Frappe - Crows Nest, NSW

Starting from the top left going down:
Veggie wrap: Salty (might be too much aioli)
Coffee: good
Veggie stack: good
Frappe (tropical flavored): good
Outside view: ok
Salad: rocket(arugula) and haloumi was good
Pasta: good

Overall: good...just no wrap again.

Bruxie (Gourment Waffle Sandwiches) - Brea, CA

Do you like waffles? I like waffles. On one of those travel shows, I saw that waffles were eaten sweet and salty in Belgium. So when I heard about this place, I really wanted to try it out. Waffles all day? Sounds great!

Roasted Mushroom & Goat Cheese

I tried the savory Roasted Mushroom & Goat Cheese waffle. There's goat cheese, basil, arugula, mushrooms, and a balsamic reduction. It's pretty much a sandwich but with waffles as bread instead. At first bite, there was hardly any goat cheese, and it didn't taste so great. After a couple of bites, you get into the more heavily spread goat cheese and the combination was perfect. Like this one a lot!! Just have to open up the waffle to spread the goat cheese more evenly for myself (since I like more evenly spread items).

Bacon, Egg & Cheddar

The Meat-eater liked his Bacon, Egg & Cheddar waffle as well. Asked for no mayo on this one.

Seasonal Creme Brulee

Afterwards we wanted something a little sweet and tried the Seasonal Creme Brulee. There's vanilla creme with burnt raw sugar pieces in it with the strawberries. The fruit is seasonal, so maybe there's blueberries or something during other times of the year. In any case, this was also good. I think having a whole one would be too much, but since we each had a piece, it was the perfect amount of sweetness.

So what do you like about waffles? If you like a flavorful sweet waffle, then this may not be for you. I cannot attest to how authentic these are since I have not been to Belgium. However, if you like a crispy on the outside, non-doughy light inside waffle (like myself), then you will enjoy these. There is no flavoring to the waffles as the food on it takes center stage. I think it's perfect this way, since the food inside is flavorful enough for me. Thumbs up!

Note: If you get something juicy, then the crispiness of the waffle will of course disappear quickly due to the moisture. Also these locations have enclosed patios with heaters for the winter. It's not a restaurant setting. Dress warmly if it's cold.

Bruxie

http://bruxie.com/

Eaten at Brea Location:

215 W Birch Street, Suite 1

Brea, CA 92821

714-255-1188

Sun to Wed: 9am - 9pm

Thurs to Sat: 9am - 10pm

Zov's - Irvine, CA : Special Omelet

Zov's breakfast is yummy and is served until 2:30pm on weekends. I love omelettes so I tried Zov's Special Omelet. Delicious!

Zov's Special Omelet

Their omelet is very simple with tomato basil relish and feta cheese and comes with a hash brown cake and some berries. The Meat-eater though their hash brown cakes were kind of bland, but after adding some Tabasco sauce it was perfect. It could have been bland, but I added ketchup to mine and it was perfect for me. So I guess I prefer foods slightly less intense so that you can add flavors if you need to. It's easy to add a bit of ketchup or some sauce to your food, but you can't take away salt if your food is too salty, right? The omelet was good too, the cheese, basil and tomato flavors blended well together. Yum yum...will be back to try other foods!

Zov's

http://www.zovs.com/Default.aspx

3915 Portola Parkway

Irvine, CA 92602

714-734-ZOVS (9687)

Corner Bakery : Baked French Toast

French toast can be very tasty, but kind of a mess to make...so I wanted to try the one at Corner Bakery (so I didn't have to cook...heh heh).

Baked French Toast with Scrambled Eggs

This meal comes with french toast, eggs, and bacon. I obviously didn't eat the bacon, but asked for it on the side so that The Meat-eater could have it. =) Win win!

