muffins served warm and tasty.  Perkins is in the midst of a push to get late night diners. Check out these specials.

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Check that out! All you can eat pancakes! Half priced pie! Perkins knows what those late night diners want. You can always find something you will want to put in your mouth. Read their extensive menu here.

Food:

Big Country Smasher (Jared)

 

Breakfast is not just for when you wake up.

My mother, the saintly Shari, once told me of the mythical “California Menu.”  This means that whatever is on the menu is available all day.  I believe this is the reason why famous people and fancy technological people (techies) live in California.  If you can get breakfast at any restaurant then you are 83% more likely to live a happy and successful life.*

*I made this statistic up.  But try to disprove it!

This dreamy California menu brings me to restaurants that serve breakfast all day long: IHOP, Denny’s, Steak & Shake and Perkins. Ask me what I want for dinner and I’ll tell you it’s gonna be BRINNER!  Breakfast for dinner is the king of meals. It feels wrong but I assure you it is so right.

Song obsession of this clog: Beacon Hill by Damien Jurado. Enjoy.

I would have to say that Perkins has not done themselves proud in the marketing department, as that I don’t believe they have definitively declared themselves as a breakfast-focused restaurant.  And without this clear focus, many diners may perceive Perkins as a place of ill-repute.  Not all chains are bad. Not all Mom & Pop shops are amazing.  I give you a recommendation to make your life better.  Try all the breakfast places and then decide which ones are bad.  The bad ones you don’t have to go anymore.  But here is an even better recommendations, if you hear about a breakfast spot that you don’t know is good or not. Send it on over to us on twitter. We will give you the sweet hookup on whether or not its worth your time.

Let’s get a good look at my meal that is interestingly named The Big Country Smasher.
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Looks interesting, am I right? Let’s break down what is inside this dish. The crust is smashed up tater tots (I have a hunch that this gives it its name.) These tots are the salty greasy foundation of a well-balanced breakfast.  Next we have not 1, not 2, but 3,  the holy trinity of breakfast meats, ham, sausage, and bacon. Can you go wrong with throwing all of the breakfast meats into a breakfast dish?  That is a rhetorical question. On top of that meat, an egg that is cooked to your liking.  I chose over-easy because I love making a mess.  Then we add the warm comforter that is sausage gravy. Then garnish with some freshly shredded cheddar cheese.  Yep all of that in a bowl.  It is something to take in.  I’ll admit that, though this dish isn’t the prettiest, it hits the spot.

If you didn’t know, Perkins is known for their baked goods. If you go to a restaurant and they say that they are known for something, a good plan is to always try that something. Brent and I tried the blueberry muffin at the behest of our server.  Here is a picture!

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Yep, it was that good.  It was so good that Brent thought about eating the wrapper.  I would say this muffin was more cake-y than other muffins I have had. Some people butter their muffins.  This muffin was so fluffy and flavorful, the butter was unnecessary. Even better about this muffin is that it was a cheaper add-on because I had one of the Perkins specials.

Perkins is a good breakfast spot.  I would not say it is great, but it definitely should be added to everyone’s rotation.  If you don’t have a rotation of breakfast spots, hit me up and we will start getting that morning grub on.

Coffee: $2.29
Big Country Smasher: $9.29
Blueberry Muffin: $0.99


French Toast Breakfast (Brent)

 

A Perkins Panclog makes for a nice alliteration. It is not often when we get to play games with language while celebrating one of the few joys in life, breakfast. I recall mentioning that we were going to Panclog Perkins to my spouse and her response was incredulous, “Really, that place?” I am not sure my darling wife feels that Perkins is Panclog worthy. Sure, it is a national chain, and sure, it is not at the top of our list of restaurants, but we at the Panclog are equal opportunity breakfasters.

Perkins is exactly what you would expect it to be. A restaurant in the same vein as Shoney’s, Bob Evans, and, to some degree, Crackle Barrel. On long road trips, I like to stop at these types of restaurants to stretch my legs and grab a decent meal. Usually these establishments are clean and pleasant with staff who are kind and friendly. The Perkins that Jared proposed we patronize is no different from what you would expect and is inviting and warm. Albeit the restaurant was relatively empty for its size when we arrived at seven in the morning. We have been to this particular Perkins a couple times and it has wanted for customers each time.

muffins

Jared was kind enough to purchase a blueberry muffin as an appetizer for our breakfast and shared it with me. Rather than slice the pastry in half like untrusting acquaintances, we shared it in a fashion that was more akin to Lady and the Tramp. There is nothing awkward about two grown men sharing an unadorned cupcake in this fashion. Get out there with your best buddy and go for it.

