Laurelwood Public House & Brewery (Culinary Quest 3.8.11)

I woke up yesterday (Sunday) morning** and remembered that BellaBabe had plans. Flipping through my netflix and hulu queue I searched for my standby favorite food shows. After an episode and a half of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" I had enough. I wanted food, and nothing in my kitchen was appealing.

So I got dressed and took off down Sandy Blvd in search of breakfast. The first "Open" sign I saw was at the Laurelwood Public House and Brewery. BellaBabe has been telling me that the Laurelwood has one of the best burgers in town, but the only time we've attempted it we stood at the host's stand for 15 minutes without even a "Be right with you" from passing waitstaff.

But I was hungry, and they were open. So I decided to give their brunch menu a try.

With my stomach growling I pulled into the parking lot and headed inside. I was promptly greeted and allowed to pick a seat. I ordered coffee and it was delivered so quickly I didn't even have a chance to look at the whole menu. When I did find the beverages section I was a little vexed at being charged $2.00 for a 6 oz cup of coffee but not all coffee cups can be the 20 oz miniature flowerpots I have at home. The coffee didn't last long and I set the empty mug on the edge of the table to indicate a need for refills.

And there it sat. For 25 freaking minutes while my waiter passed the table 4 times. When I finally flagged him down and was able to place my order and ask for a refill.

I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and asked for a breakfast reccomendation as I was torn between the Eggs Benedict (my eternal favorite when its right) with smoked salmon and the Breakfast Burrito (I've been on a spicy kick lately) with chips and salsa. I was told that the breakfast burrito was "The best!" and ordered it with House sausage added (for an extra $1.50).

30 minutes later this plate was placed before me. Heaped with stale tortilla chips and sans the promised salsa. One good thing, the guacamole was fabulous! Bright, vibrant, cooling, slightly chunky without being a difficult dip.

But. Big, big but. That House Sausage that I paid extra for? Flavorless and rubbery. While there did seem to be a decent amount of it, it was completely forgettable. There was twice as much tortilla as there was filling and the filling itself was overpowered by the black beans. I missed the flavors of the egg, potato, and sausage that should have been sharing the stage.

All in all I was not impressed. But I'll try it again, maybe it was an off day?

Laurelwood Public House & Brewery
5115 NE Sandy Blvd
Portland, OR 97213
tel: 503-282-0622

**I apologize for the late post, but mobile blogger wasn't working and after typing this entire thing out on my cellphone, by George I'm going to post it!