Saturday, December 12, 2015

Shmeg's Restaurant


Well, it took over a year to get out to Gates to try Shmeg's,  - a contraction of Shawn and Meg who opened it - but last Sunday Karen and I were headed to points west and stopped in for a late breakfast.

We arrived at the tiny strip mall and were pretty sure we found it, though the handwritten logo is tough to read when you're driving. Since there was just two of us we grabbed counter spots overlooking the kitchen so we wouldn't tie up a table. We had a clear view of the prep table, the grills and could look to the other side at the small front dining room.

I'll try to sum up Shmeg's as concisely as I can: more is more. More smell, more food, more noise, more carved Americana plaques, more grunge, more hard to read handwritten type. The menu, an 80th generation photocopy of what looks like the napkin they first drunkenly brainstormed their offerings, was difficult to read at best, but I gleaned that their basic breakfast sandwich was the 2 Egg Chubby (There were sandwiches with up to five eggs in them, you know, in case you wanted more). We ordered our Chubbies with bacon, eggs over medium, Karen added home fries to hers for $1 and then we watched the kitchen as we waited.

If you're a fastidious person I would recommend not sitting at the counter at Shmeg's, you will have an aneurism. Plates flying, clouds of powdered sugar, new pancake batter being made on top of old. I like a good dive but for some reason I was just finding everything about Shmeg's off-putting. It was just too easy to picture Guy Fieri daring us to eat the 12" pancakes that were being plated. And frankly, the name's not doing them any favors, either.

After a bit of a wait our sandwiches were ready and they looked pretty good. Generous amount of bacon (more!) and a healthy looking house baked roll. I took a bite. Whoever grabbed my roll had recently grabbed a sticky bun and my first bite was an extreme mix of sweet and salty. I took a second bite and was thankful that the sugar was just on the edge. Now, for the positives: the eggs were cooked perfectly, not too hard, the runny yolk filling up the gaps between the eggs and bacon. Speaking of, that was some delicious, thick cut bacon. Not too salty, not over or under cooked. In search of the perfect egg sandwich roll I was excited to finally get to Shmeg's (sadly, the more you say it doesn't make it better) who bake their own bread. The roll was definitely good but a little too sweet for my liking, more brioche than Kaiser. Karen thinks I'm nuts and thought it was the best thing about the sandwich. She would also like for me to mention that the coffee was great. We both agreed that the potatoes were lackluster: not a crisp edge in the bunch and although seasoned, a little too heavily with dried parsley.

So, a good sandwich (which it should be for $6), mediocre home fries, and an environment that left us smelling like a deep fryer. Shmeg's.

Shmeg's Restuarant
3027 Buffalo Road, Gates, NY
Sandwich cost: $5.99
Rating: A solid breakfast sandwich

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Mangia Mangia

I had to run an errand to Spencerport last Sunday and as I was leaving town I realized I was hungry. "Siri, nearest diner." She then told me that the Lighthouse Diner was just three quarters of a mile down the road on the left. So I drove, and then I drove, and then I was in Ogden, so then I had her give me directions. After doing a large circle to see new homes in former fields, I got to the intersection of 31 and S. Union. I drove into the plaza and saw what might have been a diner but what was now Rancho Viejo. I turned the corner to check out the south side of the plaza and continued to see no breakfast. As I reached the end of the storefronts I started to turn around but leaning next to the building was a sandwich board with a breakfast special on it; I looked up to see Mangia Mangia. The front door was open so I figured I'd go investigate.

Right at the front door was a pastry case with loaves of fresh baked Italian bread sitting on top. This was a good sign. I took a seat at a small table in the back and looked over the menu. With Italian bread French toast, frittatas, and six varieties of eggs Benedict, Mangia Mangia is not for the light eater. I found their breakfast sandwich which is two scrambled eggs, cheese, and your choice of bacon, ham, Italian sausage or steak on either a giant English muffin or an Italian roll and after seeing the loaves at the front door, I went for the roll and my usual bacon and American cheese. The sandwich comes with home fries and they charge $6.99 for the combo.

This is a curious place: An Italian restaurant in the back of a suburban plaza open for breakfast with both Red Hot and Sriracha on every table. The kitchen is separated from the dining area by a free standing wall so the smells and noises from the kitchen mingle with the classic rock playing throughout the restaurant. Casual, suburban, pleasant enough.

