Breakfast Club Volume 4

This week is the special SPRING BREAK EDITION of The Breakfast Club. How exotic, right? Not really. I came back home to Millburn New Jersey for a couple of days and happened to get breakfast with my Mom and Brother. I chose to pick the "breakfast hot-spot" in my town called, The Bagel Chateau. *Before I let the reviews roll, I'll give you a small background behind the chateau of bagels. When I was in High School, this was where most people went for lunch during senior lunch break or a half-a-day. Oh half-a-day's how I miss thee. But seriously, for some people, they consider this the mecca of breakfast and lunch food. Why? Well because it's a almost like "The Wiz" from Saved By The Bell where everyone goes either to be seen or to enjoy an overpriced meal bagel or breakfast.


Ben: I went to one of Millburn New Jersey’s better established delis which is located downtown Millburn. I have been a loyal patron there for years, filling my need for fresh, great quality bagels. I paid $6+ for a everything bagel and a peach Snapple. I know times are hard and small businesses need every penny they can get. The quality was still the same which I have grown to love. But six bucks and change is a little too expensive for my blood.



Sam:
Although we arrived around one thirty in the afternoon, the BC was relatively busy. It was a difficult task to find a comfortable place for three people to sit down. I ordered my usual two eggs over easy and french fries* with an ARIZONA ICED GREEN TEA, the total price came to about 7.58 or something close. Which according my math is a bit pricey. The food arrived within in five minutes, I splattered my ketchup explosion on the food and was ready to devour. For around eight dollars I expect a dish with either really large eggs, or french fries to be overflowing from the sides of the plate. Neither circumstance occurred. The eggs tasted as if they were covered in a windbreaker of butter. Not that It prevented me from eating them, but just enough butter that I could taste the margarine night club in my mouth. Before I knew it, my meal was gone and I didn't feel as satisfied as I have in the past. Overall, I suggest this restaurant if you're in the town of Millburn and want to see girls in those black spandex pants, listen to a noisy room, or observe how wealthy people eat. If you're into those things please attend, If not, go to Morris Turnpike and stop in at Bagels 4 U.
*Apparently this meal, huevos estrellados is very popular in Spain. I think i'd fit in there very well.

Food: C
Service: B
Atmosphere: B-
Overall: B-


Gaylee (Mom) Yesterday I went to Breakfast (Sunday) with two very special dates. They wanted to have bagels, so off to the Bagel Chateau in Millburn we went. Small family kind of place. The restaurant is self service, you give them the order they give you the plate. I am not a Bagel eater (carbs and all that) so I decided on my favorite dish, the Egg White Veggie Omelet. Prepared right in front of you, it comes in a generous size, filled with onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms. It was very good. I would even rate it a l0, juicy crunchy on the inside. The price is however, is another question, I thought it was extremely high. I believe it was ten or eleven dollars. IT MUST BE BECAUSE IT IS MILLBURN N.J.

Stay tuned soon for the Montreal edition of The Breakfast Club. Coming Up soooooon.

Breakfast Club Part 3

Sorry about the delay, but we've been waiting to bring you our smartest and most intriguing critiques of the snaziest breakfast joints around. This week the crew visited What A Bagel Cafe . The bagel spot is located on 476 Mamaroneck avenue in White Plains, New York.

Blythe:


what-a-bagel?!?! more like what-a-bummer!

due to our late start sunday morning, we arrived at this mamaroneck joint right before closing. for that reason, the cafe/convenience store, stocked with twinkies and little debbies in the refrigerated display case, had very limited bagel choices: blueberry, rye, honey wheat, whole wheat sesame, and, much to my dismay, SUNFLOWER SEED.
for my breakfast, i chose a toasted blueberry bagel with cream cheese. after a few bites, i began to realize that my bagel tasted remarkably similar to a slice of pizza. the bagel being the crust, the blueberries the tomato (a bit of a stretch, i know) and the cream cheese, obviously, being the cheese.

enough rambling, on to the ratings:

service: B-
took forever!

price: D
my bagel was 3 bucks, and frank's was about a thousand.

taste: B
let's face it, it' hard to go wrong with a bagel, but just not great.

overall, i wouldn't recommend this place, especially to those seeking a great bagel. if the owners agreed to pay as much attention to their bagels as they did to their energy drinks and trail mixes, i maybe, MAYBE, would give them another shot.


