Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Toasted Oak Ain't No Joke

 

Caution:  The blog you are about to read has been written by 2 ladies that have a tendency to be a little overdramatic, especially about food.
 

Toasted Oak; where do we begin?  How about with the fact that this place is almost impossible to find unless you’re crazy aunt Martha frequents here and she’s on the other end of the phone giving you ridiculous directions like “turn left at that pine tree that’s shaped like Bill Murray”.  And Google Maps was vague, as per the usual.  Why do we rely on you Google?  And we never found it… the end.

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Joking; we did.  Hooray!  The exterior was a bit confusing and we thought we were about to walk into Applebees wannabees.  But once we walked through those cheddar colored doors we were pleasantly surprised.    We entered into the bar area and immediately felt as if we were taken back in time.  It seemed like we had stumbled upon an old saloon/grocery store you would expect to see while traveling to California during the Gold Rush. Even the bartender fit that description.  And as fans of dinner and a show, in this case a spiked OJ and a play… whatever (you try to rhyme something witty with brunch because it’s impossible), we loved it.


If you’re into getting wasted on wine, come on in.  With vino from wall to wall, this is the place for you.  And us; we love wine.  Let’s get drunk together.

The menu had a decent selection of both classic and newbie brunch items.  Julie found the Chicken and Waffles immediately, of course.  But she was quickly disappointed when we tried to order because they had just sold out moments before.  The humanity!  It is her own fault, really.  She should have known better.  Chicken and Waffles are always eluding her; just out reach.  Like that one true love we have all been looking for…  With both of us being used to disappointment it was easy to move on. 



We placed our orders and decided to share so that we will have the same experience and can give our own perspectives, because no two foodies are alike.  We started our meal with the Fruit Bruschetta and it was the best decision we had made in years.  It had the perfect blend of cheese (goat) and sweet fruits (strawberry and pineapple).  And the bread had just the right amount of crisp.   The flavor sort of reminded us of a French Toast.  But like French Toast that you can hold in one hand while you keep your drink in the other!  That is something everyone needs in life, a free hand for your drink.  Another mimosa and to the next course we go.

Oh, almost forgot to mention, they offer bottomless mimosas for $14!  And if you are thinking to yourself “I don’t need bottomless”, don’t be that person that spends the $9 for just one. Economically it just makes sense to go bottomless!  Here and everywhere else.  We try to go bottomless all of the time.  Always, every day.  Once we made it clear to the bartenders that we meant business they kept them a-flowing; never leaving us with an empty glass.

Ordering a breakfast item and a lunch just seemed like the right thing to do, because that is literally the definition of brunch (duh).  An order of Lemon- Ricotta Pancakes ($10) and Turkey & Brie Sandwich with fries ($13) and we were ready to chow down.  We started with the pancakes and it was love at first bite.  Our eyes turned to hearts (insert emoji faces).  “I didn’t even know you could put shit IN a pancake” was Lynsey’s first exclamation.  But Julie is not a huge fan of lemon and lemon was, for sure, the most pronounced flavor in this dish.  She is enjoying it because it is undeniably delicious, but not as much as her brunch buddy.  The cakes were perfect on the outside and a little too soft in the middle, but then again things get dicey when you start shoving stuff in a pancake.  Now onto the Turkey Brie; an unexpected earthiness overwhelmed our taste buds.  This sandwich is heavy on the tart and sour and we find the bread a bit tough to chew.  But the brie shines through and is definitely the high note of this concoction.  We did find ourselves discussing how we would have changed things which is a sure sign that this ‘wich was subpar.  Lynsey thought a thicker, more rustic cut of turkey with a different type of green (other than the arugula because it’s overpowering) would be a better choice; perhaps softer bread with a slight toast on it.

The fries that came with that sandwich were perfect however.  We ate every bite incase a flaw was to be found. 

The staff was pretty wonderful.  Very attentive but gave us our space to chat and eat.  You know that moment?  We’ve all had it.  A delicious plate is being sat in front of your face and you are starving and you don’t care about what kind of barn animal you look like.  You just dig in.  That classic moment when the server walks up right as you are shoving that first bite into your mouth, asking “how is everything so far?” and you awkwardly mumble through your food “geeerrddd” and give a thumbs up.  I hate that. That didn’t happen at Toasted Oak.  These great servers were cooperative with the blog as well, allowing us to take pictures of our surroundings as well as them (we couldn’t resist getting a picture of our bartender with a glorious handlebar mustache).
 

Toasted Oak isn’t just funky.  The dining area had a sleek and sophisticated ambiance for a fancy night out.  Seeking a little romance (wink wink)?  Ask for a seat near the larger than practical fireplace; it is absolutely stunning. As a whole this place is classy, bright and inviting. We were here for the brunchies but the dinner menu looks awesome as well, and a girl has gotta eat at least 3 meals a day; or we get hangry.  Also, several reviewers say that if you check in on Yelp during dinner you get a free kielbasa appetizer.  Mmmmmm, kielbasa.

Speaking of sausage (and we usually are), we should mention that the vegan and vegetarian options on the brunch menu are pretty limited.  So if that is your diet you may want to order a salad.  But if you order a salad for brunch, you can’t sit with us!  That is simply unacceptable.

In summary, Toasted Oak was well worth the visit and we would like to have another stopover down the road.  They had a decent sized brunch menu and many items looked enjoyable.  We wish we could have eaten a little of everything!

Happy Hour is from 2 – 5:30 pm and they offer wine tasting 3 choices for $15!  

 
 
 
 
Julie gave the Toasted Oak Brunch a 3.5 out of 5 and Lynsey begged to differ, rating it 4 out of 5. We split the difference and agreed on a 3.75 / 5

Until next time, brunch on Brunchers.  Brunch on.
 
By Julie Gage and Lynsey Sullivan
 
 

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