Brazil

Sunday mornings are one of my favorite times of the week, and I generally like to celebrate them by taking myself out to brunch.  It can be a chore to decide where to go, especially when there is a group involved.  This Sunday, we ventured over to Brazil, mostly because it was on the way to somewhere else.  

The brunch menu at Brazil is pretty weird and crunchy, like the restaurant itself.  There were items like flaxseed waffles, which I am deeply distrustful of.  I don't like it when places take a healthy word (flaxseed) and pair it with an unhealthy word (waffles) and then try to trick you into feeling good about making dubious choices.  I mean, really, if you drizzled omega 3 fatty acids on waffles, does that really make them healthy? I don't know.  So I went with a basic breakfast plate, and frankly, it was just ok.  The eggs came in their own oval-shaped bowl, scrambled with feta and a pretty garnish.  The bacon was greasy, but I don't really like bacon by itself anyways so I gave it to David.  The side of tomatoes came out lightly breaded and pan-fried, I would say a bust.  Probably should have picked potatoes.  

The really annoying thing about Brazil is that it's counterservice, and the coffee is BEHIND the counter.  So you have to go fight the line when you want a refill.  And the cups aren't that big to start.  That's really why I won't go back here very often.  Also, because I have really great cholesterol numbers as it is, so flaxseed can go fuck itself.

Empire Cafe II

I have to hold up my end of the blog I spose. I had never eaten at Empire Cafe except for 1/2 price cakes and it
is the only place where you can really get Boston Creme Pie, my uncles favorite cake. Why it is called pie, I will never know. Empire has the best coffee. 1) it is unlimited 2)it comes with a cookie 3)the mugs are the perfect size to keep the coffee the correct drinkable temperature. I always come for coffee and love sitting on the porch out front to watch cars go by on Westhiemer. It is not as special as Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans but what do we really have here that is close to comparable?

For the Hurricane, I got to venture out and eat at Rucci's again. And finally, I have paid for breakfast at Empire. The quantity is large and the quality is great. It is a full, complete meal. But then again, I did not have a chance to make a moronic mistake of eating french toast, as I always do for fear of not eating a substantial meal during hurricane power outages.

The first day, I ate Hunter's Eggs. Sunny side up eggs on top of bread, with sauteed mushrooms and tomatoes. I think the bread under the eggs made the meal complete. So the next day I ordered Foccacia Eggs, which had two scrambled eggs on top of foccacia bread. The side was a cheddar hash brown, just crispy enough. Both of these meals came with fruit. Yum!

Eat a meal here! I recommend eggs.

Empire Cafe

Special Edition: I have no power for 5 days 

and eat at Empire for every meal 

since restaurants are still limited by the 

mother-of-a that left a trail of No-Power 

all over the Can-Do Capital of the World

Empire Cafe has great breakfast, and I should know since I ate it today and twice yesterday.  I was just so happy to have hot hot coffee that I couldn't leave.  Someone clever might say "Ike 'ant get enough."  

There are a million reasons to go here: foccacia eggs, gingerbread waffles, generous fruit plates, half-price cake on Wednesdays, but the train whistle that keeps blowing in my ear is the free cookies you get with your cup of joe.  There was a sign today that listed everything they didn't have (basil, liquor, bacon, pinot grigio, portabellas, etc) but the only thing on that list that was accompanied by a frowny face was cookies.  So yeah, I was sad that there were no cookies, but I ordered my coffee with a shot of espresso and let all my worries slip away.

Parts of this city are scary dark. I am grateful for the coffee each morning brings.