Dined Monday June 30th

The Daily Paper

644 West Main St, Hyannis MA 02601

Website: The Daily Paper

Recent winner of Best Breakfast on Cape Cod 

by The Cape Cod Magazine

As such, we took a step outside of our 'alphabetical started in the middle' way of choosing locations, and decided to do a celebratory piece for their win.

1. Initial impression of convenience, parking, and location.

• This restaurant is probably the closest to our take-off point so far. Now that may mean nothing to anyone else but darn it this is our blog.
• There are many parking spaces available. This spot was the busiest of the places we have visited so far and we were still able to park with ease.

2. Wait time to be greeted, seated, and first impressions of staff.

• The greeting was immediate as we walked in the front doors, there was a server at the counter that acknowledged our presence and began the seating process.
• Initial impressions were good, there were smiles all around.

3. Type of seating, comfort, wait time for server introduction.

• We were given three choices for seating; outside patio, inside booth, inside chairs. We elected for inside whatever and the chairs are where we were sat. They were extremely uncomfortable. No lazy butts in these chairs. Sitting upright was the only option.
• A young girl arrived quickly to offer us coffee as we perused the menu. She returned at an appropriate time to take our order. There was no introduction so I guess she was our waitress.

4. Variety of menu options (too many/too little)

• The options for food were vast at this location. The menu has so many choices that for some it was more difficult to finally pick what they would order. There was also a special chalk board on the wall, listing other options not on the menu.

• This location did not have a meat + egg combo, meat must be ordered as a side dish.

5. Menu highlights of uncommon items.

• There is an entire box on the menu dedicated to healthy choices (for those watching what they put in their mouths)
• Chicken sausage
• Lemon poppy seed waffles
• Home Made Blueberry Compote
• Local coffee - Beanstalk Coffee Roasters of Wellfleet
• Early Bird Breakfast Specials M-F before 8am

6. Speed of food delivery, and first impressions of plating, initial aroma.

• We did not have to wait long for the food to arrive. We waited the right amount of time.
• We were delighted to see the plates filled with Goldilocks portions. One should not think their order will not be enough. It will be.

7. TASTE!

• Coffee. The coffee at the daily paper is local, from Beanstalk Coffee Roasters of Wellfleet and was exactly what you would want for your morning coffee. Yum yum!
• The gentleman's Homemade Sausage Gravy over Buttermilk Biscuits with two eggs and homefries was scrumptious. Small slices of sausage chunked up the creamy gravy that sat atop the two biscuits. The homefries were just okay. Nothing compared to our last two outings. The scrambled eggs were fluffy. The gent also ordered a side of bacon which was aromatic but brittle. Although parts of the meal were more warm than hot I would order again but leave the bacon in the precooked pan.

• The gentleman's fiancée joined us and ate the linguica, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich on an English muffin. She said it was very good. (You will have to imagine what it looked like, alas, as a picture was not taken)
• The lady's one egg with a side of linguica came to the table with a wonderful aroma. You could almost imagine the taste of the delicious meat in your mouth if you closed your eyes. The rye toast was soft and had the wonderful distinct flavour that any good rye bread should have. The home fries were a mix of soft potato and firm crust, with a seasoning that was mellow yet distinguishable, although they did arrive to the table cold. The egg was a perfect over easy, and broke nicely to release it’s fountain of golden egg goo. All in all, this breakfast was satisfying, and did not leave me hungry.

8. Value of product.

• The price of this three person outing was suprisingly minimal. The cheque coming in at just under $30 without tip definitely reinforces this breakfast joint’s value for what you get.
• Coffee $1.95 per bottomless cup
• Side of bacon $2.00
• 2 eggs and homefries $4.50
• Muffins $1.95

9. Payment options.

• Cash
• Visa/MC

Overall Rating: 8

Good:

For a ‘serves everyone (not necessarily a hangout of the locals)’ joint, the Daily Paper is decent. The parking was adequate, breakfast was good and filling, and the restaurant is clean. The decorations of the daily paper are interesting, and it seems as though the location is beginning to discover it's identity.

Bad: 

This is not a restaurant where everybody knows your name, you don’t know theirs either. The wait staff that we experienced could have some lessons in conversations. When the server was asked what she would suggest for breakfast, her response of “everything” was not helpful. As we’ve mentioned before, a breakfast experience can be improved significantly if you have a pleasant experience with those employed there.

Overall: 
The Daily Paper won ‘Best Breakfast’ for the Best of Cape Cod 2014 in Cape Cod Magazine. It also won a Silver in Cape Cod Times in 2013 and 2014. With these accomplishments, you would expect a 10/10, however, the impersonal wait staff that served us, the lackluster home fries and bacon bring our rating down.