So when I think of french toast, I think of sliced bread in a custard wash that has been cooked. This looked more like a cake to me, but I was willing to give it a try. Well...this particular type was not to my liking...it was rather doughy...and I do not like doughy. Hence why I like thin crust pizza. The eggs were fine...I don't think you can really mess up plain scrambled eggs...can you? That's all I have to say about this...doughy and not to my liking. So maybe if you like thick crust pizza and like the dough in things...you'll like this type of french toast?

Corner Bakery
http://www.cornerbakerycafe.com/home.aspx

Homemade French Toast

Got some whole wheat bread that I thought would turn out good as french toast...so I gave it a try. We like Alton Brown's French Toast Recipe. It may have some additional steps such as heating it in the oven after you cook it...but it cooks all the way through and is not soggy or dough-y this way. Way better than some restaurant french toast we've had...because we don't like soggy or dough-y. The Meat-eater likes this breakfast!

French Toast with MorningStar Farms Veggie Sausage Patties

I didn't have any half and half so I used what we had (soy milk) instead. The taste was still pretty good...maybe not as custard-like as if using half and half. Also the recipe calls for 1/2 inch thick bread...and these were 1 inch thick...so the bread to custard ratio was smaller...therefore tasting less custard-y. I ate mine without powdered sugar...but you can top it however you like. The Meat-eater also likes the MorningStar Farms Veggie Sausage Patties. I had another meat-eater friend say they liked these too. So maybe this can be a breakfast the vegetarian and meat-eater can eat together. =)

Marmalade Cafe - Tustin, CA : Egg White Frittata with Fresh Garden Vegetable

This was the first time I've been back to Marmalade Cafe in a while. The one in Calabasas, as I recall, was pretty good...so I wanted to try this one out. Let me start out by saying our service was not so good. I kept looking over at the next table and wishing that the girl over there was our server instead of the extremely slow guy that obviously didn't want to be there. =(

Egg White Frittata with Fresh Garden Vegetable

Included in the frittata are julienne carrots, zucchini, squash, peas, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, red onions, and basil. It comes with their Marmalade potatoes and choice of toast. I got an English muffin but didn't eat it. Now looking at this meal I thought it'd be rather healthy, but in actuality it's rather greasy. The potatoes were greasy and the eggs were greasy. I was rather disappointed. The food I had at the Calabasas Marmalade Cafe was pretty good. So it's either that the food in Tustin is not as good and/or my tastes have changed. Sadly I do not wish to go back to try anything else. But remember, this is just my opinion and tastes. Perhaps you do not think the way I do and will really enjoy the food.

Marmalade Cafe

http://www.marmaladecafe.com/home/

The location this was eaten at:

Park Ave

2667 Park Ave

Tustin, CA 92782

714-566-0100

Hours:

Sun - Thurs 8AM - 9:30PM

Fri - Sat 8AM - 10PM

Old Vine Cafe - Costa Mesa, CA : Vegetarian Omelet

The Camp is located diagonally across the street from The Lab "The Anti Mall" in Costa Mesa, California. At The Camp is this little restaurant called Old Vine Cafe. It's like a cozy cafe in Europe with a few tables and chairs placed very closely together. Being that size, there can be a wait before you get seated. Just write your name down and they'll call you when there's something available.

Vegetarian Omelet

The vegetarian omelette included zucchini, eggplant, shitake mushrooms, manchego, queso fresco pecorino,and basil pesto. It came with a side salad and cinnamon roll. So manchego (I just looked this up cuz I'm not that good of a cheese person) is cheese made in the La Mancha region of Spain from the milk of the Manchego breed of sheep. Pecorino is also a cheese from sheep's milk...but it is a hard Italian cheese. Not sure what queso fresco mean. I didn't ask...I was just hungry. Either being hungry made the food taste good or the good tasting food made the food taste good. The salad is healthy and omelette is semi-healthy cuz it can be greasy. I'm not fond of cinnamon rolls so can't say that I really liked it (it's not healthy either)...but everything else was good! I highly recommend this place and The Meat-eater does too.

Old Vine Cafe

http://www.oldvinecafe.com

2937 Bristol St. Suite A-102

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

714-545-1411