Dish Cookhouse

My Hams

This is our new favorite breakfast place hands down.

We were very disappointed with our trip to the Blue Fox a few weeks ago, and after all the praise that place gets, how can this place not have a line-up out the door?

Well, I guess I know why: it is out of the way in an obscure and industrial part of Sidney, but we were going out the the Shaw Ocean Centre again, so it was part of the trip. And, from now on, we will make it part of the trip.

Dish has a totally diner feel, and I love that. I hate when places try too hard to be something they are not. This place is totally clear what they are: a diner that serves home style food of a high quality.

The service is fantastic too. And they made their own hot sauces. We tried them all, and our favorite was a sweet chipotle one that replaced ketchup for Matt (who usually puts ketchup and his ketchup).

The child friendly factor was high as well. When Charlie started to crab, they brought out a basket of toys and books for him! How awesome is that?

Matt and I both ordered skillets, but there were a million other things we could have tried. Something that looked like berries on French toast came out just before our food did looked fantasticly drool worthy.

We were very happy with what we had though (and it sounded the same for all our dining companions).

I had the Turkey Sausage and Bacon skillet with sourdough toast (and house made preserves), poached eggs, and hollandaise. The meats, as far as we could tell, were all made there and freaking fabulous! My skillet also had tomatoes and green onions (and hashbrowns of course).

Matt had one of the daily specials (they had many written on boards around the room). This was a Jalapeno Sausage Skillet. It had red peppers, crispy onion, mushrooms, the sausage with sweet potato hash browns.

Oh god. Now I am hungry again (although I wasn't AT ALL for a long time after this meal).

We will be back, sooner rather than later. I quickly added this place to my "favourites".

Blue Fox

We have been wanting to try Blue Fox for a while. Many of our friends speak very highly of it. We have also been cautioned against going there and expecting a table right away.

However, it is Monday morning. We are heading out at 8AM; Matt doesn't need to be in today; I will be fine if I am in for 9. We head downtown with C to check out the hub-bub.

We get a table right away, but it is close. There are not many left even on this odd day at this early hour. The host bring us an acceptable high chair and offers crayons.

Our waitress, however, is not so baby adept. She bring water, but only 2. She does not ask if she can bring a side plate or anything for the little one; however, the host, again, checks on us later and bring said side plate. The service was also speedy, and if we were coffee drinkers, our coffees would have received many refills.

Matt orders an omelette: the Mexi-Omelette. It is HUGE. MASIVE. It looks great, and the main ingredient is pulled pork. He selects the raisin toast. This is the first time he isn't able to finish a breakfast, but the waitress packs it up for lunch. Although, generally satisfied, Matt thinks that pulled pork in an omelette is weird. The toast is the highlight, as is the tiny cup of preserve.

I order a benny: the Badger Benny. I have very little positives to share. I don't like the bagel. It is too tough and difficult to cut through. Also, Benny is heavy enough; I'm not worried about the calories (duh, butter butter butter sauce), but why add something to make you feel like you ate a brick? The sausage casing is stringy, and really should have been removed since it is dangling in the sauce like a (I edited out here what it was dangling like, as it was just too gross and expletive, but I will fill in the blank upon personal request). The tomato was over grilled and possibly over ripe, to the point of being mush. The hollandaise was good, but it was nothing to write home about, or pay $13 for for that matter. On the plus side, the eggs were perfectly done.

Anyway, the bill was $30 with no drinks. Although the food was mediocre, I will not write this place off. I wish I had had the Breakfast Salad or the Apples French Toast. If I have an opportunity to go back, that is what I will try, although I will not go out of my way to make an opportunity. I really think the draw here is portion size, and really, I would have have excellent flavour over anything else.

Blueberry French Toast!

Cost: $3

Prep: 20 minutes

Did you guess correctly?

Since it was a lazy Saturday morning followed by a very busy Saturday, I wanted to make something special for breakfast. French toast is Matt's favorite, so this was his vote. I like French toast because you get a serving of protein in as well.

So, I made a pile of toast: 8 pieces which used 4 eggs. If anyone doesn't know how to make French Toast, you must come over, and I will cook it FOR you, and then you will know how.