On a side note, how brilliant is having an appetizer before your breakfast actually starts. The depth of wisdom shared by the Panclog team is remarkable. The Breakfast Buddies should begin getting dessert as well. I wonder what breakfast ice cream would be like. Perhaps just vanilla ice cream with some crispy rice cereal thrown on it. Maybe a maple-flavored cheesecake with a crust made of grape nuts. I could go for an apple pie filling pastry pocket (wait, isn’t that already a thing?). We often say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It is time that we treated it as such, and make it a multicourse experience.

For this particular Panclog I opted for the French toast breakfast with a side of scrambled eggs and sausage links.

FT

Just a simple basic breakfast really, which was kind of what I was in the mood for anyway. The toast was cooked well with a satisfying crust on the edges and not too soggy in the middle. Sadly, there was not enough butter provided in my opinion. A breakfast place that brought out a butter-filled ramekin on the side would win me over in a heartbeat. Just to sound more fussy and entitled, a powdered sugar shaker placed on the side with be terrific too. That way you could get a nice pool of melted butter on the French toast and sprinkle enough powdered sugar on the top to make a nice glaze. This, my friends, pushes French toast to its highest heights.

The eggs and sausage were good, but nothing that would generate a lot of excitement. Overall, that is what you could probably say about Perkins in general. The restaurant is good and you will not leave disappointed, but I do not see it revving anyone’s engines. Some mornings that is exactly what you need. Thus, I would recommend going to Perkins and putting the establishment in the normal cycle, but I would not suggest that you choose it above some other places. If you had to choose between the Big Biscuit here in KC or Perkins, head on over to the Big B. However, if you are heading on a long trip out of town and you are looking for something that is consistent and friendly then pop on in to Perkins. Perkins will fulfill those expectations.

French toast breakfast – $8.29

Coffee – $2.29

Overall: Perkins has earned the right to be visited on a regular basis.  Try it and tell us what you think.

Grade:

Brent – Perkins earns 3.25 stars out of five.

Jared – C++ or B– Both of these are now real grades.  Its better than average and worse than great.

Send recommendations and feedback to the Panclog’s Twitter.

You can also follow Jared and Brent.

 

Posted by stephentshaffer in Reviews and tagged , , , , ,
29 Apr 2016
1 Comment

Panclog #24: Niecie’s Restaurant

Nice is Normal at Niecie’s
April 19th, 2016

IMG_1120Niecie’s is a locally owned diner that opened in 1985.  They have 2 different locations one in Raytown and one at 6441 Troost Avenue. The Panclog visited the latter.  You can visit their website and enjoy a lovely instrumental version of “At Last” by Etta James. Their hours re 5:30 AM – 8 PM every single day.

Location/Environment: The location we visited was enjoyable.  The route from my house took me through quaint little Brookside. The interior of the Troost location was vintage; tile floors and wooden fixtures.The décor of the restaurant was simple, relaxed, and inviting. All of these elements made the place feel like home, or at least a place that was just as comfortable. The music was classic pop.  Humming along was absolutely necessary.

Service: Service was incredible. Our server was terrific. Sharee was her name and she made us feel like we were the only people in the restaurant.  She was engaging and very fun to interact with.

Wait time for food: 6 minutes

Menu/Selection: Niecie’s has a full menu with a ton of options, most all of which sound terrific.
Niecies

The specials board on the morning we arrived had a few options that would probably be difficult to find at other places. Those items include Channel Catfish, Pinto and Hock, Tender Beef Ox-Tails, and Tender Pork Neck Bones. I don’t think I have heard of a restaurant serving pork neck bones before. I will most certainly have to go back and try the smothered chicken sometime.
Specials

Food: 

The Pancake Breakfast (Brentles)
Niecie’s Restaurant reminds me a lot of Mom’s Kitchen. Both are straight up diners with pleasant staff and great food.

