Hearth 'n Kettle

Hearth 'n Kettle

Address: 1225 Iyannough Rd Suite 3, Hyannis, MA 02601

Website: Hearth 'n Kettle

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

• Easy to find in the heart of congestion. The entrance to the parking lot is located a short distance from stop lights; so you have time to find it.
• One inconvenient truth is the location of the bathrooms. As the Hearth ‘n Kettle is located within a resort, the bathrooms serve the public for the entire floor. You exit the restaurant doors and trek all the way around the exterior and down a hallway to locate the facilities. Expect it to add some time to your visit. The plus side to the bathrooms is the touchless experience. Both hand drying options of paper and air are available. Also, the creme de la creme, a freakin foot pedal so one can open the door towards them without using the handle with their, hopefully, freshly washed hands but using their dirty-ass shoes! Let’s make this a thing everywhere.

2. Wait time to be greeted, seated, and atmosphere.

• Once inside the resort the doors to the restaurant are ahead and to the left. Once through those doors a hostess stood to greet us immediately. We were sat, without wait, at a spacious wooden booth.
• The atmosphere was warm and inviting. Wood was everywhere, making up the siding, walls and booths. It all blended together comfortably.

3. Server introductions, impressions and attentiveness.

• Our server whisked by twice both times acknowledging us and letting us know she would be back shortly. One of us was on a journey to the toilet at the time so it was hardly an inconvenience.
• Although the waitress did not give her name she did wear a name tag.
• Debra was perfectly attentive and communicative. When we weren’t ready to order she let us know she was going to feed some others and after that explain the menu to us.

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

• The Hearth ‘n Kettle has two pages of menu items, with a small specials list. There are no ‘make your own’ items. Substitutions are not an issue.

5. Menu highlights of uncommon items.

• The Downeaster - Two homemade seafood cakes with scallops, shrimp and fish golden fried and topped with poached eggs, bacon and our cheese sauce, served with homefries. (The lady was under the impression that there was some rule against serving fish and cheese together. Well, not according to the Hearth ‘n Kettle.)

• Green pesto Omelette
• The majority of the pancakes were gluten free, and gluten free bread was available upin request, providing multiple options for our gluten free readers.

7. TASTE!

• The coffee was nothing to call home about. It was drinkable however, and came in a ‘serve yourself’ kettle apparatus.
• The Gentleman had the Brioche Melt Sandwich. His first foray into the breakfast sandwich world (except for the Farmhouse Wrap from the Underground Cafe but that’s different). He didn’t know what brioche was nor did he ask Debra when she took the order. He just ordered. He also upgraded the home fries to Pilgrim Fries. Get some cheese on that. The sandwich was sort of like a Monte Cristo and served like one with a side of pre packaged table syrup. The brioche was a bit bland without the syrup but lit up with it. Cheese melted on top of ham and egg sandwiched between the brioche. Brioche is softer, fluffier bread according to Wikipedia and my eyes. Once the gent got moving he didn’t want to stop. The weight in his belly was the only barricade.

 

• The Lady opted for the H'nK Potato Cakes and Eggs. She had her eggs poached, and requested no sour cream, and substituted salsa instead. The eggs were a tad over poached, the potato pancakes consisted of peppers, onions and some kind of seasoning (most likely just a bunch of salty salt flavoured salt things). It was salty, thank goodness for the salsa, which hid the salt a bit. Overall, it was potato-ey with egg.

8. Value of product.

• The prices were reasonable for the portion sizes. You certainly didn’t feel as though you were getting ripped off.

9. Payment options.

• All of the options

Overall Rating: When the place you want to go is busy or closed, Hearth ‘n Kettle is there for you.

The Mills Restaurant

The Mills Restaurant

Website: The Mills Restaurant

149 Cotuit Road, Marstons Mills, MA 02648

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

• This location is located between exit 5 off Route 6 and Route 28.
• For this Monday morning the parking was ample. Come Saturday or Sunday there could be some issue finding a spot right away.
• The address is 149 Route 149. So that’s easy to remember.

2. Wait time to be greeted, seated, and atmosphere.

• We hadn’t even had the time for our eyes to adjust before we were greeted with smiles behind the counter and asked for our party size. We were directed to a corner table in the main front window where the sun was at our backs keeping us warm on this autumn feeling day. The corner table at the back of the room is also the best location to be able to watch the happenings.

Never sit with your back to the entrance.

3. Server introductions, impressions and attentiveness.

• Ashley pleasantly served us. We know her name was Ashley because that’s what she told us. Possibly for the first time ever did we get a name. We didn’t give our names since she could be a spy.
• We were promptly served coffee and given small instructions on the menu.
• Ashley overheard us speaking (spying) about the unavailability of their donuts this day and inquired with the chef if it was possible to bake us up one. It was possible!

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

• Although the menu was vast, it was surprisingly not overwhelming. The choices were varied for a multitude of different tastes, and it was easy to pick out what you wanted fairly quickly.

5. Menu highlights of uncommon items.

• There were unique items on both the normal menu, and the specials menu. This was a refreshing sign, as we’ve had poor luck lately with breakfast joints being boring.
• Summer local fresh vegetable hash
• Fenway Omelette
• Pulled Pork Huevos Rancheros
• Well, we could go on forever (or the length of the menu). Take a look at the pictures to see just how many interesting choices there were for breakfast.

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

• The donut was served first on a side plate and atop a paper doily. The doily was strange but added a nice country feel akin to the rest of the restaurant.
• The meals arrived in proper time. Almost like they knew what we wanted to eat.... also with doilies.

