Highland Bakery: Brunch Edition

There is nothing so sensational, so satisfying, and yet so elusive as a perfect cup of coffee at brunch. To many, this would seem a given. Brunch, one would assume, should come complete with the kind of coffee that goes down so smooth that one doesn't mind drinking after noon. That when you close your eyes, it evokes balmy tropical breezes from its native clime. mmm...

Unfortunately, I've only experienced coffee that good at two brunch facilitators in town: East Atlanta's superb Radial Cafe and today's pick, Highland Bakery.

First and foremost, the place is slammed on Sundays. Go prepared to wait half and hour, and even after that our waiter was still pretty slow. He was very congenial, but clearly overbooked. This was probably good though, because I'd already blown through my second cup of coffee before we'd even been seated 10 minutes (thankfully the coffee urns are made available for those waiting in line, though this could turn into a problem for those of us with low caffeine thresholds).

While in line for our cups of joe, we wandered over to the little muffinarium where the mini muffins were corralled. This proved fateful, as we could not get over how cute and tasty-looking they were and promptly ordered them as our "breakfast starter." I'm not even going to get started on how fat America is getting when we need appetizers for breakfast, that's another blog. I will say that some of the muffins were positively scrumptious (the honey wheat/maybe cranberry/really plain one was our favorite, though the banana nut and bran/carrot were close seconds) and would be perfect for high tea. I'd eat the blueberry muffin with coffee though, as it tastes exactly like a blueberry donut, which is either awesome or a little gross.

Next came my entree, and I must say I had a devil of a time choosing from the expansive menu since everything sounded good. I highly recommend just going to the website and reading through the menu if you are in the mood for some food porn. Anyway, I ultimately chose an egg and cheese breakfast sandwich and a cup of fruit because I thought it might be lighter and I knew we were getting our "starter." Now, I must admit, I thought I was ordering my sandwich on rosemary and garlic ciabatta bread, however this was not the case and apparently I dun't reed so gud . It was just regular bread with rosemary and garlic, and it was a little boring. The cheese was melted well, but there was a large amount of egg, so I would have liked a touch more cheese. I would try it again, but with a different bread. I had been recommended the jalapeno focaccia, and I should have taken the suggestion. What's done is done, but I certainly was envious of Susannah's open-faced breakfast BLT. Now, clearly I'm ignoring the bacon here, but the rest of it looked pretty good. Best of all, it came with some of the best (non-grandmother) grits I've ever had. They were simply seasoned, but the taste and texture came together perfectly into an understated elegance. My side was also quite good, as the fruit was both ripe and varied. We also split a biscuit (which of course we were too full to eat more than a few bites of) and it was buttery and flaky and good. My only recommendation would be to have better jellies/preserves, because all we were offered was the little packets that you get at Cracker Barrel. I'm sure there is a person locally that would sell them some homemade stuff and then could sell it in the bakery. It cheapened the experience of the biscuit to be paired with such inferiority.

Overall the sides probably bowled me over more than the main dishes, but I would be more than willing to try every other vegetarian thing on the menu (which was most everything) in pursuit of entree excellence. Yes, it looked that good.

Would I Go Back: Yes. The coffee alone was worth it, but the delectable little muffins and baked goods are worth the drive as well. I can't wait to go back and try everything else!

Other Vegetarian Options: Er, just about everything was vegetarian. When I go next time I will either go for the Burrito de Huevos, Cowboy Benedict (black bean quesadillas with egg and hollandaise on top), or the Ricotta Pancakes, or the...you get it. Read the menu!
Atmosphere: The inside looked a little cramped and was a touch hot, but I went during the heat wave which thankfully has abated. We ate outside which was pleasant and not as loud. If we had been inside, however, we could have checked out the baked good offerings a little more closely and probably would have gone home with something. So, toss up.

Website: http://www.highlandbakery.com/