I ordered a simple breakfast of Pancakes, Bacon, and Eggs. All of which came out warm and tasty. The bacon and eggs were quite flavorful and pleasing to the palate. The bacon was crisp although not overly so.

The pancakes were exactly as you would expect, fluffy and filling, with plenty of butter to spread around.

 

As noted in a prior Panclog, I prefer to spread jelly on my cakes instead of pouring syrup all over them. I am pleased to report our server vindicated that opinion expressing how good jelly is on pancakes. You need to get out there and try it, you won’t regret it.

If you do somehow regret the jelly, just fill the comments area with all manner of vitriol about the evils of jelly on pancakes. You can take extra credit for creativity if you make me laugh.

The coffee served at Niecie’s was terrific by the way. It tasted fresh, clean, and didn’t have the burned flavor that some other restaurants and shops seem to be aiming for. The coffee had very little after taste and didn’t require any adornment. I would go back just for another cup.

My experience at Niecie’s was excellent. I could heap on more praise, but don’t want to sound like I am going over the top. Basically, when you have the opportunity, head on over and enjoy a great meal. I know I will be returning sometime in the future.

It bears mentioning that the floors were kind of slick at the location we went to.

Pancake Breakfast – $7.29

Sunrise Breakfast and French Toast  (Jared)

 

Niecie’s Restaurant, I should declare that my good friend at work, Alisha, recommended this fine establishment for the Panclog.  Thank you Alisha! This Niecie’s is located on Troost Avenue.  I would like to say that both Brent and I both received concerned looks when we told people where this was.  I want to say that people shouldn’t be scared of a street only because of a name’s reputation.  Experience the city and then make your own mind up about where you don’t feel like going.

The sunrise breakfast came with sausage or bacon, 2 eggs and a biscuit.  I almost always choose bacon over sausage because I feel like bacon has much more flavor than standard sausage.  I also like to experience all types of egg flavors.  To make that happen, I rotate through different egg preparations. I.E. Scrambled, Sunny-Side Up, Over easy, Over hard.  Today I chose over easy.  The biscuit was fluffy and buttery.  It was perfect with some jam.
The French toast was spectacular.  It was slightly egg-y which I love.  I do not want a very dry French toast. I have had both sides of the wet/dry french toast spectrum. This French toast played the fence to my exact liking.

The coffee was extremely simple and nice.  It was some of the best Joe I have had in the Panclog era of my life.

Sunrise Breakfast: $3.85
French Toast: $5.89
Coffee: $2.09

Overall: Niecie’s is near the pinnacle of diner experience. Altogether friendly service, great prices, and tasty food combine for a truly splendid experience for any meal.  Check it out or be bummed.

Grade: 

Jared: A-

Brent: A

Send recommendations and feedback to the Panclog’s Twitteror thepanclog@gmail.com

You can follow Jared and Brent on Twitter.

Posted by stephentshaffer in Reviews and tagged , , , ,
19 Feb 2016
1 Comment

Panclog #21: Mom’s Kitchen!

Mom’s Magic Meal
February 9th, 2016 – 7:07 A.M.
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Mom’s Kitchen is a locally owned diner.  It is located in near downtown Olathe at 530 E Santa Fe. They do not have a website. But you can check out their Facebook. They are open from 7 AM-2 PM on Sundays and 6 AM- 2 PM every other day of the week.

Location/Environment: The restaurant itself is a simple whole-in-the-wall type of place pretty close to the Olathe, KS courthouse. If you are one of the lucky few on jury duty, I would recommend walking over to this place for a quick and easy lunch.

Please read that last sentence without a thought of sarcasm, you should be excited about fulfilling your civic duty. While we are on the subject of civic duty, get out and vote!

I would not describe Mom’s as a greasy diner.  I would describe it as a diner that has aged well.

Service: The service was wonderful. Coffees stayed full. You could tell that Mom’s Kitchen was the type of place that servers are happy to learn names and to swap stories of what’s good in their lives.

Wait time for food: 10 minutes

Menu/Selection: Mom’s Kitchen is full of the standard breakfast foods and also the extended diner menu.  If you can find it at a diner, Mom’s will take care of you.

Food: Below you may read some pancake topping blasphemy.  Please take up all disappointed and offended feelings with Brent’s Twitter. You have been forewarned.

