Sunday, July 20, 2014

Los Gatos Cafe (Breakfast/Brunch), Los Gatos, CA

Breakfast is easily one of my top three favorite meals of the day, and few places in the South Bay do it quite like Los Gatos Cafe. Others mass produce mediocre food at lightning speed, pride themselves on carton eggs, and charge ridiculous amounts for tiny portions. LGC, on the other hand, avoids those three negatives by serving quality cuisine at reasonable expense. Each dish is made to order by a skilled staff that specializes in benedicts and "egg souffles", two of the most difficult morning entrees. Outside the kitchen, staff bounce from table to table taking orders and delivering plates, eyes bright and smiles wide. In a small city renowned for overpriced foodie-favorites, trendy flameouts, and improperly popular cantinas, Los Gatos Cafe provides a refreshing reprieve.


Two days back, after a depressingly long early morning doctor's visit at Good Sam, I made the decision to try the "best breakfast in town". After driving in circles for a solid twenty minutes in search of a parking spot, one miraculously opened up right next to the front door. It must have been a sign. Walking in, my heart dropped when I saw the "cash only" placard plastered on the register. An ATM in the corner came to my rescue, and I proceeded to take a seat near the back door. Looking over the expansive menu, I decided to order a classic benedict - the Californian - to establish a baseline.


The food took about fifteen minutes to arrive, and only about five to eat (don't judge, needles take more out of you than a blood sample). My benedict, which I oddly paired with a blackberry pound cake and grits, was fantastic. Both eggs were perfectly poached and placed atop a pair of avocado halves and thick ham slices, which in turn rested on a toasted English muffin. A layer of thick (but not too thick), creamy, and well spiced Hollandaise topped it all off. It may have been the best benedict of my life. My side orders did not reach the same level of excellence. Though well made, the blackberry pound cake was hard to eat (too crumbly and full of seeds), while the grits next to them were basically terrible. They had the consistency of a tomato bisque your uncle dropped a bag of oyster crackers in (a.k.a. mushy and runny). The ball of pancake butter placed on top didn't help matters, and even after asking for cheddar of brown sugar, the bowl was still a mess.


Grits aside, my first experience at the downtown Los Gatos Cafe was a positive one, unlike previous ventures to the uptown location. Here, I left a handsome tip for the service (tipping is almost against my religion) and took a delicious cinnamon roll for the road. There, I threw out my order and nearly got in an argument with the waiter over the proper fillings for a Denver Omelette. Needless to say, I enjoyed this spot far more, and look forward to coming back in the future (preferably without getting shots first).


Los Gatos Cafe on Urbanspoon

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