2 out of 5 stars

My expectations were high for Coquette because 1) I went for brunch, my favorite meal of the day and 2) I had heard so many raves. But unfortunately the experience fell short. In fact I think my favorite part of the meal was the fresh bread that came out with our beverages.

The decor is nice, a simple checkerboard floor, a very open and sunny environment, and bistro style seating, with a large rustic bread station in the middle. We were seated and our serviec was not great from the beginning. The waiter seemed hung over and wasn’t really able to answer our questions about the menu. I ordered the banana and nutella crepe and hubs ordered the eggs florentine, asking for his sauce on the side. He also ordered the soup of the day, cauliflower soup.

My crepe was tasty, but pretty small. I am sure that I only got about half of a banana’s worth, if that, inside of it. Of course the nutella and roasted hazelnuts sprinkled on top were good, but I expected more in quantity and in quality. Presentation of course was lovely, as you can see. Hub’s cauliflower soup bowl contained about 1/2 cup of soup for $6. Even if it was the most fabulous soup in creation (it wasn’t), that amount for that price is hard to deal with. His eggs florentine came with sauce on top though he asked for it on the side. As our waiter delivered it and placed it before him he said “Oh you wanted the sauce on the side… I saw them putting it on so I asked them to only put on a little.” Umm.. either you asked them to put it on the side or you didn’t. Clearly you forgot and now you’re lying to cover it up? Just wierd. The florentine didn’t have much flavor even with the tomatoes, and the table next to us sent theirs back because it “exploded on her”. We also ordered a side of bacon, which was tasty. Given all the sides we had to order, we had to pay a hefty price for this meal and we still did not leave satisfied.

Perhaps if you give Coquette a shot for brunch try one of the Croques or a Monte Cristo. The exra carbs might help fill you up. Or maybe the other meals of the day are a better bet. Varmint Bites has a great article about their opening including some photos of the interior.

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4 out of 5 stars

O’Malley’s Tavern is hidden in a quaint shopping center off of Glenwood Avenue, across from the Rooms to Go and just up the road from Crabtree Mall. Fellow reviewers’ descriptions of a dive bar are correct, but this is a dive bar with personality. Well-worn wooden booths welcome you on one side, and the other sports pool tables and comfortable-looking couches. Patrons seem to be made up of a come-as-you are local crowd, which is a breath of fresh air compared to many places farther down Glenwood. Speaking of fresh air, now that all bars are non-smoking it shan’t deter you from visiting this hidden gem. They even have a nice patio out front.

I actually only stopped in here for breakfast, but really did enjoy the simple meal and friendly service. The breakfast menu here is actually pretty broad, taking up two sides of a menu page. I had the country fried steak and two eggs with toast, plus choice of hash browns or oatmeal or grits for $5.75. My steak was relatively small, but quite satisfying for the price paid. Hubs had Byron’s Breakfast, consisting of two eggs, two sausage links plus wheat toast for $5. His sausage links were deliciously herby and tasted homemade. Prices are reasonable with lots of options to choose from, including corned beef hash, sweet potato sticks, yogurt, omelettes, pancakes, breakfast sandwiches, french toast and more.

Drink (including pitchers) and food specials look generous, so try them out any time of the day.

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2 out of 5 stars

This review is only for Remedy’s breakfast – after all the hype I’ve heard from friends, we were pretty disappointed.

Despite the artsy hipster interior and matching-themed waitstaff, Remedy’s breakfast offering did not cure “what ales us.”

Remedy Tabletop

Remedy Bar

Hubs and I both ordered the Remedy Breakfast, which for 7.50 includes 2 eggs, sausage (or bacon), gouda grits, and a hash brown patty. What we got was fairly standard prefrozen sausage and hash brown (exactly like McDonald’s) plus a relatively tasty bowl of grits and what looked to be more like 1 egg worth of scrambled eggs. This was FAR from a $7.50 value! The brunch special of the day was tuna cakes, which didn’t sound super great.

I hear the dinners are amazing, but I think the Remedy team should rethink breakfast.

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3 out of 5 stars

Coffee and Crepes is a little coffee joint (plus crepes!) in the sprawling Crossroads shopping center. On the day of our visit I decided to try a popular item, the Raspberry Chicken crepe, which contains chicken, spinach, ricotta, diced tomato, and melted cheddar. It’s topped with a drizzle of raspberry preserves and a sprinkling of walnuts. It comes with a nice spring mix salad on the side with a vinegarette dressing.

I appreciated the whole wheat option but I was left with the feeling that I would have loved my crepe a lot more had I gone straight to dessert – the banana nutella crepe sounded amazing.

Perhaps my mistake was asking the employees which crepe was the best and then ordering the one they told me was the most popular rather than the one they said was the best. Of course they were split – I heard votes for the fajita crepe and the turkey bacon tomato. I mean basically this is a glorified quesadilla, this is what you forget about until you’ve just paid $7 for it. Hubby, my designated coffee taster, ordered a cappuccino and declared it average. I applaud the use of fair-trade local roaster Larry’s Beans, but the coffee taster does not lie.

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4 out of 5 stars

My mother and I were starving by the time we were heading towards downtown and I remembered that Flying Biscuit was on the way to the SPCA. We stopped in in the early afternoon and didn’t have to wait for a table. The menu had been calling out to me, but what to order? Something with the fried green tomatoes? Well I needed to try the biscuits for sure.