To make this even more special/delicious, I made us syrup as well. In a pan, I melted a bit of butter then added about 1/3 of a bag of blueberries. I don't particularly like these blueberries. The brand is Europe's Best, and they are "wild blueberries" which seems to just mean super small. Because they are so small, I find that they are not very good for adding to a lot of things, like pancakes for example. I was glad to use them up.

I simmered the blueberries in the butter then added a crap load of brown sugar (as Matt later told me, it was "Golden" sugar, not brown) and some cinnamon. I then simmered until it was thick like syrup.

The sauce was very special, but I found the flavor overpowered the toast. Matt and Charlie really liked it, especially Charlie who mostly picked out he blueberries.

De Dutch

Coupons, coupons, coupons. I love couuons! Especially the ones that come free in the mail.

Awesome highchair

So, we received coupons for De Dutch in the mail, and decided to revisit this place we have not ate at since university. They used to have coupons in the Entertainment Guide, then those were only good at another location, then that one closed, etc, etc. We haven't been to a DD in six or so years.

They were very child friendly. GREAT highchairs. GREAT kid's menu with prices starting at $4.75--much more reasonable than other places. Charlie isn't big enough to need his own meal yet, but I will keep this in mind.

As for the regular menu, it is a bit pricey. I realize that it has been 6 years, but I do not remember it being this expensive (without the coupon our bill probably would have been $40).  A side of syrup for $4? Really? I'll pass on that.

I also find the menu very confusing. I wasn't sure exactly what I was ordering, so I ordered one that had an illustration. There was this giant section on the bottom where the pannekoken seemed very inexpensive, but I wasn't sure if you were just ordering the toppings or what. I guess I could have asked, but, meh.

Another check in the positive: it was ridiculously quick. Like, 5 minutes, no more than 10, quick. That was great. It left us very little time to repeat "Don't eat the crayons."

The food was also hot and tasty. Matt had the "Canadian" or something like that: eggs, back bacon, tomato, and maple syrup. By the time I remembered to take pictures, the toppings were all gone so I didn't bother. I, personally, don't like back bacon, and it is too difficult to chew for Charlie, but Matt likes it. I did not go in the savory directions. I ordered the "Peach Melba": whipped cream, raspberries, and peaches. I find that when anything comes with whip, it is WAY too much, and that was true here. Charlie ate a huge portion of it, so it worked out. I didn't realize there would be table syrup though. If I had, that may have swayed my choice towards a savory.

My pannekoken (sp?) was yummy. It is like a crepe. I ate most of my fruit before I took a picture though, so I must apologize.

I love breakfast. I would rather go for breakfast than any other meal of the day. I am finding it very over-priced though. For years we would get breakfast at this place called Tino's. It was 2 for 1. And I understand why: breakfast food is cheap. I'm not sure why there is such a big mark up on breakfast, but if any one knows a good place that is inexpensive (bonus if they make a great Benny), you must tell me.

I'm going to give De Dutch a tentative "I like it" on Urbanspoon. I do like the staff, atmosphere, and food, but it doesn't mean I will be back.

Weekend Treat: Red Feather Cafe

Our little family ventured out to Keating this morning to try the Red Feather Cafe. We had bought a Couvon and are always looking for a new breakfast joint. I am not going to "rate" whether I like it or not on Urbanspoon because our family's reviews are very mixed.

Matt was a big fan. He said he would do the drive again to eat here.

I said that I wouldn't, even though it had some positive attributes.

Charlie said, "Mamama ball ba ba da ca ca ok".

Charlie enjoying the decor

I really liked the decor: flowers and chickens, bright and clean--very clean. The service was okay, although the waitress who sat us did not even acknowledge that we had a small person with us, bring a highchair, or bring a water for him. We had to ask for a highchair, which may be because 18 year old girls think toddlers will sit in a booth? I don't know. Regardless, the next waitress who visited offered crayons, which we turned down so we need not repeat "Don't eat the crayons!" for the rest of the meal.