A few moments later my breakfast arrived. I wish I had put a fork or a quarter in the photo for scale just to impress how large it all was: The sandwich wasn't on a roll but a mini loaf of bread and there was probably a pound of home fries on the plate! I wasn't quite prepared to bite into the loaf of sandwich so I scooped up some potatoes and was greeted with a couple of unexpected flavors. The Yukon Gold potatoes were much sweeter and creamier than most diner home fries and that first bite had a distinct taste of margarine. I did not care for these at all. I tried them with Red Hot and then Sriracha, and then with ketchup, and then with ketchup and the two hot sauces. None of these variations made me like them any better. I moved onto the sandwich. I'll spare you the details of how big my bites were and how many it took to finish this blimp, but I will tell you that the roll had a nice crunch to the crust and good resistance when bitten. However, this may have been too much of a good thing. Did I mention how big this roll was? Unfortunately, the scrambled eggs, cheese, and strips of bacon down the center, got lost amongst all the bread. Honestly, I barely remember the bacon and cheese, only the amount of chewing I had to do. If they could do some proportion control and ditch the margarine, this would be a worthwhile breakfast.

Mangia Mangia
Sandwich Rating: Thatsa alotta bread
Sandwich cost: $6.99

Sunday, August 23, 2015

KB's Bagels and Java - Road Trip Entry

My expectations for finding a decent bagel in New Hampshire were reasonably low - well, let's be frank, I didn't have any expectations of finding a decent bagel in New Hampshire at all - but when I found KB's online before heading out on vacation I got a little excited, especially when I saw the opportunity for an egg sandwich excursion.

On an overcast morning I headed south from our rental to try a sandwich and bring some bagels back for the kids. A quick few turns off Ocean Boulevard and I spotted the building I saw online and found a spot down the street a bit. As I started walking towards breakfast the damp air held the smell of toast and fresh brewed coffee. I was sure I stumbled onto something good. If New Hampshire's 13 miles of Atlantic coastline can adopt an island vibe - with an active surfer culture (wet suits, naturally) and tiki bar decor for any non-seafood dedicated food/drink establishment - why couldn't they throw a little New York in there, too?

I stepped inside and immediately felt at home with the smell of toasted onion and sesame seeds amongst the surfboards and old couches. I got in line and started to think about what selection of bagels to bring back to the house but my brain froze when I looked behind the counter. The wall of bins for different varieties was there, and there were bagels in the bins, but they were already in bags. Stacked 6 high in a plastic bag like Lender's. The girl behind the counter snapped me out of it, "Sir?"
"I...  I'm confused. The bagels are in bags." She stared at me so I continued, "Soooooo, they must come from somewhere else?"
"Uh huh!" she cheerfully replied. I quickly ditched my mixed order and got a bag of sesame for the house and an egg, bacon, cheese on an everything for now.


A few minutes later I got a large bun of aluminum foil, had a seat, and opened it up. This was a big sandwich: The bagel was New York sized and the scrambled egg was at least an inch tall, it smelled good so I cocked my jaw and took a bite. The bagel was soft and the egg was hotter than Beelzabub! I took a moment to let the egg cool down and to assess things. The heat of the eggs suggested microwave, and the sheer size of them skewed the bacon and cheese ratios which made the inside of the sandwich kind of a bust. The other sad realization is that this was a breadel - more bread than bagel, but at least they got the everything toppings right. Same held true for the bag of sesame bagels I brought back to the house: looked good, smelled good, but ultimately just a big ring of dough. These are gourmet in the same way a tricked out Civic is a Formula 1 race car. Hey, at least I tried.

KB's Bagels and Java
Hampton, NH
Sandwich cost: $4.50
Rating: All bluster, no muster.

Friday, July 10, 2015

Hart's Local Grocers



You may recall me trying a Hart's Signature Breakfast Sandwich the weekend they opened last August (No? Look here), as it was breakfast time and I was hungry I figured it was time to retest it.

I've been in Hart's a few times since they opened last summer and each time it seems a little more fleshed out which is the good news. The bad news is the breakfast menu from a year ago looks a little different. When they opened they offered five different sandwiches and their signature was $4.95. Now they just offer their signature sandwich (2 Happy Hen eggs, sliced avocado, arugula, and pancetta with Sriracha mayonaise) or a create-your-own-from-our-ingredients-list and both of these options are $5.95. If you haven't caught on by now, I think breakfast should cost five bucks or less, unless you're really dealing with something fancy. So, a six dollar sandwich sets my expectations pretty high.

As I was waiting for my sandwich I noticed the bakery rack of rolls and bread by the prep station. I asked where the rolls were from and the woman deep frying cutlets for the lunch crowd was happy to tell me they came from Ace Bakery in Toronto. I must have made a face (because I was thinking that Toronto seemed far away for a daily bread delivery) and she explained that the dough came frozen and they baked them in the store. She went on to tell me about the goodness and wholesomeness of the rolls and I swear I was paying attention, even though I couldn't stop thinking what the possible punchline would be to "How do you make a Canadian roll?"