Frank:

What A Bagel! didn't have the best nor the worst bagels i've ever had (starbucks at SUNY Purchase bagels take that prize). I ordered a Bagel with cream cheese and lox which came around to 7 dollars. The food was average at best and the selection was pretty bad. Most of the bagels were gone and the people at the counter felt like they didn't want anything to do with us. I'm usually all for your basic bagel shop, but this one just schmeared me the wrong way (pun intended).


Sam:
Being Jewish comes in handy sometimes, when I'm shopping, when I'm dealing with old women and when I'm at the bagel place. So having the religious pre-requisite to judge a good bagel, please take my criticism seriously. Finding our way to the store was a difficult. Practically, a hole in the wall, What A Bagel doesn't have the proper bagel store front that I expected a good bagel store to have (whatever that means). So, when we finally came into the store at around one o'clock, the store was ready to shut down. Due to the time, the variety of bagel's was not as plentiful as earlier in the day, or so I presume. I ordered the classic Tuna Melt on a whole wheat sesame. I find that this sandwich is a staple in the bagel world. To truly be a great bagel house one must need to get the basics correct. My bagel was warm and toasty and filled the spot, but it was nothing I couldn't make myself. However, I felt that the cheese was a little too sharp and the tuna a little too potent. One other problem I had was not with the bagel itself but with the bagel makers. As a customer, I feel that a major part of a good breakfast experience is service, and this store did not contain an ounce. I understand that the store is about to shut down on a sunday afternoon, but c'mon guys. If I'm going to spend money in your store at least make me feel welcome and i didn't. I apologize for the schvitzing, bubbies.

Bagel B-
Service D
Overall C-




Stay tuned for more breakfast club updates. Would you like to join in our morning expeditions? Leave a comment or send an email to: theloveschack@gmail.com

The Breakfast Club/ Part 2

This week the breakfast club ventured to one of the classiest breakfast joints in the tri-state area, to a little place called The Star Diner. Located on 66 East Post Road, White Plains, New York. Star is literally the size of a train car. It's maximum capacity holds approximately 40 people, who might all be anorexic. Although a great place to grab a cheap bite, the diner is located in a neighborhood where what some people might classify as the "hood". If it's one in the morning or one in the afternoon, you can always count on the Star to deliver a delicious, greasy, hot meal.




Blythe: let's face it: we all knew we were going to be satisfied with the star from the beginning. small, hot, dirty - this place is everything you can ask for in a diner. for my breakfast, i got 2 eggs scrambled, toast, homefries, and bacon. for just 5.50, i dined like a queen. on to the ratings...

1. service - as always, A
2. food - good, but i'm still sweating out the grease, B+
3. atmosphere - full of the best and worst of white plains, always an interesting environment, A

Frank: The Star Diner is a staple for any person living near the White Plains area. I've usually reserved the Star Diner for late night, most likely intoxicated meals, but this Sunday morning breakfast was more than I could ask for. I ordered Two Eggs (over easy) with Canadian Bacon, but truthfully I probably could have ordered anything and I would of liked it, that's just the type of place the Star Diner is. It is a tiny, cramped, personal restaurant where you literally hear the waiters yell your order to the cook who is standing just on the other end of the counter. The food always comes up fast, hot, and delicious. If your looking for a great breakfast either before or after you actually sleep, then the Star Diner comes highly recommended.


