Moose & Sadie’s
Breakfast is a true treat for me. I love the eggs; I love the coffee; I love the experience. I don’t require anything too fancy, just a cozy atmosphere and good food. A few years ago we decided to try Moose & Sadie’s. It had just been redone and they were excited to welcome a former Birchwood Cafe chef to their staff. On a whole I was underwhelmed by the experience. In fact, I was pretty set to never return there again.
Last week, however, I broke that resolution. I had breakfast plans with my friend Grant (who I’ve now nicknamed my “ham and cheese” friend). We had plans to go a different restaurant, but were disappointed when we pulled upfront to the NE cafe only to find it wasn’t open for breakfast on that particular day. It was 9am and I had not had my first cup of coffee, so we had to think fast and redirect our stomachs. I directed us to a place nearby in the Warehouse District…Moose & Sadie’s.
I will admit that since the last time I was at Moose & Sadie’s, the interior seemed much cozier. In fact, I really like the large windows in the front that let in natural light and the light wood furniture and the colorful walls make for a cheery atmosphere. It probably also helped that there were many more people in the restaurant than the last time I visited, which is always pleasing. My spirits began to lift.
After a review of the menu, I decided on the huevos rancheros and a large coffee and Grant ordered the ham and cheese quiche and a coffee. As with many of the breakfast places I enjoy, we were assigned a table number, served our coffee and then allowed to sit to wait for our food. It didn’t take long for our food to arrive. Grant’s quiche was light and fluffy, and it was actually pretty tasty. But it did look pretty lonely there on the plate with only a couple orange slices for company.
My huevos rancheros were, well, below expectations. The eggs were cooked well, which is definitely a plus. And my portion was definitely more filling than the quiche. But, overall, it lacked personality. The menu read “two soft-fried corn tortillas, roasted tomato salsa, two eggs over easy, refried beans, dry jack cheese, sour cream and avocado.” Tortillas, eggs, beans, sour cream and avocado…check. Dry jack cheese…um, there was cheese, but I wouldn’t say it was very dry or particularly flavorful. That’s okay, but just call it what it is…just cheese. And then there was the roasted tomato salsa…if those tomatoes were roasted, you certainly couldn’t taste it and there was absolutely no flavor beyond just tomato. Now, I know that the overall meaning of ’salsa’ is just ’sauce’, but when I order huevos rancheros, a Latin dish, I expect there to be at least a little spice or at least some depth to the flavor…garlic, onion, chiles…anything. The salsa, as they called it, was just tomato sauce.
I ate my huevos rancheros that day (come on, I was hungry!), but a lesson was definitely learned from the experience. Either do the work ahead of time to make sure your breakfast plans include an open establishment or always have a Plan B. Lack of caffeine can lead to poor judgment.
Moose & Sadie’s
212 N. 3rd Ave.
Minneapolis, MN
612.371.0464
Tags: Food, restaurants, twin cities