A few minutes later I got my sandwich and sat down by the windows on Winthrop. Sandwich looked good, yolk still had a little bit of deep yellow in it and the roll appeared crusty and hearty. I took a bite. On the upside, I was not overwhelmed by the Sriracha mayo like last time, there was a healthy dose of fresh arugula, and as I mentioned, the egg wasn't overcooked. The downsides were that the pancetta (although very good and crispy) was skimpy and the avocado (which I appreciated being sliced in front of me as the sandwich was being made) was also scarce. Lastly, the roll which came so highly recommended and looked pretty good lacked a rustic crust and did not feel freshly baked. It didn't condense as I made my way through the sandwich which I always appreciate, but was otherwise unremarkable. The sandwich had an overall peppery profile but none of the premium ingredients stood out, perhaps victims of having too many signatures on one sandwich? Perhaps Hart's could do more with less (and take a buck off).

To save me from starting the You Can't F**k Up an Iced Tea blog I'll just add that $2.75 seemed a bit steep (har har) for a large tea with no lemon (Note to coffee counter - go to produce section and grab a lemon, it's going to be 80 degrees today).

Hart's Local Grocers
Sandwich cost: $5.95
Rating: Better ingredients don't necessarily make a better sandwich

Friday, May 15, 2015

Tom's Restaurant

I dropped the kids off at school at 8 and the household sale around the corner wasn't open until 8:30. Might as well check out Tom's Restaurant in the plaza on the corner of Hudson and East Ridge.

I was pleasantly surprised that this storefront diner had some older fixtures - fabulous yellow counter, chrome stools, and booths that seemed oddly small compared to the amount of space between them and the counter. It was hard to imagine two grown-ups sitting comfortably side by side in these booths, but imagining them doing a tango in the middle of Tom's seemed reasonable. As it was just me, just sitting and eating, the booth size was just fine.

I didn't notice a breakfast sandwich on the menu so I asked if they made one. They did. I asked what my bread options were. The waitress listed the usual: hard roll, bagel, English muffin, or toast. Then she added: "The hard roll is the best." I held my tongue and told her I was more in the mood for a bagel. She asked how I wanted the egg and I told her over easy. She looked at me as though I asked her to hold the bagel between her knees.
"It's going to be messy."
"You've got napkins?" I smiled.
"No."
"I guess I'll just use my shirt."
She hinted a smile and then headed back behind the counter and gave the order to the cook. I could hear him respond: "As a sandwich?!"
"As a sandwich."

A moment later she swooped by my booth and put a short stack of napkins on the table.

I looked around admiring the sparseness but not charmlessness of the place. Clean and tidy except for the cascade of lottery scratch-offs between the soda machine and kitchen.

And then my food arrived. Half a platter of home fries and two very long, crisp strips of bacon leapt out at me, then I noticed the bit of green on the plate: Pickles. How jolly! I took it as a nod to spring and started to put the sandwich together. The outside of the bagel was oddly matte which made me question if it had ever met water but when I took a bite it wasn't the usual soft breadel; it had the chewiness of a real bagel and was well suited to a sandwich. And then a bit of yolk oozed out onto my finger. I imagined the staff peering from behind the counter waiting to see this very thing but I didn't turn around to check. I picked up a napkin and wiped my finger off and took another bite. No more oozing. The rest of the egg was firmer and was not the mess that was anticipated.

The waitress came back to ask how this bizarre order was. "Just perfect," I said.

The bacon was crisp and delicious, the egg wasn't overdone, and the bagel exceeded my expectations. The home fries were pretty good and oh so plentiful. As with the Avenue Diner, this ended up being over ten bucks with the potatoes and iced tea. Maybe next time I bring a dance partner to split the home fries with.

Tom's Restaurant
740 East Ridge Road, 14621
Sandwich Price: $4.95
Rating: Better than expected

Sunday, May 3, 2015

The Avenue Diner

It was a lovely spring morning of errands and garage sales and an intense need for breakfast. I found myself near Monroe Ave and thought about the egg sandwich options nearby. Mark's Texas Hots is a late-night staple and that got me reminiscing about Gitsis further down the street. Well, reminisce may sound too fond; I remembered a few drunken visits there eating basic greasy-spoon fare in the wee hours surrounded by an incredible assortment of post-bar, post-club, post-prom revelers. While the people watching was great, the greasy, heavy atmosphere was not. I'm guessing they closed in 2013 after a shooting incident was the last straw in dealing with drunken after-hours crowds. In its place came The Avenue Diner so I decided to see what, if anything, had changed.

