We finally made it to the Bayou!  We managed to hit the road early enough to beat the morning rush.  After a chilly 6 miles around the West End, the blast of warm air as we entered The Bayou Kitchen was a welcome feeling.

We’ve actually eating here since they opened several years ago.  One thing I love here is that you can order from either the breakfast or lunch menu no matter what time of day it is.  Be sure to check the daily
Specials on the wall before ordering.  You may find a gem that is worth trying.  I had the fortune of having Tonga Toast from the Specials list a few years ago.  It was thick pieces of hearty Italian bread with a crunchy coating.  I loved it so much that it has become a frequently requested item for our at home breakfasts during weekends or trips to Rangeley.  The Dark Chocolate & Toasted Coconut Pancakes were very tempting this day.

The regular menu has many delicious options for both breakfast and lunch (Bayou serves breakfast and lunch only) and every one I have had has been fantastic.  From prior visits I recommend trying the Veggie Homie Plate (home fries smothered with veggies and cheese), the Breakfast Sandwich (traditional style, but for a real treat, order is with the Andouille sausage), or El Rancho Verde omelet (a medley of Cajun and southwest flavor).  If you are in the mood, Bayou Kitchen’s French Toast and pancakes are large and perfectly cooked.  Another item to note is the Home Fries, quartered red potatoes with some light Cajun seasoning.  You can see it all being prepared if you sit at the bar in front of the griddle.

As great as breakfast and many lunch options (Gumbo or Jambalaya or great choices -if available, get them with crawfish!-), I have one standby order that I order almost exclusively when visiting The Bayou Kitchen:

1. Chicken Piquant (sometimes I add crawfish): Cajun hot and sour soup with chicken simmered in olive oil and vinegar with onions, peppers, garlic, tomato and spices.  Served over rice.  TALK ABOUT A WONDERFUL MEDLEY OF FLAVOR!
2. Jalepeno Cheddar cornbread.  Biscuits and other cornbread varieties are available, but I love crumbling a few pieces into the Chicken Piquant.  FLAVORFUL WITH GREAT TEXTURE (crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside)!  It is a special treat with some butter.
3. Grits.  A nice treat for our Yankee city.  I add a dab of butter and maple syrup, but everyone has their own secret preference for their grits.
4. A can of Moxie.  I don’t know why, but it is a perfect compliment to this meal.  I actually do not drink Moxie any other time.

My special order at The Bayou Kitchen

This Portland Yankee loves him some grits with breakfast!

Katie usually goes for more traditional breakfast fare at BK.  The breakfast sandwich with a side of homies.

Katie went for the breakfast sandwich and a side of homefries.  I love the home fries done on the griddle.  On the table I mix ketchup and some hot sauce which is a perfect compliment to the light spices on the potatoes.

The service and atmosphere at the Bayou Kitchen is a treat if your looking for local flavor with some Cajun taste.  The staff is very friendly, the food arrives hot and fast, and the coffee is quickly replenished.  Also, they are reasonably priced (our bill came to $22.00).

I used to think BK was a hidden gem in Woodfords Corner, but the word has been spreading.  They expanded a couple of years ago, but still continue to have a full house for breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays.  The wait sometimes will be up to 15-20 minutes, but they will call or text if you choose to wait nearby.  No matter what, it is worth the wait if you want a hearty breakfast with some Cajun flavor.

See you on the road!

Now that this weekend is almost half over, I’m finally getting around to finishing up blogging about last weekend.  As if a lovely First Friday Art Walk wasn’t enough, we had fun plans on Saturday, too.  One of Mike’s students gave him tickets to a matinee Nutcracker performance at Merrill.

For us, no outing into town is complete without some kind of food, so we decided to hit up Pai Men Miyake for lunch before the show.  I’d been there a few times and wanted Mike to try to pork buns which I love.  They’re a twist on the classic DimSum with the fluffy white bun but served more burger/sandwich style rather than the meat being all tucked away inside.  The serving-style isn’t the best part of the twist though.  That’s the tender, juicy, warm pork belly along side the cool mayonnaise and spicy relish.  I thought it would be totally up Mike’s alley, but it turns out he’s a traditional pork bun kind of guy.  No worries though, he managed to clean his plate, and we got plenty of other treats.

Edamame is always such a great snack, so we started with that, and it was perfectly salted.  I had thought the Brussels Sprouts there were the best I’d ever had, and they were very good but not the ones I remembered.  Now, I’m thinking those were from When Pigs Fly in Kittery.  I’m going to have to go back now to figure this out!

Of course, we also had to try the cocktails.  Mike had warm sake which was perfect for a chilly day.  I had the Smoke & Roses cocktail which is kind of like a rose flavored margarita.  You’d think that drinking rose flavor would be weird, but it’s actually very delicious.  I had to have two.  It’s my favorite cocktail I’ve had in Portland so far.

We were pretty full of appetizers but wanted to try one more thing so we ordered the Kimchi Pork Ramen.  Mike managed with the chopsticks quite well . . .

but I was pitiful and had to ask for some American utensils.  My favorite part of the ramen was the egg with the crunchy little onion strings on top of it, but that all quickly got lost in the bowl thanks to my poor initial attempts at using the chopsticks.  I didn’t love the pork itself.  Mike thought it tasted like the meat from a New England boiled dinner.  He meant that as a compliment.  I agreed that that’s what it tasted like, but to me, that’s not a compliment.  Not my favorite dinner!

