Breakfast Tour: Surrey's
Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:06 am
Three of us had breakfast at Surrey's on Saturday. I live within walking distance yet I rarely eat there due to the lines and the whole neo-vegan thing they having going on. However, this place is extremely popular with the uptown "let's have a three hour breakfast after waiting in line for an hour on a Saturday morning" set.
There was the briefest of waits as we all did shots of wheatgrass juice on Magazine St. After that, we were seated in the back. We are asked if we want coffee or juice. I elected to have the Orange Pineapple Mango juice, a large as well as some coffee. DC 1 had the grapefruit juice and DC 2 went with straight orange.
I have hilarious story about "juicing". Back in the 90s, my law school roommates who were like one step away from being 'roid heads, bought a juicer. And that's all they did was "juice" for every meal. The one imbecile was so hyped up on beta carotene that he turned orange. Literally. Then their big plan was to buy all these "juicers" and sell them along with vitamin supplements to the unwary. Needless to say one of these dbags took a year off from law school to get his life together. (I guess failing Civil Procedure had nothing to do with it.) The other guy hasn't filed a tax return in ten years. If they actually had a brain between the two of them, they could have started a breakfast restaurant in the Lower Garden.
But I digress. The coffee is brought promptly and it is good not great. The Orange Mango Pineapple juice is friggin phenomenal!!!! I mean maybe ex-roomies were on to something. Good thing I seized their inventory of juicers when they failed to pay the electricity bill.
I order their rendition of the Bananas Foster French Toast. DC 1 orders Oatmeal and a fruit plate. Wuss. And DC 2 goes with the Migas with Chorizo.
Despite the crowd, the food is brought fairly quickly. The oatmeal is by far and away the best thing. It is like my grandmother's. I am on the verge of asking for a trade. But I don't. DC 2 picked at the Migas but I could tell she didn't really like them. Despite my prompting, the most I could get out of her was a "I am just not that hungry." She was also not pleased by the fact that there were chunks of raw garlic in her grits. I tasted them, and while I love garlic, I can attest that this was not a seasoning that was necessary to what otherwise would have been a very good bowl of grits.
The Bananas Foster French Toast was good. It was certainly better than the rendition I had at the Ruby Slipper. But it came with a rum sauce that I thought overpowered the french toast and added a somewhat awkward flavor to the dish.
Now for the sticker shock. The bill came to $60. The juices were $6.15 apiece. Geez o' man.
Overall, I think the place is pretty good, I just don't see how it gets its reputation as the be all end all for breakfast in Uptown New Orleans. Recommended.
There was the briefest of waits as we all did shots of wheatgrass juice on Magazine St. After that, we were seated in the back. We are asked if we want coffee or juice. I elected to have the Orange Pineapple Mango juice, a large as well as some coffee. DC 1 had the grapefruit juice and DC 2 went with straight orange.
I have hilarious story about "juicing". Back in the 90s, my law school roommates who were like one step away from being 'roid heads, bought a juicer. And that's all they did was "juice" for every meal. The one imbecile was so hyped up on beta carotene that he turned orange. Literally. Then their big plan was to buy all these "juicers" and sell them along with vitamin supplements to the unwary. Needless to say one of these dbags took a year off from law school to get his life together. (I guess failing Civil Procedure had nothing to do with it.) The other guy hasn't filed a tax return in ten years. If they actually had a brain between the two of them, they could have started a breakfast restaurant in the Lower Garden.
But I digress. The coffee is brought promptly and it is good not great. The Orange Mango Pineapple juice is friggin phenomenal!!!! I mean maybe ex-roomies were on to something. Good thing I seized their inventory of juicers when they failed to pay the electricity bill.
I order their rendition of the Bananas Foster French Toast. DC 1 orders Oatmeal and a fruit plate. Wuss. And DC 2 goes with the Migas with Chorizo.
Despite the crowd, the food is brought fairly quickly. The oatmeal is by far and away the best thing. It is like my grandmother's. I am on the verge of asking for a trade. But I don't. DC 2 picked at the Migas but I could tell she didn't really like them. Despite my prompting, the most I could get out of her was a "I am just not that hungry." She was also not pleased by the fact that there were chunks of raw garlic in her grits. I tasted them, and while I love garlic, I can attest that this was not a seasoning that was necessary to what otherwise would have been a very good bowl of grits.
The Bananas Foster French Toast was good. It was certainly better than the rendition I had at the Ruby Slipper. But it came with a rum sauce that I thought overpowered the french toast and added a somewhat awkward flavor to the dish.
Now for the sticker shock. The bill came to $60. The juices were $6.15 apiece. Geez o' man.
Overall, I think the place is pretty good, I just don't see how it gets its reputation as the be all end all for breakfast in Uptown New Orleans. Recommended.