Marga's Food Blog

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Category: Breakfast

Munching Around the Bay: Cafe Bliss in Belmont

May 14, 2024 / / 0 Comments

A nice place for brunch

Our dear friend Charlotte was back in town for a holiday after moving abroad last summer, and she suggested we have brunch at Cafe Bliss, a little breakfast and lunch place in Belmont. It was a nice, relaxing place to have a bite in a quiet Sunday.

I had the creamy chicken crepe ($18), which comes with a choice of home potatoes or salad. I liked the salad, but I really loved the crepe. It comes with chicken, mushrooms, onions and jack cheese and is served with a wine creamy sauce. The sauce, of course, is what makes it. The only problem was that I was still a bit hungry afterwards, though I probably wouldn’t have been if I’d chosen potatoes instead of a salad. Still, given the price, I think the portion should have been larger.

Mike had the Pacific scramble ($18) which comes with smoked salmon, capers, cream cheese, dill and lemon zest. It came with home potatoes and toast. He was happy with it, but not more than one would expect.

Charlotte had the Bliss omelette ($18) which comes with bacon, avocado, jack cheese, bell peppers and caramelized onions and she was also happy with it.

Service was professional and it was overall a pleasant experience.

Cafe Bliss
2039 Ralston Ave
Belmont, CA
(650) 595-1520
W-M 8 AM - 2 PM

Louisiana Eats: Maison Mouton Bed & Breakfast

April 26, 2024 / / 0 Comments 
A Taste of the South: Notes from a Trip to Louisiana

Amazing breakfast at this lovely Lafayette B&B

I didn’t take any photos of breakfast at the Maison Mouton Bed & Breakfast. We stayed there two nights, and thus had two breakfasts, but I didn’t think I’d write about them as such. But hey, why not? I’m writing about almost everything else we ate while in Louisiana.

Maison Mouton is a former plantation house that was remodeled some years ago and turned into a B&B. Slowly, they’ve been remodeling the rooms in other buildings in the property, and they are now in the process of buying adjacent homes and turning them into rooms as well. It’s a very nice property, with some incredibly old and beautiful live oak trees – they also had a water oak tree, but it fell down during a storm while we were there. Our room was beautiful and very comfortable.

Breakfast is served family style on one or two long tables inside the main house – depending on how many guests they have that day -, promptly at 8:30 AM every day. A housekeeper brings you orange juice (bottled) and coffee or tea. Their coffee was actually quite good. This part of Louisiana attracts lots of French tourists, and half of our table was French speaking both mornings we were there.

The table is beautifully set, with flesh flowers, crystal glasses, and nice plates. Our first morning, we were lucky to get Pain Perdu (lost bread), a bread pudding/French toast hybrid, which consists of a home made biscuit, dunk into a sweetened egg-milk-cream mixture and then baked. I can’t tell you how absolutely delicious it is, how silky the consistency was and just how tasty it is. Chef Kimball, the cook, has a video showing how he makes it. I forget what else there was on the plate, I’m sure eggs and some meat, whatever it was, it was clearly overshadowed by the pain perdu.

The second day we had Eggs Mouton, which consisted of potatoes topped with fried eggs and a shrimp sauce. They were served with a biscuit on the side. I’m not an egg eater, but Mike was quite happy with the eggs – his and mine – and loved the shrimp sauce. I loved the biscuits (yes, I took his). It was delicious, and it made me want biscuits. Unfortunately, I don’t want to make biscuits, which means I’ll stay deprived.

I have to give it to Maison Mouton, both the stay and the food were just amazing.

Maison Mouton Bed & Breakfast
338 North Sterling Road
Lafayette, LA
337-233-7816

Louisiana Eats: Judge Porter House B&B

April 21, 2024 / / 0 Comments 
A Taste of the South: Notes from a Trip to Louisiana

Great breakfast at a darling B&B in Natchitoches

On our way back from Texas, we stopped in Natchitoches (pronounced like “knock a dish”) for the night. Established in 1714, Natchitoches is Louisiana’s oldest settlement. Located by the Red River, it was a prosperous city in the early 19th century, was almost burnt during the Civil War and saw significant decline during the 20th century. But in the 1970’s, a visionary mayor saw its potential as a tourist destination, both as a base for water related activities and for touring nearby plantations. This led to a massive renovation of old buildings which were turned into bed and breakfasts. Today, Natchitoches has about 18,000 citizens and 50 B&Bs!

Natchitoches appeals to local tourism, so its buzzing from Thursdays to Sundays and sleepy from Mondays to Wednesdays. We got there on a Monday night, and thus we had our choice of B&Bs. I chose the Judge Porter House because I liked the looks of the building with its second floor veranda.

The house and the room were beautiful, and I hope to write a review of them, but this is a review of the breakfast we had there – a two course affair served at the dining room.

Breakfast was at individual tables for two. That day we were one of two parties staying in the house. It’s at 8:00 AM sharp. The housekeeper/cook brings the food to you.

The tables were beautifully laid out, and the juice was some non-alcoholic cocktail which I found pleasant, but not compelling. The coffee was quite good.

The first course was a delicious raspberry croissant bread pudding. I love the idea of making bread pudding with croissants, and I might try it myself once I go back to cooking. It was served warm and was a great start to breakfast.

The second course consisted of eggs benedict with cheesy grits. Mike enjoyed the eggs very much, both his and mine and I don’t eat eggs. I thought the grits were fine, but while I like grits more than Mike does, I am not that big a fan of them.

The housekeeper/cook/waitress, whose name I can’t remember, a Boston transplant, was delightful. She was very personable, friendly and just amenable, in addition to a great cook. She made our brief stay and breakfast even better. 

Judge Porter House
321 2nd St 
Natchitoches, LA
(318) 352-9206

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