Rob: My first daylight trip to the Star. What craziness! Usually I go for a short stack or a burger deluxe, but this time around, I was feeling saucy, so I ordered the corned beef hash: a healthy portion topped over-easy and a shire of homefries and white toast. The coffee presidential, the toast just toast. Stellar homefries seasoned to perfection. Entreé superb: the salty beef, the dripping egg... ahh... no words...


Sam: I just want to start off by saying that being from New Jersey, I strongly believe I am one to critique. I've been to the Star about 5 times already this semester and have yet to be let down. This time I got coffee, my usual 2 eggs over easy with french fries and a charity piece of bacon from Blythe. Although the meal was nothing out of the ordinary, the meal was out of this world. We received great service from our Spanish speaking waitress, I even attempted to speak Spanish to the waitress but thought I would save myself the embarrassment for next time. Everything was cozy and enjoyable and when you only have to wait 5 minutes for your meal, you know this place is doing it's job right. Overall A

Keep showing us some love, follow the blog, leave a comment or write for this goddamn thing. Until next week.

THE BREAKfast KLUB

The Breakfast Club/ Part 1

I enjoy eating, I enjoy going out to eat, and i enjoy watching Top Chef. I thought that the blog could use a food section, So along with a couple of friends, we decided to create the breakfast club. The breakfast club is an exclusive bunch that goes out to breakfasts every Sunday to eat delicious food and give our thoughts on what we think of the food that we've consumed.


This week the bunch ventured to America's favorite diner, Denny's. We chose the closest restaurant near Purchase which was located in Danbury Connecticut. Here are our reviews:



Emily:


Blythe: 1) bathrooms smelled very nice and the staff was very attentive when it came to toilet paper.
A-
2) our waiter, though he only spoke in one tone, was very friendly, accepting of the fact that we acted like assholes most of the time, interested in not only the breakfast club, but also the price of sam's camera, AND most importantly, willing to ask us if we would like pancake puppies.
again, gonna give this one an A-
3) a staff member who was not obligated to wait on our table provided emily with crayons and powder that made her water blue...and she did it without a sly remark or funny look.
this one deserves an A
4) grits sucked. they looked like snow that had been peed on.
D


Frank: For my Denny's meal experience, i choose the infamous Western Burger. This bad boy was topped with onion rings and a steak sauce. I'm not gonna lie, when i saw the burger I was about to consume, i was a nervous man. The only rational thought that came to my head was "Ok...maybe if i eat it slow enough, I won't feel sick." This unrealistic solution of mine actually paid off though. I felt just fine after my Western Burger and enjoyed my Denny's experience to say the least. High points included: drawing with ketchup over un-eaten gritz, our waiters enthusiasm in asking us if we wanted any Pancake Puppies, and the blue water.

*I forgot to take a picture :(
Sam: "Going to a restaurant almost 40 minutes away, I thought that it was appropriate to order the most well known dish that Denny's has to offer, THE GRAND SLAM/$5.99. The Denny's Grand Slam offers the customer a choice of 4 sides from 8, including 2 pancakes, 2 Eggs, Sausage, Bacon, creamy grits, oatmeal, french toast or hash browns. I was feeling adventurous so i chose the pancakes, eggs, bacon, hash browns and for an extra 99 cents thought I would try some creamy grits. Everything came out pretty quickly, in the meantime while waiting, we watched Emily do the zig-zag puzzle with her two flimsy crayons. Once the meal arrived, I grabbed my fork and knife and dug into my meal, the eggs tasted great, the bacon was crispy, the hash browns along with the right amount of ketchup also tasted pretty scrumptous. The Pancakes could have been a little more cooked, but whatever. Wondering where the creamy grits went? They stayed right on the table, I'm sorry that i didn't take a picture of what they looked like, but imagine what snow oatmeal would look like and taste like and that's exactly what I received. So excluding the grit mush bowl, I was pleasantly satisfied with the meal. Overall B-"

Stay Tuned for next week's, when The B.C take a visit to the Cracker Barrel.

Love,


PS- This post is dedicated to Jeff, thanks for the great service!