Portland Brunch: HunnyMilk + Tōv Coffee & Tea

What: HunnyMilk
Where: 40 NE 28th Ave (in what's usually La Buca) 
When: Saturdays & Sundays, 9am-2pm
Honeys Heart: The concept

We've been on a bit of a brunch kick lately with our latest weekend indulgences including a celebratory bday brunch for our friend Amanda at HunnyMilk two weeks ago and a rainy visit to at Fried Egg I'm in Love food cart and TOV coffee bus last weekend.

Amanda's bday brunch was my second time at HunnyMilk, and while we did beat a potential hours-long wait (a major sticking point of my first visit) by arriving right when they opened at 9am, I still left our brunch wishing I liked HunnyMilk more.

I think the main problem is that the concept itself is really great, so when the execution falls short, it's more disappointing. Let's discuss some of the issues:

The Food
Great Idea!: The tricky part about brunch is deciding whether you're going to go savory or sweet. HunnyMilk solves that problem by letting you choose one item off their savory menu and one off their sweet so you get the best of both worlds.

• Sample Savory Item: Brunchy Quesadilla with smoked bacon, red bells and pepper jack scramble, re-fried bean fritter, sour cream and sun dried tomato
• Sample Sweet Item: Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Waffle dipped in honey butter with cranberry-mango compote, astronaut strawberries and graham cracker almond crumble

Meh Execution: At both my visits, the savory items were the clear winners on the tray. The sweet items were just way, way too sugary and over-the-top. It's still the morning, after all, and this is brunch, not dessert! You also get so much food, with each item portioned as if it weren't sharing the plate with your other pick. We would have been plenty with a full portion of the savory item and half of the sweet.

The Price
Great Idea!: The fixed price includes a savory item, sweet item, and a drink. You can upgrade your drink for a few bucks to make it boozy.

Meh Execution: HunnyMilk's fixed priced increased from $20 to $22 at some point and you're paying $5 for the champagne they add to your orange juice... so now we're talking $27 per person, which is definitely on the higher side for brunch in Portland. It's true that you get a ton of food for the price, but I would rather pay less and not leave so much food on the plate. Plus, you have to pay more if you want two savory items - and the savory items are the good items!

The Space
Great Idea!: HunnyMilk is a weekend-only pop-up held in a restaurant that doesn't serve lunch on Saturdays and Sundays. It's a smart way to use an existing space.

Meh Execution: The food trays and the custom coloring sheets are pretty cute, but La Buca itself, where HunnyMilk is held, is pretty low on the Portland restaurant interior design scale. I think that brunch at a place that calls itself HunnyMilk should be twee to the max, and twee La Buca is not. And those outdoor Costco bistro lights hanging randomly from the ceiling... just, no.

So that's HunnyMilk. Now let's talk about a place that I am now obsessed with.

What: Tōv Coffee & Tea
Where: SE 32nd & Hawthorne
When: 7:30am-5pm everyday
Honeys Heart: All of it 

Tōv coffee bus is located right next to Fried Egg and it is the most Portland. We are talking:

• Red double-decker bus with makeshift 2nd-story tenting
• Turkish/Egyptian coffee shop-inspired interior with all purple everything
• Friendly baristas with handlebar mustaches 
• Egyptian coffee and tea and traditional espresso beverages plus Tōv's original creations

I ordered the Cardamom Caramel Latte and it was probably the most delicious latte I've ever had. So tasty with just the right amount of sweet (are you listening, HunnyMilk? Sometimes less is more with the sugar). 

Kel took a chance and ordered the Charcoal and Cream Latte which, while understandably slightly grainy, was also super delicious and maybe even good for the ol' stomach. 

Basically, Tōv is now at the top of my list for coffee anytime I'm in SE and you can bet I'm going to take our next round of visitors there for a quirky Portland coffee experience™. 

Portland Brunch: Trinket

What: Trinket
Where: 2045 SE Cesar Chavez Blvd
When: 8am - 3:30pm
Honeys Heart: Cute and no wait (when you go late)!

I am very proud of Doug in that he has finally given up his dream of moving to Seattle and has very much embraced being a Portlander (I am the BEST, MOST supportive wife).

However, there is one vital part of the quintessiantal Portland hipster lifestyle that he refuses to get on board with: brunch.

I know! It is appalling.

His argument against going to brunch is that he can make just as good of food at home (probably true) and he doesn't have to wait hours for it (definitely true).

