Breakfast A to Z

Ed Murrieta/For the Northwest Guardian

ALL YOU CAN EAT

I tried The Lobster Shop in Tacoma, Red Wind Casino in Olympia and Zephyr Grill and Bar in Kent. The Lobster Shop wins, offering all the breakfast favorites (scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, omelets, etc.) and then some for $19.95: smoked prime rib, ham, salmon, oysters, shrimp, chowder, jambalaya, salads and fish cakes in Thai chili sauce. Stick with the buffet. “Made-to-order” Benedicts were rock-hard and bland. Desserts starred key lime pie and cheesecakes.

BLUEBERRY

As in blueberry coffee cake, which Anthony’s serves with Sunday breakfast. Menus are different at Anthony’s Point Defiance and Gig Harbor locations, but breakfasts at both locations come with fat hunks of the moist and fluffy cake, topped with crumbly streusel and served with cinnamon butter.

CONTINENTAL

At Wagner’s European Bakery and Café in Olympia, the $6.99 European plate includes ham, turkey and salami, triangles of cheddar and Swiss, a hard roll (with butter and coarse-grained mustard), fruit cup, pickle spear and nut-studded carrot cake that was like hunky pudding – it was that moist.

DINERS

From bacon and eggs to steak omelets to chicken-fried steak with creamy gravy, Marcia’s Silver Spoon makes consistently good breakfast.

Alfred’s Cafe stopped serving weekday breakfast in its retro diner. If you drop in on weekends, the triple-decker Monte Cristo ($7.95) with ham, turkey, Swiss and cheddar cheeses and a little mayo is an egg-battered delight, served with requisite raspberry jam.

EGGS BENEDICT

At The Rose Café in Puyallup, sweet folds of ham rested on English muffins in a $6.95 Benedict. Hollandaise walked the line between light and creamy.

While I missed the English muffins, I thoroughly enjoyed the crab cakes Benedict ($15.50) at Affairs Café. The crab cakes were fat, golden and almost fluffy. Hollandaise was creamy, not too buttery.

At The Bair Restaurant in Steilacoom, seafood Benedict ($12.95) stood out in both taste and presentation. Grilled English muffins were topped with fresh Dungeness crab. Eggs were poached in rings, giving them the appearance of egg tartlets. Hollandaise was smooth and delicate; the light tang of chardonnay replaced the lemon juice edge. A large prawn crowned the dish.

FILIPINO

Manila Center Diner does American breakfasts of eggs and pancakes, but skip ’em in favor of the Filipino breakfast entrees ($6.95). Boneless milkfish marinated in vinegar was fried to a greaseless golden brown. Cane sugar-sweetened longganisa sausage was cooked tender and sticky. Both are served with garlic fried rice and eggs any style.

GRAVY

There’s only one thing that can top the fat and fluffy biscuits at The Buttered Biscuit in Buckley: hamburger gravy that’s almost as creamy and tangy as stroganoff, thanks to a dose of heavy whipping cream, onions and garlic. Served over two biscuits ($8.75) or on chicken-fried steak or on the side.

It’s worth waiting until the weekend for the gravy at Wallaby’s Delicatessen. The biscuits (with gravy, $8.75) are good but merely get in the way of what’s otherwise a killer breakfast stew that’s chock-full of ground beef, sausage, bacon and onions. Order it as side, and eat it with a spoon.

HASH BROWNS

This is my breakfast bete noir: Many restaurants get the hash part right, but they bungle the brown. Wallaby’s Delicatessen does hash browns right. Finely shredded potatoes cook up fluffy, almost creamy inside. Outside, they wear their “brown” like golden, crusted armor.

It must be a South Tacoma Way thing, because not far from Wallaby’s, Marcia’s Silver Spoon serves beautifully browned shredded spuds.

IRISH

As in Bushmills Irish whiskey, a half shot of which wakes up oatmeal ($5.75) at Alfred’s Café. Alfred’s calls it “The Breakfast of Nighttime Champions,” but it’s served in the morning, too.