Post Wedding Breakfast Special

The Sailing Cow Café

170 Old Wharf Road Dennisport, MA 02639

Website: Sailing Cow Cafe

1. Initial impression of convenience, parking, and location.

• The cafe is situated within condos and resorts on the seasonal coast of Dennis Port.
• Parking was limited to 20 vehicles though even on a Sunday there were spaces available. Possibly due to its proximity to the resorts negating the necessity to drive.
• The one knock would have to be that we were here two weeks ago and according to their website they would be open. They were not. We addressed this on their Facebook page and they responded without much regret.

2. Wait time to be greeted, seated, and first impressions of staff.

• The gentleman and his fiancé arrived first and were promptly greeted by a busboy and hostess. They were very kind and did not need to wait until the whole party was present.
• The initial impression of the staff was inviting. This must be trained exclusively for this as we were picking up the pieces as the dining experience progressed.

3. Type of seating, comfort, wait time for server introduction.

• The seating was plentiful with both inside and outside options available. We selected outside as the sun was shining and the view of the leathery, topless, elderly aplenty.
• The seating was typical for eating outdoors, plastic table, plastic chairs and an umbrella. Half of the party enjoyed the shade, while the other half endured the scorching blazing heat of the mid morning sun.
• At the Sailing Cow, there are a multitude of servers to assist you. At times it can become confusing as to who is your actual server. We did not have to wait for our server, as we had more than one! We were offered coffee by one girl, offered coffee again by another, and then finally our server came over to take our orders.

4. Variety of menu options (too many/too little)

• Too Little. Where’s the beef? Or any meat? What? If you would like breakfast at the Sailing Cow Café, you can have your choice of bacon or sausage (but not sausage, because they were out)

5. Menu highlights of uncommon items.

• Cowabunga Omelette (20 egg Omelette to be eaten within 40 minutes)
• Corn Bread French Toast
• Deep Fried French Toast

6. Speed of food delivery, and first impressions of plating, initial aroma.

• The food took slightly longer normal but not terribly long.
• The deliverer/main/older server had difficulty determining whose plate was whose as two dishes came without intended sausage.
• She thought either of two plates were the lady's but neither were, her plate followed moments later.

7. TASTE!

• Coffee. If you love your coffee to be watered down and tasteless, then the Sailing Cow Café should be the next destination on your list! It’s the Coors Light of coffee. (The Brown Bullet)
• The Gentleman would like to congratulate the lady and her man on their wedding. Friends and family crossed borders and bridges to see them married on the beach.  With their life together ahead of them they were still able to make breakfast. Coffee and confused service aside, his meal was not too bad. He ordered the Georgefarm Special. The older/main server had mentioned that this was the meal most men ordered. 2 eggs, 2 bacon, 2 sausage and two pancakes with toast and homefries, the menu read. 2 runny eggs, a handful of limp bacon, 2 sweet delicious pancakes, thick cut homefries and weak white toast he received. If there is a next time the gentleman would go straight for the pancakes, however no where on the menu is a plate of pancakes priced or mentioned.

• The Gentleman’s Fianceé was left hungry as the meal she ordered was unfortunately unsatisfactory. The timeliness of the table visits by competent service were too sparse to make any changes or complaints. The eggs benedict she ordered could have been just fine had it not been slathered with liquidy hollandaise sauce. Whomever makes the coffee must also create the sauce. She enjoyed the homefries as well as the sub she later needed to indulge in to fill her void.

• The Lady's order was not as expected. This restaurant did not have the option of a meat + egg combo, therefore it had to be ordered separately. One egg, one piece of toast and homefries with bacon on the side was ordered for this post-wedding breakfast celebration. The egg, surprisingly enough, was an egg! It was over-easy, not easy-over, and was cooked perfectly. The Rye toast was light and fluffy, and had a wonderful mouth-feel. The homefries were delectable, firm, yet soft at the same time. Just the right combination. The flavour of the homefries was wonderful, providing  The bacon was unfortunate however. It is disappointing when there is no choice of kielbasa or linguica. This establishment had paper thin bacon. More like air with the taste of cured pork than anything with substance. When the lady had half a slice of toast left, she added some sugared berry flavoured spread to it, and picked it up to take a bite. One of the many servers came in with stealth and took the lady’s plate right out from under her. Oh well, I guess I was done with that anyway?