I ordered the country eggs benedict, a poached egg with country sausage patty on a biscuit with country gravy. It was heavenly. Mom ordered whole wheat french toast, which came with creme anglais and raspberry sauce drizzled on top. The sauces on top reminded me of the two types of doughnut filling, raspberry and boston cream. It was hard to stop eating. The bacon was thick and crisp, the sausage was tender and the gravy had just the right touch of sausagey flavor.

The service was good and the food was good, there’s not much more to say. With breakfast available all day, why not give the biscuits and cran-apple butter a try?

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3 out of 5 stars
Nudy’s is a favorite of my Mom and my sister, so they arranged to bring me here rather than my stand-by favorite King Street Grille when I recently visited town. I normally require that they bring me to King Street and they are sick of this! King Street has one of the best Eggs Benedict I’ve had in my life! But on to Nudy’s. Nudy’s has about 4 locations and this Exton one seems to be newer than those in the Main Line (and perhaps less polished?). Main line locations have an excellent reputation for quality breakfasts.

I decided to stick with something on the “Specialties” portion of the menu since usually that nets pretty good results – a restaurant should be pretty good at preparing one of their specialties. However I was dissappointed in my order of Eggs Benedict. The hollandaise was extremely bland, normally what you’ll find in a sauce that comes from a powder or a can, not a light tangy sauce I was hoping for. The potato hash was relatively flavorless – crisp on top but dry and mush on the inside. Mom ordered a delicious banana waffle with wet nuts on top (mapley walnuts) which she graciously gave me bites of. My sister had a tasty (albiet standard) bagel, egg, cheese and bacon sandwich which she also lovingly shared bites of. We asked the waitress to bring me a short stack of gingerbread pancakes because I wasn’t happy with my dish. She apologized that I didn’t like it but didn’t offer to take it off of the bill. The gingerbread pancakes were tasty, light and fluffy with just the right hint of spice. Incidentally a short stack of pancakes is not a great deal, at what I remember $4.50 or $5+ for two pancakes.

I recommend that when you come here you stick to the sweet items like pancakes and waffles. Service was just ok, with some coffee cups remaining empty, but the hostess was kind enough not to charge us for the benedict when Mom went to pay. Mom did happen to mention that her daughter is a food reviewer. Finally I get a perk!

Nudy’s Cafe
(610) 524-1508

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3 out of 5 stars

Country Deli is one of many home style diners in PA – local residents are lucky to have so many breakfast choices. You’ll be lucky if you can find it, tucked back off 352 away from the road a little. Tiny inside, and slightly cramped, the dining room has wooden tables and chairs, a view of a nice mural along the back wall, and a collection of vintage cookie jars on shelves all around. The breakfast menu is balanced, and while some items are weekend-only options like cream chipped beef, pancake specials and eggs benedict, the menu is affordable so if you want to create your own “combo” you can.
I had some french toast with a side of sausage, but also snacked on my Mom’s scrapple because I was too nervous to order it for myself. It was tasty, like a mushy version of corned beef. My french toast was tasty and the service here was quick and efficient. You also won’t go wrong if you try one of the baked goods sitting in the case by the register. We tried a coffee cake laced with some lemon filling. Give this place a try for a filling and tasty meal at a great price.

Next door is the seed and feed store inside an old barn, where you can find deals on bird seed and pet food of all kinds.

Country Deli
(610) 558-3354

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4 out of 5 stars

I wouldn’t ordinarily be happy about being seated in an outdoor patio in January after waiting 30 minutes, but Elmo’s manages to keep their patio pretty warm.

My order of biscuits and country gravy contained the perfect biscuits – not crispy and greasy and crumbly like what you would get at Bojangles.. light and fluffy biscuits that gently compress like play-doh when you carve them with a fork. I’m not sure if that sounds as appetizing as it tastes. Ah well.

The country gravy was fine but strangely contained link sausage cut up instead of pieces of patty sausage or sausage crumbles. However the home fries were crisply roasted with a nice seasoning and the amount of food was bountiful, it included eggs as well. I would describe my husband’s “custom 4″ omelet, but I guess we’ll just go with a direct quote from the man himself: “omelet good.”

This turned out to be the perfect New Year’s day recovery meal. I wouldn’t say that after eating I felt energized, but I was hydrated by the all-curing combo: delicious coffee (which I am very picky about) and country gravy – the ultimate hangover sludge.

Elmo’s Diner
Carr Mill Mall
(919) 929-2909

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(919) 929-2909

3 out of 5 stars

Sunny’s just opened up next to the Bojangles on Glenwood. They’re nestled in with a gas station, an unlikely place for a diner, but as you walk in it feels homey. They’ve disguised the strip mall location with tile walls, vinyl seating and waffle-house style booths.

The menu is small but cheap, it’s more of a northern style diner than Finch’s. Meaning they don’t seem to have biscuits and gravy, the specialties are pancakes and thick slices of French toast. I ordered the corned beef combo, with eggs and potato hash and toast for $5.99. It was average. Corned beef was strictly from a can but they did crisp it nicely. Hubs had an egg white omelet, which they made for him though it wasn’t on the menu.

We both agreed that the food was cheap and of sufficient quality. Service was very quick – the waitress filled up our coffee continuously (a sticking point with hubby) and dashed about at the speed of light. We’re happy to have a diner nearby!

Sunny’s Diner
(919) 787-7715

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