JAVA

Some places brew good coffee, others serve swill. But here’s something that makes any coffee delicious: Not having to ask or wait for refills. Manila Center Diner and The Homestead put carafes of coffee on their tables.

KARRY-OUT

It’s not that I didn’t want to sit and eat at this Spanaway diner, but when the counter gal at Kelley’s Kafe asked, “Is that for here or to go?” I jumped on the latter. As I waited for my breakfast, three people came and went carrying carry-out.

LOCO MOCO

A Pacific Island favorite that’s eaten all day, loco moco – a hamburger patty smothered in brown gravy, topped with fried eggs and served with (or over) rice – is also a breakfast treat. It’s served at B&I Marketplace in Lakewood ($4.25), Pac Island Grill in Federal Way ($7.50) and L&L Hawaiian Barbecue ($7.56).

MEXICAN

If menudo is not your thing – it’s deliciously tripey and chock-full of hominy at both Vuelve a la Vida ($7.50) and El Compadre ($8.25) in Tacoma – then try the chilaquallies at El Compadre. Chilaquallies are tender pieces of corn tortillas simmered in spicy red or mild green sauce and drizzled in Mexican crema ($7.25). Eggs on the side optional for a buck more.

NEWSPAPERS

What’s a lingering breakfast without the morning papers? McMenamins Spar Café in Olympia provides four dailies, free: USA Today, both Seattle papers and The Olympian, The News Tribune’s South Sound sister.

OCTOPUS

This one’s worth the morning drive to Seattle: At Lola, Tom Douglas’ Big Breakfast ($12) is an eye-opening dare even for the adventurous – red wine-braised Pacific octopus with heirloom potatoes, topped with fat-glistening pork belly, a fried egg and country toast. The octopus had the soft texture of pâté, the pork belly imparted smokiness into the zesty broth and the fried egg – ordered sunny-side up – spiked the breakfast stew with yolky goodness.

PIZZA

A pie topped with country gravy, scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage is better than it sounds. It’s $8.95 on weekends at Tides Tavern in Gig Harbor. If pizza’s not your breakfast thing, try Puget Sound Pizza in Tacoma on weekends. I enjoyed two eggs beautifully over-easy, with fresh parsley on top; bacon just shy of burned, home fries that had both color and flavor; and a split and grilled biscuit ($6.50).

QUANTITY

Dad’s Breakfast at Dixie’s Home Cookin’ in Sumner is a whopper: four eggs; sausage, bacon and ham (not a choice – you get ’em all); hash browns or home fries; biscuits and gravy or one pound of pancakes; and choice of toast, biscuit or English muffin ($11.95).

Kelley’s Kafe in Spanaway also does huge portions. The “Garbage” omelet ($7.25) was a beaut – filled with ham, bacon, sausage, peppers, mushrooms and three cheeses. The fillings almost burst from a dainty-thin, nicely browned omelet.

RICE

Potatoes are the usual starchy stars of breakfast, but I enjoyed the garlic fried rice at Manila Center Diner. Light, with nary a hint of fat, it had fresh garlic intensity and complemented the Filipino breakfast entrees.

SCRAPPLE

An East Coast staple, this hashlike mixture of cornmeal and pork trimmings is grilled up golden and tasty. It’s served with two eggs and pancakes in the “Feast from the East” at Uncle Thurm’s Soul Food in Tacoma.

TRUCK STOP

Thad’s Restaurant at the Flying J truck stop near the Port of Tacoma makes reliably good breakfasts any time of day. Home fries were fluffy inside and toast-brown outside. The Meat-Lover’s Benedict (with ham, sausage and bacon) was made for the long haul. Bonus: truck stop ambiance, where announcements on the Flying J’s speakers let you know when shower reservations are ready.

UNFILTERED

As in the unfiltered Wollochet Bay wheat beer at The Harmon Restaurant & Brewery in Tacoma. The beer pairs nicely with weekend pancakes, French toast and waffles ($5.95 each).