The whole place has been redone - clean, generic diner complete with cheery, non-descript art. New booths, benches, chairs and tables erased the dingy after hours feel of Gitsis. The sun shining in the windows didn't hurt, either. Sitting in my booth I had the odd sensation of being an out-of-towner, having breakfast in the familiar but foreign booth of any diner in any downtown.

The one listed breakfast sandwich was fried egg, ham, and cheese on a grilled hard roll.  I could have gotten it on a bagel or toast but I didn't feel like getting a breadel and hadn't had a hard roll in a while so I stuck with their suggestion. I hadn't really spoken to anyone yet so I'm pretty sure my very sweet and friendly waitress thought I was a little special.
"Can I get that egg a little sunny, a little runny?"
"You don't want it flipped?"
"No, flipped is fine, but still runny."
She raised an eyebrow, "You mean over-easy?"
"Ah yes, of course. I forgot about that one." I added some home fries and a tea and watched the early morning Monroe Avenue traffic for a short while.

The sandwich and heaping pile of potatoes arrived and I dug in. Home fries were good, crispy on top and bottom from the grill with occasional bits of crispy onion. Then I picked up the sandwich. It was hefty! A lot of ham, and although only one egg, it was quite full. I think you know what happens next...this was all too much for the Rochester hard roll to handle. A chunk of white fell out of one side, yolk oozed out the other onto the plate, and the roll smushed down to nothing. It tasted fine, it's just that the disappearing bread makes it a nuisance to eat; Half eaten like a sandwich, the other half with a fork off the plate.

I was full, the waitstaff was exceptionally friendly, the atmosphere was pleasant. My only real (new) complaint is that with home fries and an iced tea, this breakfast ended up costing $9, cutting into my garage sale singles.

The Avenue Diner
Sandwich cost: $3.35
Rating: Think of "average" as a compliment and there you have it.

Mr Beenz Diner




I had to drive out to Gates a few times this winter and I noticed Mr. Beenz on the corner of Buffalo Road and Marway Circle. On one of my early morning trips I stopped in.

It was almost empty around 9:30 and I took a seat at the counter in the back. I ordered bacon, egg, and cheese on a hard roll, because I figure if you keep rolling the dice your number has to come up eventually, right? Right?!

I took a look around as my sandwich was being made: fairly typical suburban plaza diner: not a lot of character but it was clean and didn't have too much American flag decor so that's a plus.

 The sandwich arrived and the hard roll looked like the Kaiser I know and love, but alas, it was on the softer side. Actually, it was on the sweet side, too, like a potato roll, which complimented the very salty cheese and bacon. Ordered the egg over easy and it was a runny mess which was fine, though a sturdier roll would have absorbed some of that. Bacon was crispy and delicious.

Mr. Beenz Diner
1941 Buffalo Road, 14624
Sandwich cost: $4.49
Rating: Par for the course, bonus points for taking a chance with the roll

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Busy Bee


I always passed the Busy Bee on my way to Rochester Art Supply and other points west and I was never 100 percent sure it was still open despite the jaunty awning sign. It was a quiet December morning when I finally made it into the Busy Bee and found it to be not so busy, but it was indeed open.

There were a couple of people in one of the booths, but otherwise the only activity was from the cook cleaning the grill, the waitress wiping down surfaces, and the ancient chrome coffee maker wrestling with itself. "Serving downtown since 1958," but last (partially) updated in the '70s the Busy Bee is a feast for the senses! A lot of steel and chrome in the kitchen, vintage counters and stools, and the dining area lined with booths. Looking up from the booths the walls are faux half-timber/plaster giving the place a more ale house feel than diner. This was now two months ago so many details have escaped me, but mostly I remember it feeling well-worn but maintained and cozy for it.

I was blown away by the first sandwich option: Fried egg and cheese on an English Muffin for, get this, 92 cents!! I can only guess that this offering is to help out the area panhandlers with a hot breakfast for a dollar. Or it could just be that all their prices are ridiculously fair. Either way, it's hard not to feel good about a cheap diner breakfast.

I opted for the second sandwich option and decided not to go through the bread rigamarole with the waitress and just get the hard roll. I have finally made peace with the Rochester hard roll: It tastes fine, I even like them, but I still contend they don't hold up very well in a breakfast sandwich. For $2.70 I am not going to argue. I ordered one with bacon and home-fries to go.

A couple minutes of taking in the yellow ochre, brown, and chrome my food was bagged up and ready to go. I got to my office and dug in: Fried egg a little hard but not overdone, bacon was crispy, cheese appropriately melty and salty. That's a breakfast sandwich. Home fries were good, though were a little starchy slimy. Salt, pepper, and ketchup are an easy fix.

Busy Bee Restaurant
124 Main Street West, 14614
Sandwich cost: $2.70
Rating: A classic Rochester breakfast sandwich