I haven't had the heart to tell him that a big part of the brunch appeal is the drinking part, which just doesn't feel as acceptable at 9am in your own home as it does when you're at an adorable restaurant, but I'm sure he'll figure it out someday.

That said, I somehow conned him into brunch twice in the month of October. Bahahaha.

The two of us stopped by my favorite brunch spot, Sweedeedee, where I very mistakenly veered from my usual order (BLT or whatever version is on the menu that day) in favor of the Sweedeedee breakfast plate. We are now required to return soon so I can rectify my mistake (even though the plate was mostly good).

Our second brunch outing was with Kel at Trinket, a small spot in SE that I found via Eater's brunch map.

We kicked things off with cocktails (obviously). Doug had the Bloody Mary which was very good and Kel and I had the Rosé Spritz which was not.

To eat, Doug tried the Duck Egg Breakfast Sandwich and a side of Grits which he enjoyed.

Kel and I split the Huevos al Pastor with pineapple-braised pork, corn tortillas, fried eggs, and avocado and the Hash of the Day.

My morning brain had not registered that I was ordering Huevos al Pastor, not Huevos Rancheros (my usual brunch choice), but it was nice to switch things up with some pulled pork. The hash was tasty if not overly memorable.

Probably the best thing about Trinket was that we got the cute brunch vibe we were going for without any wait at all. This could have been because we didn't get there until 2pm... but we'll take it. (And seriously don't get Doug started about whether or not that means we were at brunch or lunch. Spoiler alert, he would say we were at lunch. So much less fun!)

I think if Trinket were closer to us, it would be a great, reliable brunch option but I can't say that it warrants the 30-minute drive there for us. If you're closer though, you should definitely check it out!

And stay tuned for more hhh brunch coverage as we also stopped by Hunnymilk recently. Poor Doug!

Portland Restaurant: Accanto

What: Accanto
Where: 2838 SE Belmont Street
Honeys Heart: Buckwheat Crepes

For the past three years, my sister Sarah has flown from NYC to Portland to run the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, and of course to see me. It is a tradition for us spectators to have "first breakfast" while we watch her run and then all head to brunch after. Usually Sarah's friend Isabel (we missed you!) takes part in the fun, but this year our parents were in town and Sarah's boyfriend Jon joined her from NYC. With a group of six to coordinate, I thought it best to make reservations and Accanto's brunch menu had the best variety for our group.

According to their website "Accanto is all about fresh, seasonal Italian food, wine and cocktails. Simple yet sophisticated, with the warmth and welcome of a true neighborhood corner café." I would say this is a pretty accurate description of the flavors and feel.

Of course we started with cocktails. Sarah earned us all a drink, right? (Thanks, sister!) While she went for the Morning-Groni ($7) with gin, Campari, grapefruit, and sweet vermouth, I opted for the bubbly breakfast cocktail special. A combo of St Germain, bubbles, citrus, and bitters drew me in. Adam threw a curve ball and ordered a green chartreuse cocktail which isn't on their website so I can't remember all the ingredients, but overall the three of us were happy.

The other three in our party ordered the Belmont Bloody ($7) with a serrano chile infused vodka and after seeing all those veggies and that crispy fried prosciutto, I questioned my original choice. It was pretty spicy though... but you just can't really beat how a bloody mary also doubles as a pre-brunch snack.

To get started, we ordered the Ricotta Donuts ($6) sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with lemon curd, which might be my favorite sweet treat spread.

Dad went for the Duck Hash ($15) which somehow, even though I was sitting next to him, I didn't steal a bite of, but the combination of asparagus, green garlic, potatoes, poached eggs, duck, and hollandaise looked pretty delicious and seemed to satisfy.

Jon and I, who had been making similar dining decisions throughout the weekend (great minds...), both opted for the Buckwheat Crepes ($14) with spring vegetables- which on that day included peas and mushrooms, gruyere, sunny eggs, prosciutto, and a side salad. I might be biased, but we made the best decision.

After some serious contemplation, Adam finally settled on the Smoked Pork Biscuit ($12) with cheesy eggs, smoked pork loin, bacon, and red onion jam served with potatoes. Their buttermilk biscuits have a perfect crispy edge and soft, flaky middle. I may have ordered one as a side too.

Mom ordered the omelette off the special's board, which I also didn't try. What the heck?! But Sarah did and they both seemed pretty happy with the cheesy, veggie combo.