The menu was decent; although, again, no kid's menu. Breakfast places: put on your menu a $3 single pancake for kids (the awesome Willie's Bakery does) or a $4 single piece of toast, 1 egg, 1 bacon.

Matt and I both ordered the Crab Cakes Benny. This is where we have mixed reviews.

I thought it was strange that it was still served on an English muffins. Yet, the crab cake was on an English muffin. This worked in our favor, as Charlie had some muffin, but it is unnecessary. I ended up deconstructing mine and eating the crab cake separately.

Charlie eating eggs, I mean a napkin

I wasn't a fan of their eggs or their Hollandaise. Both were very bland. I, like Charlie, might as well have been eating my napkin. Also, the eggs were incredibly watery.

The crab cake, however, was good. We had a disagreement over it at first; I thought it was made with imitation crab. But I did concede to Matt, who argued that it was real, and we later agreed that it probably was so spongy because it is canned crab meat.

We also both agreed that the hashbrowns/home fries were well done. Very crispy with lots of green onion! My only complaint about these is that I had one that tasted very dirty (ie like soil still).

I don't really have anything else to say. The Red Feather Cafe was okay; I wouldn't recommend it, but I wouldn't caution people against it either.

Cinnamon Raisin French Toast

Cost: $2

Prep: 2 minutes

Yum! A special spring break breaky for the whole family.

Raisin bread turned into French toast with lots of cinnamon (and butter and syrup). Three pieces for Dad, and three for Mom and Charlie to share!

Brannigans

This is my second time going to Brannigans for breakfast. Both times were enjoyable.

Today, we were a difficult party to deal with: three moms, three toddlers. They had enough high chairs, more than enough actually, but if we needed any more seats, there isn't much they could have done, as we seemed to be at the biggest table, which was for six. I need to find somewhere that has long tables rather than booths for big group mom and babe outings, as moms need to be beside babes to feed them, wipe them, take the crayons out of their mouths.

Anyway, back to the food. Charlie and his buddy started with a blueberry muffin. It was decent sized, but a bit over priced at $2.99.

Mom 1 had the Blackstone Benny.

Mom 2 had sausages, eggs, toast, hashbrowns, and 1 pancake (to share with Baby 2).

I had the Crab Cakes Benny. It was amazing. The eggs were perfect. It had Bernaise rather than Hollandaise, and it was very creamy. The crab cake was surprisingly good for this type of place; I'm not sure whether they make them on site or bring them in frozen.

I really enjoyed their hasbrowns, although some people might say they are over done. I like mine quite crispie, and these were.

I really like this place for breakfast, but I wouldn't venture there for any other meal. I am not saying anything bad about this establishment or their cooking, but it really feels more like a breakfast diner than anything else.

My only real compliant: I think they are overpriced. We ordered the boys the muffin because it was the cheapest thing on the menu. Even a side of toast is $3! The kid's meals are crazy expensive: almost $7 for an egg, 2 bacon, and a pancake. Also, it seemed to come with a sundae? Who wants their kid to have that at breakfast?

The last time I was here I had the Lumberjack Skillet: hashbrowns with veggies with two poached eggs and hollandaise on top. It was great, but it was also $13.99 (my meal today was $11.79). I just don't understand the pricing. Why would the Lumberjack Skillet be a full $4.50 more than Traditional Eggs Benny? I think if they brought their prices down a dollar or two on most items, especially kid's meals, I would be more inclined to frequent here more, well, frequently.

Big Breaky

Charlie and I slept in this morning and woke ourselves up to a nice, big breakfast.

We had bacon, eggs, toast, strawberries, and hashbrowns.

The most important part, however, was the coffee. But, if you ask Charlie, it was the ketchup.

Weekend Leftover Breakfast

This is from last weekend, but I just wanted to share this idea for using leftover slow cooker ingredients. This easily could be paired with a side salad and served as a dinner.

I sauteed the leftover potatoes on the skillet, fried up some eggs, and toasted some focaccia bread. Seriously, focaccia bread is the best thing to happen to eggs since chickens.

We are going to try, eventually, to have a meatless night. We eat too much meat and can save some money this way. Not yet though. This week we eat steak. Stay tuned for meal plans.