Sea Street Cafe
Address: 50 Sea St Hyannis, MA 02601
Website: Sea Street Cafe
1. Initial impression of convenience, parking, and location.
- With access off South St., parking was simple. Rolling in around 8:45am there were few other cars to contend with (later, while exiting, the parking lot was busier and slightly more difficult to navigate).
- The scent of cooking bacon was strong upon entering the parking lot. Was this good news for our breakfasts?
2. Wait time to be greeted, seated, and first impressions of staff.
- We were greeted immediately upon entering, and advised to take a seat anywhere.
- We chose a table somewhere in the middle.
- The server, like the air around us, warmed from frozen as the meal progressed.
3. Type of seating, comfort, wait time for server introduction.
- The chairs were weighty, though comfortable. The table was small, typical of a two seat setup.
- The server was at our table immediately, offering beverages to start. She returned frequently asking if we were ready to order. We were not ready each time she came over.
4. Variety of menu options (too many/too little)
- Overall there was a decent listing of options. Egg+meat combos, omelettes, sandwiches, specialty plates, pancakes, and french toast.
- Where we could get a little nit picky is that the omelettes and breakfast sandwich options required too much concentration. There were a handful of price points on add-on fillings. One could not simply order a Western Omelette, the ingredients are selected individually.
- The specials on the board did not reflect breakfast but probably the specials from the lunch menu the day before or what’s to come later.
5. Menu highlights of uncommon items.
- Cape Cod Benedict - eggs on lobster cakes
- Open Flame Grilled Western Pizza - a pizza with scrambled eggs, peppers, onions, ham and cheddar cheese.
- New York Breakfast Sandwich - smoked salmon, whipped cream cheese, scallions, sliced cucumber, tomato and red onion on toasted marble rye
- Latkes (potato pancakes)
6. Speed of food delivery, and first impressions of plating, initial aroma.
- The food arrived at the exact moment the gentleman started to spin his head around thinking the food should have arrived by now. No points deducted. Well played Sea Street. Well played.
- There were plates, and there was food on them. The lady’s plate seemed very moist.
- There wasn’t much of a scent to the dishes when they arrived at the table. They were simply there.
7. TASTE!
- Coffee. I LIKE MY COFFEE CRISP (and not burned)
- The gentleman likes to peruse the menu looking for the perfect combination to satisfy his vast, fat inducing, greedy, last supper-like, palate. After going over the tizzy that were the sandwiches and omelettes he decided to order a more straight forward option. Like his grandfather and spaghetti, the gentleman rates a diner on their pancakes. If there is nothing screaming “eat me” from the menu, go with the cakes. Applewood Smoked Bacon was ordered in addition to provide the crunch. Three, eight inch diameter pancakes arrived stacked, and the bacon arrived on a side plate numbering in four. The pancakes were lightly browned in color and quite tacky in texture. They stuck to each other but not enough to remove each others layers. Overall they were heavy and not too sweet. The gent did receive a compliment from the waitress on how he prepared his pancakes for syruping and consumption. Directions: butter layers individually, re-stack, cut like a pie, drizzle syrup down the cracks and over the top layer. Enjoy. The bacon was a little over cooked with an okay flavor and crunch.
- After much deliberation over what to eat, The lady ordered the Santa Fe Breakfast Wraps (scrambled eggs, peppers, black beans, roasted corn, tomatoes, onions, pepper jack cheese and a side of chipotle sour cream with homemade baked beans or roasted potato medley). Choosing from a menu is one of the least favourite things for this lady, and ultimately results in regretting the decision made. Initially thinking ‘wraps’ was a simple mistake on the menu, upon arrival it was discovered that no, you get two entire breakfast wraps. The lady doesn’t have the appetite or stomach that can stuff two entire breakfast wraps with a potential of 4+ (looked closer to 6) scrambled eggs into it. After the lady got over the initial shock of how much food there was, it was decided that the wraps were overly wet. They simply looked soggy. The first bite proved this to be true. Nothing better than a mouth full of warm, moist, mush. The wraps were standard flour tortillas, they were tacky and drippy. The egg to vegetable ratio was off (too much egg, not enough veg). The final stake through the heart of this breakfast was the fact that although it didn’t mention this in the menu, there was cilantro inside of these wraps. This needs to be called out in the description of the items inside. Perhaps the Sea Street Cafe is unaware that there are those of us in the world that absolutely despise the herb! Yech! Once the taste of cilantro reached the lady’s palate, there was no going back. No longer were there any other flavours but that wretched item. The only saving grace was the potato medley that was chosen over the beans, as there were already beans in the Santa Fe Wraps. The few potatoes were not bad in flavour, consisting of garlic, oregano, butter, and scallions. Though a few potatoes were undercooked and still crunchy inside, this could be overlooked as the taste was not bad. The lady opted out of the chipotle sour cream, as it is an unnecessary fat addition to the meal, and would be just as bad as dipping it in mayonnaise.
8. Value of product.
- The Sea Street Cafe leans more towards the expensive side of the breakfast locations.
- Coffee $2.50
- Side of bacon $2.95
- 2 eggs and meat $8.50
- Muffins ? There were muffins, the price is a mystery. (They were the type of muffin that was likely a purchased mix, and baked each or every other day)
9. Payment options.
- The standard options. Cash, credit, debit.
Overall Rating: “Should’ve Said No”, Taylor Swift (2006)
This location was chosen for the return of Canucks on Cape Cod for a few reasons. Tripadvisor lists this restaurant as 4.5/5, it shows it as the #3 place to eat in Hyannis, and there is also a picture on their site of the owner of the establishment with Taylor Swift. Well, a famous person had finalized our decision (although the lady is aware of the name Taylor Swift and what she looks like, don’t ask her what songs she sings, because the lady has no clue.)
A pleasant, comfortable, atmosphere alludes that the Sea Street Cafe has their stuff together. We would not cast aspersions on anyone remarking this is their go-to diner. Our experience wasn’t enough to bring us back, especially when we drive past more consistent, delicious, offerings enroute. The weight in our bellies and drips on our shorts will be our lasting memories.