Sarah's option is last because it's the least exciting, but still noteworthy because those biscuits are so dang good. A Buttermilk Biscuit ($5) with honey butter and jam is definitely meant to be paired with other sides to make a meal. Sarah decided to combine that with two poached eggs ($4) and call it good.

Their dinner menu also looks worth checking out. We'll be back!

Portland Restaurant: Breken Kitchen

What: Breken Kitchen
Where: 1800 NW 16th Ave
When: Monday - Friday 7am - 5pm
Honeys Heart: Breken Draper Chicken Bowl

I started a job at Children's Cancer Association about a month ago and along with new office digs comes the critical task of finding new coffee shops and lunch spots in close range. Coffee spot? Check. Ovation on NW Overton and 9th serves up a good latte and chai tea. Lunch spot? Check. In addition to Lovejoy Bakery and pretty much everything else closer to Naito in the Pearl, I have a new option! This took a little longer to find due to my initial lofty goal of packing lunch daily to be healthy and save money, but I was finally introduced to Breken Kitchen by some co-workers.

The menu breaks down pretty simply. Soups, sandwiches, bowls, and a lasagna of the day. Clearly I was initially tempted by the cheesy carb-loaded lasagna option, but per a recommendation and a slight obligation to my lunch-time goals I ordered the Breken Draper Chicken Bowl ($9.95) with brown or Jasmine rice, black beans, corn, pickled onions, cherry tomatoes, avocados, chimichurri and house made salsa.



The bowl is simple, but tasty and filling. Something that I could easily recreate, but it's definitely the kind of thing that tastes better when someone else makes it... and puts chimichurri sauce on it.

In my subsequent visit I tried the Albacore Tuna Melt ($9.50) with a simple green salad. The tuna is super simple and the sandwich only includes Tillamook Cheddar, so the star of this show is really Grand Central's fluffy Big Country Bread. It's really very simple comfort food, so maybe $9.50 is a stretch. I think at a future visit the Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup ($6.95) will still provide the benefit of that delicious bread, but for a slightly better deal.



Breken Kitchen also serves breakfast (yet to try) and sports a decent beverage menu. I ordered a latte made with Water Avenue Coffee and later saw that they have wine, cava, and beer. Drinking lunch anyone? Obviously only on Fridays when I work a half day...

Cute vibe, wifi, good food - simple, but satisfying - and multiple drink options. Probably best I didn't know about this when I was working from home. 

Portland Restaurant: Boke Bowl West

What: Boke Bowl West
Where: 1200 NW 18th
Honeys Heart: Brussels Sprout Salad

When Kelly and I first tried Boke Bowl East about three years ago, Boke Bowl was the hot new spot in town. It was only open for lunch and it was PACKED. Kel and I went in with high expectations and when those weren't exactly met, we just never went back.

Now, a few years later, Boke Bowl has a second location on the westside and after a few months of driving by it everyday on my way home from work, I realized that I really wanted to give Boke Bowl another shot.

Kel and Adam visited the westside location first, both opting for the Pork Dashi ($10) ramen and though they thought the noodles, veggies, and meat were all good independently, the overall dish was a bit too rich and didn't quite hit the spot for them.

Our first joint HHH meal at Boke Bowl West came after a rock climbing session with Adam and Doug. We ended up arriving just in time for their Dim Sum brunch, which is served on Saturdays and Sundays from 11am-3pm.

Boke Bowl says "this is our non-faithful recreation of the Cantonese-style, tapas-like, small-plate/pushed cart service offered at more traditional Chinese restaurants." I've never had dim sum, so I don't have much to compare it to, but it is a fun concept.

After you're seated, servers come around with a few different carts. They share their offerings with you, all of which range from $3.75 to $5.75, and you can opt in or wait for other plates to come around.

We tried a few different plates including Potstickers, Spicy Wings, Baos, and Sui Mai (dumplings), but our favorites were the Chinese Greens with Oyster Sauce and a special crawfish and spicy pork stew with rice.

Everything was good, but even with the plates we liked best, we were all left with the same feeling Kel and I had after our first Boke experience: one of slight disappointment. Like, why aren't we more excited about this? Why does it feel so overpriced? It certainly wasn't bad... we just wanted more from the experience.

Still, I wanted to give Boke one more chance so when my friend Kendall wanted to meet up for lunch in NW, I suggested we grab food there.

