For Mommy birthday brunch my girlfriend picked
Creole Coffee, the new restaurant in Old Town. It is a double treat.
By day, it is a tasty brunch and coffee joint, by night the space next
door is a hip, jazzy restaurant, Creole.
Two of us arrived early and we were glad we did!
The place was packed! It is usually seat yourself but with the
amount of people the wait staff was helping to get everyone seated. While
we waited, we got a chance to check things out. The place is very cool
with antique metal advertisements and art on the walls.
There is a coffee bar in the back with the
selection written, in impeccable handwriting, on a chalkboard. The large
windows in the front make the small area appear more spacious.
Luckily, we were sat just as the rest of our party
arrived. The menu is fantastic, a mixture of southern goodness and French
deliciousness. You can choose from crepes, eggs benedict, and quiche, but also
shrimp and grits, and pain Perdue (French toast). Even the drinks are
awesome! None of us drink coffee, ironic for a visit to a "coffee
Company" but they have tea and honey steamers.
The tea comes in it's own
seeping pot with an hourglass timer. I love this!!!
My girlfriend
got the honey steamer with was infused with rosemary. It was both yummy
and pretty to look at. The china cup and saucer helped!
The breakfast items tasted as good as the
descriptions suggested. The beignets were warm, crisp on the outside and
soft on the inside. Oh My Goodness, yummy!!!!
The quiche had a flaky buttery crust with
fresh veggies and fluffy eggs. I wanted the egg benedict with the crab
cake base, but it was so popular that they were out by the time we ordered.
No worries the Tasso ham and spinach eggs benedict didn't disappoint!!!
Spicy and gooey with fresh spinach...yum!!! The hollandaise sauce is
rich, but not so rich that it overtakes the whole dish. Perfect!
Finally, they serve crepes, but not just crepes, bananas foster crepes!!! Wow!!!
That is just the brunch!!
The restaurant space, next door ,looked so cool and I
spied a cask beer tap, so a few weeks later, when it was Daddy Daughter dance
night, I took my favorite son to dinner. He has a great palate so I knew he
would appreciate Creole.
Like the cafe side the restaurant is full of
character. The bricks are exposed and the pipes are visible with wooden
chairs and tables you feel like you are transported to the Big Easy.
They had four types of beer on tap. Two local, and two imports, one of
which was an ESB!!! That is the only way to get me to order a
non-Michigan craft beer. Offer an English cask beer!
Word of warning...they do not have kid friendly
drinks such as root beer. but they serve water in beautiful glass
bottles.
With our drinks our waitress offered fresh corn bread.
Nice!!!
Of course, my son wanted to start with gumbo, so I
ordered the lobster bisque. They were served in the adorable little pots,
just the right size for an appetizer.
We wanted to order everything on
the menu but needed to narrow it down. My son asked what pork belly was
and once he heard it was like bacon he was set. We both are huge fans of
crab cakes so that was a given and thankfully he likes Brussels sprouts because
I was psyched to try them here.
The pork shank was cooked to perfection, not too
greasy as it can be with that much fat but not dried out in the process.
It was served with savory bread pudding that, like savory kugel, translates
well from its sweet cousin.
The crab cake was served with a mango
tomatillo gastrique that paired really well. I was glad there was an
ample amount on the plate because I did a lot of dipping.
But my favorite dish was the Brussels sprouts.
Easily a dish in itself for a vegetarian, they were served in a sweet
cranberry sauce with pumpkin seeds and crisp flaky kale. The sweetness
of the sauce was a perfect match for the tang of the sprouts. Yummy!!!
We almost licked the plates clean. Of
course, we ordered dessert!!! Having not been with us for the brunch, my
son ordered the beignets (I didn't argue, wanting to have them again) and I
ordered the bread pudding. It is served chilled unlike many other places
and it works!!! This makes it less gooey and easy and more like a cake.
The bourbon caramel sauce was amazing!!! And again I was grateful
for the abundance of sauce!
We left with full bellies and more than happy with
our meal. You will be too. Happy eating at Creole!
The pizza menu provides a variety of palate tempting combinations of toppings. We have tried several of the pizzas but the Chorizo is my favorite. Chorizo sausage with grilled asparagus, sweet corn, garlic cream, peppers and mozzarella. Wow!! I sometimes eat a few too many pieces because it is so yummy. My husband and son love the Pepperoni with pancetta, and andouille sausage. 
