EAT
Coffee
Killing Me Softly – Three Layers of Brioche Stuffed with Fresh Raspberries and Nutella, topped with Vanilla and Raspberry Sauce
Banana Nut Caramel Pancake
Banana Bread Pudding with Whipped Cream, Crème Anglaise, Caramel Sauce
Deciding to once again pass on a Langer’s due to a lack of interest from friends it was back to North Hollywood that breakfast plans would lead and having heard good things about Eat from trusted palates it was just after the restaurant’s 8am opening that I arrived, the small space filling to capacity by 8:30 and remaining that way at least until I abandoned my parking space just minutes prior to eleven.
Small in size but diverse in menu, with several takes on traditional breakfast items such as eggs, griddles, sandwiches, and sides, Eat occupies a narrow space on Magnolia Boulevard and with an outdoor patio expanding seating to perhaps four-dozen while three short-order cooks and two waiters worked with near-constant motion it can only be said that the feel of the small restaurant is frenetic, yet at the same time never did anyone seem at want for anything – coffee refilled as though by an invisible hand and dishes arriving at a record pace with a surprising eye for plating.
Starting off with a single pancake, offered at $5.50 with sliced bananas, house-made caramel, as well as roasted pecans, one would be hard pressed to find any fault in the supple buttermilk batter griddled golden brown, and yet as good as the flapjack was it simply could not compare to a tower of crispy custard-laden brioche sandwiched around fresh berries and a slathering of nutella, the addition of house-made vanilla and raspberry sauces making the artificial maple syrup offered with both plates entirely unnecessary, much as the caramel and butter did for the pancake.
Unable to depart without sampling the bread pudding, but weary of stomach space given substantial dining plans to follow, it was with an order boxed to-go that I made my exit and opting to indulge in the rewarmed square just a few hours later it too would prove a ‘must order’ as the bananas and moist, eggy bread met at a nearly one-to-one ratio beneath a trio of toppings; the vanilla angaise and sticky caramel again making an appearance while hand-whipped cream ever so slightly tempered the sweetness.
http://eatnoho.com