The server at the front counter was very friendly on this visit. He told us the warm Brussels Sprout Salad ($10) with cauliflower, citrus slices, tofu croutons, and Thai vinaigrette was his favorite item on the menu, so we decided to split that as well as an order of three different steam buns ($9).

The server knew what he was talking about. That salad was my favorite thing I've eaten at Boke Bowl- east and west. The combination of perfectly cooked Brussels sprouts and cauliflower with bright touches of citrus and savory bits of tofu croutons was just delicious. If I go back, I'll definitely order that.

Our Brisket, Miso Mushroom, and Fried Chicken buns were reasonably tasty too, but that salad was hard to top.

So, after each giving Boke Bowl two more chances each, how do Kel and I feel now? Pretty indifferent, I think. I would go back for the Brussels sprouts and... that might be about it. Guess Boke just isn't for us.

Portland Restaurant: Milk Glass Mrkt

What: Milk Glass Mrkt
Where: 2150 N. Killingsworth Street
When: Tuesday-Sunday 9am-7pm
Honeys Heart: The cuteness

Before I started my new job, Katie and I decided we needed to take advantage of the last few days of my flexible schedule with a lunch date at Milk Glass Mrkt.

Milk Glass Mrkt is half market, half cafe. The menu features breakfast, brunch, small plates, beer, wine and "cocktails".

Everything was so cute. Now I know how to use our empty Bulleit bottles.

It was the last day of work before our holiday breaks so a "cocktail lunch" was in order. We opted for the Cava Special Cocktail ($7) with cava and a touch of quince syrup.

The lunch menu isn't very extensive but even so, we were having a hard time deciding what to order so we agreed to split a sandwich and a salad.
 

Here's the Moroccan Salad ($8) with kale, carrots, and chickpeas in harissa vinaigrette. The flavors here were good, but those pieces of raw kale were really big and kind of difficult to cut/chew. We don't love salad enough to feel good about putting that much effort into eating it, so this dish left us feeling a bit meh.

We also ordered The Swell sandwich ($9) with a fried egg, proscuitto, roasted red peppers, provolone and fresh basil on ciabatta. This had a lot going on, both flavor-wise and mess-wise, but we both liked it better than the salad.

Our total bill came to $15.50 each, definitely a pricier lunch date for us (don't tell Adam and Doug!), especially when we weren't particularly overwhelmed by the food. However, the place is seriously so cute and those cava cocktails had produced a nice little midday buzz, so I don't think either of us really cared.

Boston Restaurant: Brunch at The Fireplace

What: The Fireplace
Where: 1634 Beacon Street, Washington Square, Brookline
Honeys Heart: Dinner and dessert

Another day, another brunch...

Lauren is a Groupon fanatic, so she was all over The Fireplace groupon that offered $10 for $20 worth of brunch or lunch food.

There were so many things that looked good on the menu that we had a bit of a hard time figuring out what to order. We eventually decided that we should share "New England-y" things since that's what The Fireplace is known for.

We started out with the breakfast part of our brunch, Crispy Cornmeal Waffles with fresh fruit, blueberry whipped cream & Vermont maple syrup ($12).

Our lunch portion consisted of the New England Cobb Salad ($12) with grilled chicken breast, avocado & Massachusetts blue cheese.

Both were tasty, though I did enjoy the salad more than I did the waffle. (It's hard for anything to top something made with avocado in my book.) There was just nothing outstanding about either dish.

I've had dinner and dessert at The Fireplace before and I was much more impressed with those meals. So, while I don't think I'll return for brunch, I'd definitely still reccomend this spot for a special dinner or drinks and desserts at the bar.

Boston Restaurant: Brunch at Masa

Posted by Katie

What: Masa
Where: 439 Tremont Street, South End
Honeys Heart: $7.95 2-course brunch

For some reason, UP gave us a week off in October. Over my four years in college, it became tradition for me to visit Lauren at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo during that week-long break. Unfortunately, Emerson does not follow the same schedule as UP, so last October came and went without a visit to SLO.

This year, I didn't get to go to SLO either, but Lauren's visit two weekends ago made up for it!

I'd been working on a freelance article about the best brunches in Boston, so I dragged Lauren along on my research. Luckily, I don't think she minded.

First order of business: decide where to go!