• The Lady’s Husband ordered the grilled French Toast which would be considered “normal” French Toast as the other option was Deep Fried. It came with butter packets on top which the gentleman would consider disgusting, as it had touched other hands before laying atop the French Toast.The powdered sugar was just enough to add a little sweetness, but not overly so. But the time it had come out of the kitchen, the top piece was a bit cold, but the flavour was good. After obtaining some table syrup (authentic maple syrup was not available) in a squeeze bottle, the French Toast was complete. The bread had a nice crust on the outside, and was nice and fluffy on the inside. The flavour was good, and as the slices disappeared, the warmth was found in the lower slices. The home fries were ordered as a side, but came on a full meal sized plate. And while the husband quite enjoys this amount of food, it could be a turn off to some. But oh the taste! The frying of the potatoes was exceptional, and the spices added some zing, but not enough that it was overwhelmingly spicy. Although an abnormally large amount for a side dish, it might have been a better dish than the French Toast.

• The Lady’s Brother-In-Law had the Georgefarm Special. He thoroughly enjoyed his pancakes, as he exclaimed on more than one occasion throughout the meal. They were delicious and fluffy. The Lady’s Brother-In-Law, after noticing that the Lady’s plate was taken mid meal, held on to his pancake plate to prevent it from being removed before he was finished.

(The Lady's Brother-In-Law Chris, and yes ladies, he's single)

8. Value of product.

• (value of product comments)
• Coffee $2.00 per bottomless cup (although for a full cup of all-coffee-hold-the-extra-water it would probably be more)
• Side of bacon $2.95
• 2 eggs and choice of meat not available. 2 eggs available for $4.50
• Muffins $2.95

9. Payment options.

• Cash
• Amex, MC, Visa

Overall Rating: 6/10

Good: 

It was nice to have breakfast outdoors, as it was a beautiful day on Cape Cod (as most days are when you live by the beach) Parts of the meal were enjoyable.

Bad: 

The food overall was not good. There can be no middle ground when you are breakfasting. It should be all or none. Although the homefries and pancakes were delicious, they do not make up an entire meal. The outdoor seating seemed to be too close to the other tables, as part way during the meal the table next to us was filled, and The Lady was squashed by a larger gentlemen who sat down without a care that there was someone behind him.

Overall: 
The fact that we had attempted to dine at this location once before and discovered that it was not actually open (although their website and Facebook page indicated we could dine there beginning Memorial Day) should have been taken as foreshadowing for how the breakfast would play out. The menu options available were disappointing, the food was sub-par aside from the pancakes and homefries, and the wait staff charged with removing dishes were oppressive. There were parts of this meal that were enjoyable, however overall it is not a location that we will return to unless we are in the area and our cars break down.

A Week Off

Due to "real job" scheduling we could not get together this Monday for our weekly breakfast write-up.
This edible outing is not a paid gig. We pay for our own breakfast. Eating food without bias. We eat what we want and pass the flavours on to you. Undertaking such a minimal cost endeavor still requires funding which has been earned from working at large, non food related, corporations.
To date, the lady and gent, have sat down at five locations thus far. There is a not-so scientific process to our choices. We are going alphabetically. Please don't be worried about not seeing the posts for the locations we hit pre-P because there were none. We started with 'P'. Why? We were hungry and didn't know where else to go.
The alphabetized method was created to prevent us from visiting only familiar restaurants. Only two of the spots had the gentleman visited before; The Pancake Man and Piccadilly. The former he had not been into in at least 12 years during a vacation, and the latter used to have clowns plastered on every wall which scarred poor Aaron. He has lived on Cape Cod for ten years, having moved here in 2004. With his first paying job being as a lunch and dinner restaurant waiter he had many mornings open. Pre-determined favourites would not suffice for Carissa. New to the Cape in 2014, the lady wanted adventure. She yearned to visit the untouched Cape Cod. Diners, dives, posh resorts, B&Bs, food trucks, donut shops, delis, cafes, coffee shops, convenience stores, and farmers markets, from Provincetown to the Cape Cod canal. We would go wherever she could get here hands on some eggs and a side of meat.
So it was agreed. We would go in an order that wouldn't rule out any establishment. Tackling two restaurants per letter. Recording our stops wasn't even discussed until day one.
How do we keep track of all this? At first it was thought that a memento from each restaurant would help us remember. Perhaps a take-out menu or a mug. The Pancake Man had some clever t-shirts hanging from the rafters. They also sold mugs at the cost of half our breakfast. Too costly a memento. How about words and pictures? Those are as free to us as is this blog to you.
It has become apparent that half the fun of our excursions has been writing about it. We would like to thank you for coming by each week and reliving our meals and experiences.  We hope you will follow us all the way back to 'O' and on. If you have any thoughts or recommendations please comment here or wherever you found us. The gentleman is willing to try meal suggestions, it will be seen if the lady will stray from her eggs and meats.

Dined, Monday June 9th 2014

South Street Depot

605 Main St. Dennis Port, MA, 02639

Facebook Page: South Street Depot

Side note: We had originally planned for our outing to be at The Sailing Cow Café, however once we arrived we quickly discovered that although their website indicates they are open beginning memorial day, they in fact do not open until June 12th.

