Tag Archives: breakfast

The Penrose

21 Nov

There are certain places that you duck into because they are convenient, expecting them to be good enough.

The Penrose was not good enough. In fact, it was great.

We ducked in for brunch one day when in the area (Upper East Side: On 2nd Ave between 82nd and 83rd to be exact) with the family and proceeded to have such a good brunch, that we went back a few more times since then.

I loved that they advertise directly on their menu that they use locally sourced eggs from the Brey Family Farm in upstate New York that are all natural, farm fresh, anti-biotic and hormone free.  Go eggs!

The shrimp and grits with the spicy sauce:

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The shrimp and grits without the spicy sauce (everything you want shrimp and grits to be!):IMG_6032

Burger with a fried egg:

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A beautiful plate of yogurt with granola and berries:

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Eggs benny with ham:

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And then… the pièce de résistance… the bacon, egg, and oyster sandwich with pickles on a brioche bun.

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This sandwich was so magical that the hard-to-please boys of our group started moaning while eating it. Even though I am allergic to part of it (it had some peppers spice in the breading, I think), I took a bite and then dealt with the itchy mouth and blisters forming on my tongue to have another bite. It was that good.

The best breakfast sandwich I’ve ever had, in fact.

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As far as unexpected fantastic meals, this was very high up on the list. I was surprised at how much we all loved it, and it was great that they have some surprising brunch menu items that you don’t find everywhere else.  It has been a hit every time we have visited and with everyone we have taken.

I’d burn my mouth all over again for another bite of that crunchy fried oyster sandwich.

Total Nom Points: 8 out of 10

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Maine Cubed: Boothbay Harbor- Dockside Grill

10 Jul

Our trip to Maine concluded with a visit to Boothbay Harbor, a town on a peninsula about an hour from Portland.  I heard it was beautiful, but a bit too crazy during peak season, so I was happy to be there when it was just before the high time.  We decided to take a Whale Watch on Cap’n Fish’s. We looked it up on our GPS and wound up at the hotel instead of the actual whale watch, but luckily they also sold tickets. We asked them for a recommendation on where to have breakfast, and they sent us to a property behind the hotel on the dock called Dockside Grill.

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A sign on the door sited apologies that they were closing early, about an hour later than the current time. We got in and realized that this meant they were out of a lot of items on the menu.  But we’re not picky!

The inside was a very casual diner atmosphere, almost greasy spoon-like.

Mike got the Meat and Cheese omelette and said it was “an omelette.”

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They were out of everything I wanted but I wound up getting a lobster omelette (that came with cheese that I believe was swiss) and some pepper-less potatoes.

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I actually really enjoyed mine. Only in Maine do you pull up to a random diner and get an entire hunk of claw in an omelette. Mine was a wee bit watery, and if not for the lobster quality itself it would have been a pretty average omelette, but you can’t resist this.

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Overall, it was a fine breakfast, but if I hadn’t taken pictures of it, I probably wouldn’t have even remembered we ate there.

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10

As a sidenote, we had over 15 sightings of whales on the Whale Watch later that day, as well as a seal sighting and just an incredibly wonderful time.

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Maine Cubed: Camden- Grand Harbor Inn

28 Jun

I did a lot of searching for hotels in Camden and really wanted to stay at the Grand Harbor Inn since we saw it being built on our kayak tour 2 years ago and it looks beautiful. But rooms were just out of our price range for a weekend getaway.  So I booked a night at the Lord Camden Inn, a very recognizable inn on Main Street with blue awnings, that happens to be the sister property of the Grand Harbor Inn. We checked in and headed up to our room… only to find that it was still occupied.  Luckily, the person wasn’t IN the room at the time, but I walked in and thought it just wasn’t cleaned, only to turn around and find car keys and credit cards on the shelf (scary).  

We went downstairs to the front desk, told them what we found, and without missing a beat the woman at the desk made a phone call and confirmed that “Room #11 was open.”  She apologized and very professionally told us that we were being upgraded to their sister property, the Grand Harbor Inn.  How on earth my luck came in at this moment, I have no idea, but it was some fantastic luck.

We went down the street and checked in. The woman at the desk gave us a personal tour of the room and pointed out some lovely features.

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We also had a large flat screen TV and a fireplace (which we turned on, even though it was warm).

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The bathroom was something else. Beautifully designed with a great jacuzzi tub…

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… and this… this pièce de résistance… the shower.  

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8 streams and all of them movable. I put this on very hot and basically had a back massage from the shower.  This was freakin’ heaven.

The hotel is on the harbor and just a short walk away is my favorite view.

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It’s a narrow harbor with beautiful boats in it. It always looks like a postcard.

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And as we sat there and took in the view, a loon (my favorite bird) made an appearance right in front of us.  

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Heading back to the hotel that night, after eating at The Pearl, we found our bed beautifully turned down.

The bed was probably the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. I thought the bed at Pomegranate was comfy, and I thought Westin Heavenly Beds are comfy, but they didn’t hold a candle to this cloud.

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This hotel doesn’t have a breakfast facility, so you fill out a card the night before and they bring room service up to you. It’s included in the room price.  We had a lovely breakfast of fresh fruit with yogurt and croissants.  Fresh coffee and juice.

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And we had “the worst view” in the hotel, with only a partial harbor view from the balcony, but it was still absolutely gorgeous.

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We had a phenomenal stay and that strange accident that brought us here was just kismet.It was easily the best hotel I have ever stayed at, and I’ve been fortunate enough to stay at some lovely places while traveling on business.

Our stay made a fan out of me and next time I’m in Camden, I know it will be worth the extra money to stay here again.   And hey… we might just be in the area to get married next year. I’m sure it would make for a lovely honeymoon suite!

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