Masa had made my short list, but I was skeptical about its ability to hold its own against Boston brunch institutions like Centre Street Cafe and The Paramount. So Lauren and I decided to try it out...and I'm so glad we did.

Upon being seated, we were surprised to find that Masa offers a Fiesta Brunch special from 10am-3pm on Saturdays and 10am-11pm on Sundays. The Fiesta Brunch includes two courses and unlimited coffee and tea for only $7.95. (What it says about my research skills that I didn't know about this until the menu was placed in front of me will be addressed at a later date...)

Lauren is a bit of a coffee fiend so she was quite content with the unlimited coffee deal and I enjoyed Masa's choice of orange something tea.

For our first course, Lauren ordered the bowl of fruit while I chose the Caramelized Plantain Empanada.

We ended up sharing which was fine by me because, while the empanada was very good, it was also incredibly sweet. Not sure I could have finished the whole thing on my own. (Lo was pretty sure she could have.)

For our second course, Lauren got the Eggs Benedict.

Hollandaise sauce has always sort of grossed me out but I was happy to find that Masa's Hollandaise was very light and had a hint of lime. I also enjoyed the homefries. They were meaty on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside with the perfect amount of seasoning. Delish!

For my second course, I ordered the Huevos Rancheros.

Masa serves its Huevos Rancheros as eggs over easy on top of a thin and crunchy quesadilla surrounded by black beans. Very filling and quite enjoyable.

Along with our two courses, we were also served a basket of blue corn and yellow corn cornbread with three sauces: chipotle cranberry, apricot jalapeno and maple butter.

Pretty sure we didn't eat again until dinner, we were that full. And for only $8!

We didn't get any drinks besides our complimentary coffee and tea, but Masa offers some pretty tasty-sounding brunch cocktails like the Latin Bellini ($8.50) with champagne and guava and mango puree. If you're a fan of Bloody Marys, be forewarned that Masa uses jalepenos in their recipe so theirs are nice and spicy!

Boston Restaurant: The Savant Project

posted by Katie

What: The Savant Project
Where: Mission Hill (Brigham Circle Green E line stop)
Honeys Heart: Our absentminded waiter
 
Kelly and I have both written about how much we love Groupon, and I'm happy to report that Boston Groupon has been offering a lot more restaurant groupons recently. I love restaurant groupons because they apply to food AND DRINKS...which means you can skirt around Boston's strict discounted drinks laws and essentially create your own happy hour.

Shannon and I had been looking for a place to do Easter brunch since we wanted to do something special as this would be our first Easter apart from our families. When we saw the groupon for $20 for $40 worth of food and drinks at The Savant Project, we knew we had our place.

The moment I walked into The Savant Project, I felt like I could be back in Portland. The restaurant has a gritty-chic thing going on and was pretty small with a decent-sized bar in the main dining room and a little patio out back.

It was a beautiful day, so Shannon and I chose to sit outside. It was great being outdoors but we decided the patio could have used some music and a little straightening up.

We started off with a basil and blackberry mimosa for me ($8) and a millerosa: miller, oj and orange curacao ($5.50) for Shannon. For our second round, I went with a traditional mimosa instead, which I liked much better.

The Savant Project's brunch menu is not very extensive, but I find that refreshing. I decided to try the Fresh Ginger Pancakes with whipped lime cream and sake drunken berries ($8). I couldn't really taste any ginger in the pancakes but they were delicious nonetheless, especially with the addition of the cream and berries.

Shannon ordered the Scrambled Eggs with swiss cheese, herbed parmesan, and applewood smoked bacon ($8) which came with toast and home fries. Strangely, the eggs were flat but still tasted fine. And Shannon's pick won points with me as the home fries were made of regular potatoes and sweet potatoes. Yum.

Aside from the tasty food and good drinks, Shannon and I also enjoyed our brunch thanks to the little crush we developed on our waiter. He was grungy-cute and seemed kind of out of it as he had to double check our drink and food orders and asked us at the end of our meal whether we had already paid or if we still needed our check. That might have annoyed some people, but we found it charming. Which may or may not have been due to the nice little mimosa buzz we had going on...

When our (finally) check came, we were pleased to see that with our groupon, we only owed $4 for our meal. That basically boiled down to $12 each plus tax and tip once you factored in the $20 it cost us to purchase the groupon. Not a bad deal. Shannon and I plan to return to try some of the lunch/dinner fare, as the hamburgers that some of the people around us ordered looked pretty darn good.