Dined Monday August 18th

Bonatt's Bakery & Restaurant

Address: 537 Massachusetts 28, Harwich Port, MA 02646

Website: Bonatt's Bakery & Restaurant

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

• The parking area is located behind the property. The host stand is located at the rear entrance. The bakery at the front. Convenient for all parkers but for walkers it may be confusing. There is a hallway that takes you though the bakery side to the restaurant, however it is not near the host stand.
• We had to park in an adjacent lot for overflow parking.

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

• We were met at the door by a woman dressed in business casual attire. She asked how many we were and glanced slowly at the tables to her left, then right, and then offered us the counter as nothing was available anywhere else.  

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

• Sitting at the counter was a new breakfast experience, as it is not something we have done yet on our breakfast travels. The seats were wooden, but they swiveled, which always adds excitement and glee to any seating experience.
• There were no other patrons sitting at the bar, so it was almost like our own table.
• We were offered coffee by our server, however she did not introduce herself to us. Writing this, I have had an epiphany, that it is a rare thing on Cape Cod for your server to tell you their name. The amount of tourists that pass over the bridges may have caused the dining locations to have less of a ‘guest experience’ and more of a numbers game.

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

• Two pages of breakfast options were listed on the menu. We liked the organization of the menu. Try and follow along.  It was a tri-fold menu with the first interior page listing the first page of breakfast items, the back side of the third page served as the second page of breakfast items - meaning that to see the entire breakfast menu one would only have to turn one page not two. Kudos.
• It had enough choices but the gent still had a difficult time narrowing it down. The server came by twice in a eight minute window and then waited eight minutes to come back after that.

5. Menu highlights of uncommon items.

• Meltaway (The baked good this location is known for)

• Meltaway French Toast
• Crepe of the Day (Menu Board provides the daily offerings)
• Quiche of the Day

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

• The food was delivered very quickly. It felt as though we had just placed our order, had a sip of coffee, and then our plates were in front of us. Did they know what we were going to order?
• The food to plate ratio was not even, there was not enough room for all of the food, and the toast was piled on top. This was strange, as the toast was provided to the servers on a separate plate. Why not just serve it that way? Those dishes will need to be washed regardless. Give me my toast separately.

7. TASTE!

• Coffee. Ew. The flavour of this coffee was sneaky. It seemed okay at first, but the more you drank of it, the worse it got. The gentleman was not aware of the poor flavour until it was pointed out by the lady. Thus ruining the desire to have more.
• The Gentleman ate Jim’s special. Similar to all the other breakfasts he has had lately this one consisted of scrambled eggs, two pancakes, two slices of bacon, and home fries.  The gentleman also entertained the famous meltaway.  Eggs - enh. Pancakes - nothing special. Bacon - amazing, amazing, I wish there was more in me. Home fries - better than just potatoes. Meltaway - not as wonderful as remembered. They used to offer the meltaway for free just for showing up. The Foursquare (smartphone application with check-ins and reviews/tips) tips mentioned that the ownership had changed hands recently implementing some unwelcome changes. To me the charging of the first meltaway certainly drives the score down and makes the restaurant less of a destination.

• The Lady's meal of the morning was of course, eggs, toast, home fries, and meat. Linguica was the choice today. The linguica was better here than most places have been, it was more hot dog texture and less sausage texture. That’s how The Lady prefers it. Yum yum! The eggs were cooked well. The marble rye was a little too buttery, I’d like it moist and not dripping. The home fries were soft, but had a decent flavour, reminiscent of the spices one would place on potatoes baked in the oven. They would have been superb had they been crunchy.  There was a slice of melon on the plate as well. This did not add to the plate at all. This actually imbued the toast with a hint of cantaloupe. Not okay.
• The lady acquired a meltaway to share with her husband at home.

8. Value of product.

• If this location still offered a meltaway for free with each meal, the cost would be acceptable. With the fact that this is no longer part of their M.O. this breakfast is expensive.
• Coffee $3.00 per bottomless cup
• Side of bacon $2.50
• 2 eggs and choice of meat $8.00
• Muffins not available as a side order here, as they offer meltaways for $2.57

9. Payment options.

• We really should be checking this more thoroughly.
• They took the Visa that was presented. So cash, Visa/MC are most likely.

Overall Rating: 6/10

Overall:

We have decided that Bonatt’s would have received a 7 if the meltaway was still offered just for showing up. The prices they charge only make sense when you include the cost of a pastry. The food was actually pretty decent, there was not a part of the meal that turned our stomachs. The change of ownership resulted in this change of offerings, and we feel as though they have lost the one thing that made this restaurant special.