While we were staying at the Sturbridge Host hotel for a few days (whose on-site restaurants, weren’t, at least for the winter, open), we decided each morning to venture forth and try various local breakfast spots for breakfast. The first we tried was Cedar Street Café, which is just down the street from the hotel, although confusingly, not actually on Cedar Street (it’s sister restaurant Cedar Street Grille is, and the parking lot entrance is across from the Grille, although depending on which mapping service you are using, you may get some odd directions). Another of the local restaurants owned by Table3 (same owners as The Duck), the Café focuses on coffee, breakfast, and light lunch, served up in a converted farm house.
Depending on the day of the week, the Café has one of two menu sets: the weekday menu has breakfast- and lunch-specific options, and on weekends there is a larger combined brunch menu. They’ve got a good variety of options, ranging from light fare like pastries, to classic breakfast combo plates, breakfast skillets, and omelettes. It had been a bit since I had an omelette, and one of their options, the “Café Omelette”, was right up my alley: with bacon, spinach, mushroom, and Swiss. This was a good, well-executed three-egg omelette: nice fluffy eggs, and a good selection of nicely seared fillings (I’m a sucker for the combination of spinach and eggs for some reason). Add in some nice, proper, double-cooked (par-cooked, then finished to a crisp on the griddle), and this was a great breakfast.
Carol, meanwhile, went for the Monte Cristo. You don’t see this classic breakfast sandwich much these days (the last one I had was at the now-closed Lebanon Diner, and you’re just as likely to find the batter and deep-fried version of it (which isn’t bad, but isn’t what I usually want for a breakfast) as a proper Monte Cristo, with ham, and cheese on nicely grilled French toast. The version at Cedar Street is quite good, with even more fillings than usual; their version comes with ham, turky, Swiss, and cheddar, all served up on nice, thick, Texas-style French toast with some maple syrup on the side. Served up with the same good home fries, and this was a great breakfast as well.
Overall, we liked Cedar Street Café: it’s a nice, convenient location with friendly staff, a nice ambiance, and a great menu. It’s definitely a good option for the area.