Pancakes with Bacon, Eggs, and Hash Browns (Brentley)
Mom’s kitchen is a straight up diner from years past. At least that is the feeling they seem to be going for. It a restaurant I, and my family, like a lot and one we should probably go to more often. It helps that we are friends with one of the staff who is a terrific person.

Mom’s kitchen offers the standard breakfast fare you’d expect from a diner. I was tempted to go for the chicken fried steak and eggs, or the pork chops, but instead I ordered pancakes with bacon, eggs, and hash browns. I was quite pleased with them. My guess is that the full menu of items is available throughout the day as I saw another patron order a cheeseburger. One of these days I am going to have to get over my cultural mores and order a French Dip sandwich for breakfast.
Mom-brent

The pancakes were light and fluffy, the bacon was cooked just right, the hash browns met expectations, and the eggs were decent. Overall, it was a very satisfying breakfast.

The coffee was great too. Some of the other places we’ve visited should do themselves a favor and hop on over to Mom’s to see what they are brewing. Mom’s coffee is full flavored without a burned, or over-roasted, quality. Mom’s Kitchen isn’t trying to find some interesting twist on the burned flavor that the Seattle based organization seems to love.

You may have noticed a lack of syrup on the pancakes in the picture. For good or ill, I am not a fan of maple syrup on pancakes. Actually, with rare exception, I am not a fan of other syrups on pancakes either. Part of the issue is that maple syrup doesn’t taste good in my opinion. The other is a texture thing. Syrup has a tendency to turn pancakes into soup. A pancake is a glorious food item. Pancake soup, not so much.

For those fretting over the fact that these pancakes look incompletely adorned rest assured I added more to them than just butter. Although plain buttered pancakes are quite tasty in their own right. You see, when it comes to pancakes, I am a jelly man. Adding some straight up plain grape jelly on pancakes makes them magnificent. And let’s keep it to plain grape jelly. If you bring Concord grape jelly, well, you can fly that plane straight back to France. Or back to Concord, Massachusetts, as that is where Concord Grapes were originally developed.

To whom do we owe for this amazing culinary secret, Mrs. Martin, my kindergarten teacher. She made pancakes for our class one morning and offered jelly as the spread and I have followed the nobler jelly path from that day forth. Just once I recommend that you set the syrup aside and go the jelly route. I am certain you won’t look back.

2 Eggs, Pancakes, Bacon, & Hash browns – $7.99 on special

Blueberry French Toast  (Jared)

IMG_0834 (1)

 

Mom’s Kitchen is such nice name.  It makes me think of such great breakfasts that my mother has made me in the past such as Dutch Babies, Cinnamon Rolls, and of course pancakes.  So yeah, these are good memories. If you do not know what Dutch Babies are, then you are truly missing out.

Mom’s did not disappoint.  When I walked in I saw a chalkboard sign that informed me of the specials then told me to ask about their Blueberry French Toast.  I try to always abide by things signs tell me to do.  I asked our waitress of their blueberry french toast and she kindly told me that it was french toast made with actual blueberry bread made by them.  I was truly intrigued. It never had a chance against me.  One of my greatest enjoyments of being married to a chef is some incredible banana bread.  And when that banana bread starts to almost become stale, we french toast the crap out of it.  So freaking good.  I am a huge fan of delicious flavored bread being turned into even more delicious breakfast treats.

I was expecting a blueberry quick bread type of flavor. Meaning overly sweet and intensely blueberry-y.    But Mom went against my expectation and created a simple blueberry hint to the french toast.  It was just the perfect hint of blueberry in every bite.  I can not say anything negative about these French toast slices, except that I should have ordered something savory to counteract the sweetness of the syrup and powdered sugar.

The coffee was in the top 3 of coffee I have had during my Panclog career.  Seriously, they do it so well.  Also I enjoy that the coffee mugs were of a thicker variety. This keeps the coffee warm!!! MAGIC!

The 2 slices of Blueberry French Toast were $5.49

Overall: Mom’s Kitchen is a lovely bruncherie that makes you feel at home if you are a regular.  It can be slightly daunting when you see a waitress treat some guests like family and others like one-time guests.  The interior feels dated but it makes the food taste that much better.  Check it out with your friends on New Years Day or any other day. 

