Bess Bistro

She might as well just change the name to Best.

Arriving on West 6th, we were surprised by the ease of parking. We strolled up to Bess not really knowing what to expect based on rumors we've heard in the past. Everything about it charmed me. The employees were incredibly friendly, the restaurant was

beautiful - it felt like being in a REALLY fancy basement. Every detail was perfection.

If you have read this blog before, you would know that I think putting truffle oil on ANYTHING is about the greatest idea I've ever heard. With this thought in mind, I ordered the Eggs Bess; poached eggs on toasted English muffins with roasted tomato, wilted spinach, white truffle hollandaise and jumbo blue crabmeat. Do yourself a favor and be sure that you have white truffle hollandaise at some point in your life. To.die.for. The portion size was surprisingly large and although it was TORTURE to leave some left behind, we had to, we were stuffed, for a mere $10.

Lindsay, my foodie bestie and fellow brunch admirer, ordered the Croque Monsieur. A stack of sourdough toast, shaved country ham, bechamel and gruyere cheese with pomme frites. Of course she added the fried egg, who wouldn't? We agreed that we could've lived without the fries. For $15 each, including a little mimosa, we were STUFFED and incredibly happy.

I give the food, atmosphere and price combination a 9.5. Bess will go on the top of the list of brunches we have experienced so far.

http://www.bessbistro.com/

Somnio's Cafe (South First and Annie)

Instead of giving up hope on our neighborhood restaurants, we walked a little further the next day to Somnio's Cafe. The outside is surprisingly drab compared to the delicate, quaint inside. The menu changes on a regular basis because they only use fresh ingredients.

First of all, it is BYOB. That's right folks, take your own champagne, bloody marys, or micheladas with no cork fee or anything. Not sold yet? How about the max price on the menu being $6? Hmm...still unsure?

Well, I am not. I ordered the French toast with bread of the day that happened to be cinnamon

raisin. One of the best french toasts I have ever had. It can definitely put up a good fight with Lambert's. Peters had the buckwheat pancakes with cinnamon, apples and sour cream. Delicious. The sour cream was an interesting idea but I think it complimented it all very well. Very unusual but delicious. I will be returning to Somnio's very soon.

Cheap, BYOB, delicious and great atmosphere, what more could you ask for?

http://www.somnioscafe.com/

Bouldin Creek Coffee House (S 1st and Elizabeth)

Enjoying the walking and the shockingly nice weather the weekend before last, Peters, Matt and I cruised over to the Bouldin Creek Cafe just down the street from our new house.

The coffee was delicious, lots of great choices and nice outside seating. As we sat there enjoying the weather, I thought, man, I could really love this place. Thirty minutes later, we have STILL not received our food and I was 100% over that place. Then we get our food and it is less than good. On a scale of 1-10 I give the food a 3. I ordered the biscuits with pecan gravy and they just tasted like flour; dry and tasteless. Overall the atmosphere was nice for enjoying a morning coffee but I will be passing on the food in the future.

http://www.bouldincreek.com/menu_breakfast.asp