1. Initial impression of convenience, parking, and location.

• Conveniently located a ways down the street from our original choice. After driving for a bit and trying to decide where to eat, we happened upon this location.
• The parking lot had plenty of open spaces, and as I reminisce I now believe those cars in the lot belonged mostly to employees. Perhaps a trick to make unsuspecting people believe it is busy and popular.
• This location had previously been the Egg & I. The waitress was taken aback when we mentioned we had never eaten there before. Sorry miss but you are just one of an obviously large number of breakfast joints. We only came here because our first choice was closed.

2. Wait time to be greeted, seated, and first impressions of staff.

• This location has recently changed ownership, and was empty on the inside. We were greeted immediately by a gaggle of employees standing at the bar. The one that actually acknowledged our presence came out of the kitchen.
• We were provided the option of sitting in the room with the bar, or in the dining room. We chose the latter.

3. Type of seating, comfort, wait time for server introduction.

• The seating options were hard wood chairs in the dining room, or excessively tall, hard wooden chairs in the bar room. The chairs in the dining room were hard, and I have a sneaking suspicion they were equally hard in the bar.
• Our server greeted us within moments of being seated, and promptly provided us with coffee to sip on as we perused the menu.

4. Variety of menu options (too many/too little)

• There were two pages on the breakfast menu, with one of the options (breakfast buffet) being unavailable to select.
• The options were not so many that choosing was difficult, however there were not so few as to make you feel as though you did not have a choice.

5. Menu highlights of uncommon items.

• Breakfast Buffet (not available yet, although it is on the menu)
• Country Breakfast
• Breakfast Burrito
• Alcohol

6. Speed of food delivery, and first impressions of plating, initial aroma.

• The wait felt like an eternity, to the point where there was some consideration of searching for said breakfasts.
• The plating left something to be desired, food simply tossed about willy-nilly.
• There was oddly enough no aroma to speak of. Foreshadowing?

7. TASTE!

• Coffee. The coffee was good. It had a flavour that we couldn't put our fingers on.
• The gentleman's appetite had a hard time negotiating with his mind. The option of chicken and waffles appeared again, and again they were dismissed. Maybe I like the idea more than the option. To suit the testing fancy two breakfasts were selected. One, a breakfast sandwich with bacon on a croissant and the other dish, two slices of Texas French toast. The feeling overall was that the dishes lacked heat. The French toast was good but luke warm. The breakfast sandwich was hastily prepared. The egg was done slightly over medium, the bacon apparent, and the croissant sliced in half. All things that are necessary in making a breakfast sandwich. However(!), the cheese was pulled straight from a package and sprinkled within the sandwich lacking any heat to melt it. The meal was plated without care or interest in quality. The home fries were great.  Recommendation: Promote the sous-chef.

• The lady's (overpriced) two egg with meat plus home fries (linguica today as there was no kielbasa) looked exquisite as it arrived to the table. As I dug in however, I began to notice something was amiss. What should have been a mouthful of succulent linguica with warm gooey egg and toast, seemed oddly wrong. As I took more bites, it became more alarming. This mouth feel was bad. Poking around my plate, I confirmed my sneaking suspicion that the eggs were in fact under cooked. The yolk is the only part that should be runny on an over easy. The eggs I had been served were cold, and still had the clear snot of the white visible. As I played with my second egg on the plate (the yolk and white easily separated with my fork, the yolk being raw enough to remain in ball shape) the waitress noticed and my eggs were replaced. It was actually hot this time! Needless to say, raw, cold eggs are disgusting and should never have made it on my plate and out to the table. As I write this review, my gut is rumbling angrily. We shall see how this day plays out.

8. Value of product.

• The coffee at this location was not the most expensive we have seen. However, overall, South Street Depot was over priced.
• Coffee $2.00 per bottomless cup
• Side of bacon $4
• 2 eggs and choice of meat $8
• Muffins - none to speak of.

9. Payment options.

• Visa/MC/Amex
• Cash

Overall Rating: 4.5/10

Good: 

Pleasant wait staff. Plenty of room for large parties. Clean. Home fries.

Bad: 

This is the first time we have encountered cold and under-cooked food. This is alarming for an establishment that just opened a few weeks ago, and just started serving breakfast this week. If you want to make it, your food should be a 10/10 from the get go. The gentleman couldn't get past the poor signage and menu design. If we weren't looking for a place that specifically started with the letter "s" we would never have stopped here.

Overall: 
The new owners also own a popular seafood restaurant located nearby. This information lead to expectations that the prices would be high and the food decent. At least we were half right.