Simpatica Redux

If you have been reading the blog for awhile you know we love the breakfast food. You also know we once went to Simpatica Dining Hall for dinner and had an absolutely fantastic meal. Simpatica also does a Sunday brunch, and while you can show up whenever you want between 9am and 2pm to get food - unlike the dinners where there is one seating a night at 7:30pm sharp (well, on Friday - 7pm on Saturday) - after reading many online reviews we were worried about having to wait in line. As it turns out this place is quite popular with the foodie crowd that likes breakfast.

Since waiting in line is not something either of us find much fun, we decided to get there right as they open. We ended up being a little early, but there were only three parties in front of us. When Simpatica opened up we were seated almost immediately. And actually, the place wasn't full even when we left at 10:15 or so, so keep that in mind if you go.

The menu was quite varied, having breakfast and lunch type items (being brunch and all), but we came for the breakfast. Wifey ordered the biscuits and gravy, which came with a side of roasted potatoes.

Biscuits and Gravy

This was really good. The gravy had bits of ham and bacon in it as well as a little bit of sausage, and the potatoes were roasted to crunchy yet melt in your mouth status. Excellent. The biscuit was good, but it wasn't the best I've had. Still, with that gravy it may not matter what you have it on, it's excellent. This was actually a lot of food - all that gravy really sticks to your ribs.

I had meant to order something different enough to give us a variety of flavors, but instead I brain cramped and ordered an egg sandwich that also had the gravy on the same biscuit with a piece of fried chicken and a side of potatoes. They called it a Ba Gawk - at first we thought this was some unique Asian dish, but apparently it's just a cute name for a chicken, gravy and egg sandwich.  I also ordered a side of bacon, but apparently our waitress heard me wrong and they just put a couple slices on my sandwich. That was fine - it was yummy - but unnecessary really with the bacon and ham in the gravy and the chicken. Oh well - at least they only charged me $1 for it instead of the $4 for a side dish of bacon. I'm guessing since I received two slices on my sandwich that means I'd get eight slices as a side? Wow...

Ba Gawk

Again, this was really good. The chicken wasn't white meat, but that doesn't bother me too much. I think ideally there would have been just a tad more gravy, but the flavors were all excellent together. I also ordered coffee - and that was good, though I don't recall what kind it was. The amount of food was good for me - filled me up just right.

Bottom line? This is an excellent spot for breakfast, and we need to go back and some point to try some of the other stuff on the menu. The crepes (which the person next to us ordered) looked phenomenal, and many of the lunch-type things looked good as well.

Simpatica is right up there for one our favorite restaurants in Portland, and we'll be heading back soon - for dinner and brunch.