Grade: 

Jared: B+

Brent: A-

Send recommendations and feedback to the Panclog’s Twitter or thepanclog@gmail.com

You can follow Jared and Brent on Twitter.

Posted by stephentshaffer in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , ,
02 May 2014

Panclog #17: NBA Bet Fulfilled

A Bet for Brunch.

The House that Panclog Built.
April 23rd, 2014 9:00 AM

IMG_3056

We’re Baaaaccckk!!!!

A few months ago we traveled to the great state of Colorado, and while we didn’t Panclog while we were there, we did set up some pretty tasty stakes. On March 7th, we went to the Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Lakers game at the Pepsi Center. On a whim, we decided to make a bet. If the Lakers won, Stephen would make breakfast for Jared. If the Nuggets won, Jared would make breakfast for Stephen. It’s pretty simple.

The Nuggets ended up winning 134-126. Last week, the bet was settled.

(Stephen)

Location/Environment: I’m pretty accustomed to the Sova residence, as I spend a lot of R&R time over yonder. It’s cozy and warm — you really get the vibe that this home was styled with breakfast in mind.

Wait to be seated: 0 Minutes

Service: Service was prompt and efficient. Shortly after arriving, I was offered a cup of coffee brewed on a Keurig machine. This was different from most ‘clogs we’ve done, as I actually got to watch the chef prepare my food. This was exciting, as I didn’t know the dish that was being prepared! He was very attentive to my needs, while still alert and focused on preparing the meal. The aromas were intoxicating, and the view was even better 😉

Wait time for food:  30 Minutes

Menu/Selection: Jared would have made me anything I wanted.

Food:

Bacon Stuffed French Toast with Strawberries

IMG_3055

Jared knows that my favorite breakfast item is French toast, so I expected something along those lines. However, the dish served was far beyond anything I could have imagined. He also managed to incorporate my favorite side, bacon, into the French toast, as well as having bacon on the side!

There’s a lot to dissect here, so let’s start with the actual bread. Perfect creamy, soft bread, so easy to cut with a fork. I’ve said it many times, I’ll say it again: Italian bread works very well for French toast. I assume this is because France and Italy actually touch.

Let’s talk about the filling. Rich, cream cheese filling with bits of bacon hanging out. Perfection. The bacon is a very subtle addition to the sweet creamy filling, but it’s effective in its presence. The filling itself was similar to stuffed cream cheese I’ve had before, but the taste and consistency was far superior. You could tell it was homemade, and that made the difference.

(Jared)

Let me tell you my side of the story… I was very upset that my favorite NBA team lost to the Javale McGee-less Nuggets. But this loss has pushed me to step back into the kitchen for the first time since the Tuna Croquette failure of 2012. So after many minutes of pouting, I decided to get to work.

I have always known that Stephen loves to indulge in some French Toast now and again.  This led me to create a dish especially for him. I invented a delicious stuffed French toast with a twist. I started with fresh baked Italian bread. I mixed cream cheese with diced bacon. I then added some Maple Bourbon. This is my own special twist. I added enough that you can taste but not so much that it would ruin the dish.

Because bacon and bourbon are both savory flavors, I added sliced strawberries to the top. This lightened up the whole flavor profile. With some powdered sugar on top, this dish was ready for devouring. I made extra bacon, because really who doesn’t want bacon on the side? I bought organic 100% pure maple syrup just for this occasion. I have recently discovered the vast taste difference between real maple syrup and the fake stuff. I am a big fan of real maple syrup.

Overall: Topped with fresh strawberries, powdered sugar, and maple syrup, this French toast was in the upper echelon of French toasts I’ve ever had. Sure, I’m biased since Jared is my fellow ‘clogger, but he knocked it out of the park. One piece was all you needed. Rich and savory, yet filling enough to be a solid breakfast with a few pieces of bacon and a cup of coffee.

Price: I would have paid upwards of tens of dollars for this meal.

Grade: Easy A

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01 May 2013

Panclog #13: Eggtc.

Wasted Waffles.
April 16, 2013 – 9:06 A.M.