7. TASTE!

• Coffee was tasty. Nothing spectacular, but it was not horrible. It was just right.
• The Gentleman’s pistachio donut was delectable. It was the only available flavor/style that they were already going out of their way to serve so there was no complaining. As it turns out, after speaking with the owner, there are only two styles ordinarily baked there; pistachio and triple chocolate. More often than not it is the pistachio that is made as it is requested far more often. The gentleman went safe with his meal order and grabbed the Whole Farm breakfast. The usual combination of two eggs, two strips of bacon, sausage, pancakes and homefries. Ashley even asked if the gent wanted table syrup or 100% Grade A Vermont maple syrup. In spite of the ladies favor and to align with the gents brother’s tastes, we went table syrup. Ashley should have known. Bad spy. The gent’s meal was fine, Better than fine. He just regrets not getting a little experimental with the menu. Branching out, trying something different. There were many things that looked appealing. We didn’t even ask for recommendations. So unlike us.

• The Lady almost immediately had her eye on the New England ole style breakfast (when in New England, eat as the pilgrims did?) It was only within the past year that she has discovered the incredible amazing scrumptious food item that is Boston Brown Bread (or molasses brown bread as it was named on the menu). The lady knew this was what she wanted in her mouth. She had her eggs poached, which is her new favourite way to have them. The brown bread was perfect and delicious. The beans actually looked as though they were not from a can (although they could have been canned beans that had been spruced up). The Cod Cake was new for the lady, she has never had a fish cake before and was a little concerned. The texture and flavours were similar to a toasted tuna sandwich. Crunchy on the outside, and fishy on the inside. She can now strike that off of her list of things she hasn’t eaten and never revisit it. The only thing the lady can say that is bad about this breakfast has nothing to do with the food. It was served on a plate with doilies under the items. I understand this is for presentation purposes, to make it seem fancy, however the food here speaks for itself.

8. Value of product.

• For the first time in awhile, there was no questioning of the prices of items. Everything was reasonably priced, and the amount of food for price paid was fair. Also delicious

9. Payment options.

• All payment forms are acceptable here, so far as we knew. We didn’t check for Amex

Overall Rating: How could we say it better than this?

Larry's PX

Larry’s PX

Address: 1591 Main St, Chatham, MA 02633

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

• We easily pulled off the road and into a spot.
• The restaurant is in a stip of businesses so there is ample parking.
• We were drawn inside by the sign on the door that read “Sorry, we’re Open.”

2. Wait time to be greeted, seated, and atmosphere.

• We were neither greeted nor seated. Turns out this is a choose your own adventure restaurant.
• We sat at a wooden boothed table for two. The table was not sparkling but we sat there as to respectfully not occupy a larger table apt for bigger parties. The table was never wiped clean.
• The atmosphere was a mess of souvenir sales, beach toys, a cape cod mural, a diner style counter, a library, and faux antique store metal signs asking us to be pleasant or the waitstaff will get ya.

3. Server introductions, impressions and attentiveness.

• A young man poured us coffee. When we asked him what was good there he needed clarification that it was the menu we were referring too. As in perhaps there was brothel upstairs with different qualities of tramps or perhaps I wanted to make a sand castle and wasn’t sure if the square mold or the circle mold would make a better foundation. Once we were on the same page he said all the food was good. Upon further questioning he broke it down to two choices; the western omelette, or the quiche. This kid likes eggs.
• It turns out he would not be our waiter. A pasty girl with shorter shorts, a nose ring, and the brightest hooker lipstick you have ever seen, hastily rushed by us with other folk’s coffees and mentioned the ingredients of the daily breakfast quesadilla.
• The waitress seemed knowledgeable and knew her job well. She gave the impression she’d been there for a while. We had one coffee refill but no two minute or two bite check. She’s lucky it was alright.

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

• The menu had the amount of items you would want for breakfast. Not so many that your head is spinning from the choices, but not so few that you have to settle. ‘Twas not a “gluten free” type of place.

5. Menu highlights of uncommon items.

• All of the items on the standard menu here are common to each other locations we have been to. There was nothing that stood out as being out of the ordinary.
• There was a specials board that was pointed out to us, where there were a few items of note. A breakfast quesadilla and quiche were available today.

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

• We were served our food in fine time. Slightly longer than expected but we were only marginally more hungry when the food came, not substantially.
• There was a large volume of smoke paired with the smell of burning leaving the kitchen as we waited for our food. That could explain the extra time required to prepare our meals. They may have had to deal with a fire.
• The bills (or ‘checks’) were brought to us on the same plate as our food and then removed when our plates were set down. They were very greasy as a result, also there is a potential for some contamination to occur here.

7. TASTE!

• The coffee was low on the flavour profile. It was very weak and watered down. Good thing the lady had already enjoyed a cup of coffee at home.
• The Gentleman was eying the western omelette prior to its suggestion by the coffee bringer overer. Coffee guys comment assisted in the decision making process. The omelette brought his buddies homefries and toast to the party. The omelette was like the gentleman’s old roommate, a little greasy but nice once you dug in. The toast was white but one slice burnt. The homefries were real potatoes mixed with some onions and peppers.

• The Lady decided upon the go to of eggs and meat. The eggs had a greasy film all over them that likely consisted of whatever oily cooking product was used, and leftovers from what was cooked before her eggs. The linguica was only one piece, the smallest amount of linguica received to this date. For the price of $7.50 you do not get your money’s worth. Other restaurants have provided more meat, and breakfast potatoes for less cost.

8. Value of product.

• The pricing here was a tad off. The cost of omelettes was fair, you received homefries and toast, as well as the extras included in the omelette itself. For two eggs, two pieces of toast, and one piece of meat the price did not make sense.

9. Payment options.

• Everything accepted, even Amex

Overall Rating: Meh.