VEGAN

The Sunday brunch menu ($9.95) at Tacoma’s only vegan restaurant, Quickie Too, is pleasing. Meatless items include grilled seitan, tofu scramble, polenta with mushroom gravy, fried plantains, biscuits and fluffy blueberry loaf.

WINGS AND WAFFLES

Don’t ask, just try: Crispy fried chicken wings and tender waffles ($9.75) at Southern Kitchen in Olympia are a great combination – especially when you let some syrup drip onto the chicken.

If you want just a waffle, try the smoked bacon-pecan waffle at Fife City Bar & Grill, with diced meat and ground nuts inside. It hardly needs syrup.

X

As in all crossed up. Many places serve all-in-one dishes called “messes” or “scramlets.” When I’m in the mood for something mixed up, I like the San Francisco classic Joe’s Special – scrambled eggs, hamburger, spinach, onions, Parmesan cheese. Affairs Café does a good one for $9.25.

YOGURT

It comes with the tasty housemade granola (oats, cashews, raisins and sunflower seeds, $3.75) at Antique Sandwich Co. in Ruston. Add fresh huckleberries or banana for a buck.

ZORBA

Zesty Greek sausage, loukanik, spices up weekend omelets ($7.99) at It’s Greek to Me in Federal Way. It’s also served with eggs ($6.99).

The A to Z restaurants

Affairs Café & Bakery, 2811 Bridgeport Way W., University Place; 253-565-8604

Alfred’s Café, 402 Puyallup Ave., Tacoma; 253-627-5491

Anthony’s at Point Defiance, 5910 N. Waterfront Drive, Tacoma; 253-752-9700

Anthony’s Gig Harbor, 8827 N. Harborview Drive, Gig Harbor; 253-853-6353

Antique Sandwich Co., 5102 N. Pearl St., Ruston; 253-752-4069

The Bair Restaurant, 1617 Lafayette St., Steilacoom; 253-588-9668

The Buttered Biscuit, 760 Main St., Buckley; 360-829-2233

Dixie’s Home Cookin’, 15717 Main St. E., Sumner; 253-863-0111

El Compadre, 4002 E. McKinley Ave., Tacoma; 253-473-0335

Fife City Bar & Grill, 3025 Pacific Highway E., Tacoma; 253-922-9555

The Harmon Restaurant & Brewery, 1938 Pacific Ave., Tacoma; 253-383-2739

The Homestead Restaurant & Bakery, 7387 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma; 253-475-3252

It’s Greek to Me, 2322 S.W. 336th St., Federal Way; 253-661-8835

Kelley’s Kafe, 16302 Pacific Ave., Spanaway; 253-548-8265

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, 10417 Gravelly Lake Drive, Suite E, Lakewood; 253-588-8296; 32225 Pacific Highway S., Suite 105, Federal Way; 253-946-0788

The Lobster Shop, 4015 Ruston Way, Tacoma; 253-759-2165

Lola, 2000 Fourth Ave., Seattle; 206-441-1430

Manila Center Diner, 1607 S. Center St., Tacoma; 253-572-8061

Marcia’s Silver Spoon Café, 2601 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma; 253-472-0157

McMenamins Spar Café, 114 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia; 360-357-6444

Pac Island Grill, 2012 S. 320th St., Suite H, Federal Way; 253-529-8667

Puget Sound Pizza, 317 S. Seventh St., Tacoma; 253-383-4777

Quickie Too, 1324 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma; 253-572-4549

The Rose Cafe, 122 W. Main, Puyallup; 253-845-2874

Southern Kitchen, 621 Capitol Way S., Olympia; 360-943-8300

Thad’s Restaurant, Flying J Travel Plaza, 1501 33rd Ave. E., Tacoma; 253-922-8884

Tides Tavern, 2925 Harborview Drive, Gig Harbor; 253-858-3982

Uncle Thurm’s Soul Food, 3709 S. G St., Tacoma; 253-475-1881

Vuelve a la Vida, 5312 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253-473-7068

Wagner’s European Bakery and Café, 1013 Capitol Way S., Olympia; 360-357-7268

Wallaby’s Delicatessen, 3808 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma; 253-473-4556