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Eggtc. is a Kansas City brunchery and coffee bar, serving both Shawnee and Kansas City, Missouri. Both locations offer a wide selection of breakfast and lunch items, though the menu does lean more toward breakfast. Eggtc. offers one of the widest drink menus we’ve ‘clogged, with a full coffee bar at your disposal. More info, as well as their full menu, can be found on their website. Be sure to check out their Facebook and Twitter pages as well.

We visited the Kansas City, MO branch, located in South Plaza.

Location/Environment: The KCMO location is off the beaten path in Plaza terms. It’s a little bit away from the actual Plaza district, but close enough to be convenient. At busier times, parking could be an issue, but we found no problems. The dining rooms are spacious. It’s a more casual dining experience, as opposed to intimate. It’s a good location to read an early morning paper or catch up on Sportscenter on one of their numerous TVs.

Service: Service was of high quality. Our waitress was very friendly. She offered recommendations and made sure we were taken care of repeatedly. Our order was received quickly. Our coffee was filled and she didn’t make fun of us. It’s hard to judge service when you have easy orders and you visit at a slower time. That being said, service was superb.

Wait time for food: 8 minutes

Menu/Selection: The menu does lean more toward the breakfast side than lunch, as there are many more options for breakfast. As pancloggers, this is a plus. Most places try to balance the two meals for more variety. This could be a negative for breakfast haters, or “breaters,” but we only see it as a plus. The more griddle options, the better.

Note: If you have Foursquare, be sure to check in. First timers receive a free beverage (coffee, iced tea, etc.)!

Food:

Classico and Waffle (Jared!)

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Eggs are cool, right!? You can make them into so many different varieties.  You can make scrambled, sunny-side up, over-easy, over-medium, over-hard, and poached.  You can make them into tasty omelettes, frittatas, and even quiches!  Shout out to the chickens that make tasty fake baby holders.

I chose to have over-easy eggs with my classico meal.  The over-easy is a good choice if you have a starch on your plate that you want to enrich with yolk.  I yolked all over my potatoes.  This made a tasty mess. Lightly seasoned country potatoes make any meal better. I almost exclusively choose bacon over sausage.  Bacon is just a perfect complement to most breakfasts.  The saltiness of the bacon can give your taste buds a much needed flavor break.

Waffles!  Waffles are known for their amazing ability to capture the intensity of all the ingredients of the waffle in their FLAVOR POCKETS! This waffle had a hearty dollop of butter, and a scattering of powdered sugar. Along with the syrup, the flavors made your mouth a utopia of enjoyment. The pre-portioned syrup was perfect amount for my waffle.  This surprised me because most pre-portions of syrup tend to come up short.  I am very happy to say that this waffle was just the perfect density.  It was not too tough yet it wasn’t too mushy,  I only needed a fork to cut it.  Which is what I like. I am a simple man, I am no fan of using two utensils at the same time.  At $7.69, it’s a fair price for all this food.

I want to say that Eggtc. gives you the option of infused honey as a substitute of syrup.  I did not try the infused honey this time, but I am certain I will try it on my next visit.

Sourdough French Toast (Stephen)

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Sourdough french toast is my go-to in many ways. Sourdough is my favorite bread, french toast is my favorite breakfast food, ergo, sourdough french toast is the best of both worlds. And Eggtc.’s did not disappoint. The bread was the perfect thickness, just enough sponginess to absorb the syrup and butter. It was a rich and buttery mix, enough to not be a complete overload when added to the powdered sugar. The syrup was portioned, which dear readers, you know I’m not a fan of, but the portioned amount was completely enough! No problems there. Both Jared and I took advantage of their Foursquare special: free coffee! Eggtc. had very strong silverware. We’ve run into some weak utensils in the past, and it’s never a fun endeavor.

The meal was $4.69 (with no sides), and with the addition of free coffee, it’s a hard price to beat for a quality breakfast.

Price: The prices are equivalent to what you would find at any other brunchery in the Kansas City area.  When you include the glorious deal of the Foursquare special, Eggtc. won’t make your wallet cry.

Overall: We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and the service.  We are already planning a 2nd visit to try more goodies from their full service coffee bar and their other menu options.  The Pancloggers would like to thank Brent Morgan for his fine recommendation.  Follow him on Twitter!

 

Grade: 

Jared: A

Stephen: B+

Send recommendations and feedback to our Twitter or thepanclog@gmail.com

You can follow Jared and Stephen on Twitter.

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