Don’t let that scare you away though.  The starters and the cocktails are excellent and the atmosphere is nice.

You can sit at the long, two-part counter, or at one of the high tables for two across from it which is what we did.  I felt like we were in our own pleasant little world.  There are also quite a few larger tables in the front of the restaurant.  One of my previous visits there was for a co-worker’s going away party, and we fit 12 or so of us quite comfortably and had a great time.

After all that eating out, we decided we’d better do some of our own cooking on Sunday.  After our Figgy’s discovery on Friday night, Mike texted me from Addie’s basketball practice to tell me he’d had a revelation.  I was expecting a career change, a move, something life-changing (and maybe it was), but the revelation was that we should have fried chicken sandwiches for “football food”.  I was totally on board thinking we’d do takeout from Figgy’s.  Apparently that wasn’t what he had in mind.  He wanted to try making our own.  Not quite as easy and not as guaranteed to be good, but I was game.

I found a biscuit recipe on-line and sent Mike a grocery list while he picked up the chicken at Pat’s.  I made the biscuits and left the rest up to him.

I had one with strawberry jam while I was waiting for the rest of the meal to come together. Not bad!

We used store-bought coleslaw and skipped the mashed potatoes and gravy, but they still came out pretty darn good.

No breakfast run this weekend.  We’re getting ready for a Festivus Party at our house later in the week, and we have a race tomorrow – which actually does include brunch.  I guess we’re technically having a breakfast run after all.

Happy weekend.  Thanks for reading.

We hadn’t really discussed doing a breakfast run this weekend.  I was too full from Thanksgiving to really even think about going out.  Saturday morning, it was pouring rain, and I was lazy, so I skipped my run altogether.  It stopped raining fairly early, so Mike ended up rallying and heading out.  I could have, too, but my mind was made up.  I felt guilty, as I always do, but not too bad, since I did run every mile that I had planned to run in Rangeley in spite of the grueling hills.

We didn’t plan to run together on Sunday.  It’s usually a long run day for both of us (but it never seems to be the same distance), and I feel like it’s best to focus on that and not make it a more casual breakfast run.  Just the same, we were missing our breakfast runs, so we came up with a plan to just meet up for coffee at Black Cat.  Sounded great Saturday night before we went to bed.

Then, apparently, we woke up hungry because we started thinking about a more substantial breakfast from Bayou Kitchen.  We’ve been there what seems like hundreds of times in our ten years in this neighborhood but still haven’t written a review.  In addition to waking up hungry, I woke up unmotivated.  I had planned to run 18, and I knew Mike was going to run 13, so I figured it would just simplify everything if I also did 13.  So the new plan was set for BK.

We set out on one of my favorite routes which goes over the bridge into SoPo, along the Eastern Trail for a while, past Scratch Baking Company (another great breakfast option), and to Portland Headlight.  6.5 miles gets us to the gate of Fort Williams.  (It takes you past a Hannaford at about 3.5 miles in case you need a bathroom break.)  Mike was setting a nice pace, a little faster than I would have liked, but I was looking forward to pouring over the stats when we got home.   He always seems to want to sprint up the hills.  What is UP with that?!

At about mile 10, his knee really started to bother him, and I could feel him slowing down.  I didn’t slow down much though because, usually when I do, he speeds up again which drives me nuts.  Finally, after about a mile of that, I decided we needed a new plan and suggested we stop for breakfast in town (we were just coming back across the bridge) rather than try to go all the way to Bayou, so he could rest the knee for a bit.  Ohno Cafe seemed like it would be the closest and the most likely to be open – it was still pretty early – so we headed that way.  Unfortunately, they were closed for vacation.  We’ve been wanting to try Caiola’s, so we (well I) swung by there next.  At this point, Mike was really slowing down, so I ran up ahead to check the hours, no luck.  Next we headed to Longfellow Square figuring something there must be open.  LFK, nope.  Local 188, nope.  Then the lightbulb moment, Hot Suppa, of course!  I knew they opened early.  They were open, and it was nice and warm in their vestibule, but after spending a few minutes consulting our  phones for other options, we decided we didn’t want to wait (they were estimating 30 minutes).  Finally, we figured out we could go to Dutch’s!  While still in the warmth of Hot Suppa, I consulted my phone to make sure they’d be open.

Aaah, finally getting to sit down.

I know I’m making it sound like this was our last choice, but Dutch’s is by no means a last choice breakfast destination.  We’d just been looking for the closest place to sit down.

We’ve actually been to Dutch’s quite a few times now.  The first time I had been lured in by a Yelp Reviewer who poetically said something to the effect of their home fries being like hash browns and tater tots getting married and having beautiful square children.  That’s no lie.  The home fries, hash browns, whatever you call them are amazing; crispy, crunchy on the outside and soft and potato-y in the middle.  The first time I went I had the breakfast burrito which is stuffed with those, eggs, cheese, and a bunch of other good stuff.  It was my first time having chimmichurri sauce which I thought was heavenly (not for you cilanto haters though).

Our youngest daughter was with us when we went, and she really wanted pancakes.  They didn’t exactly have pancakes, but they recommended the griddle cakes they use for the MacDutch breakfast sandwich.  OMG, those were so good, much more substantial then a pancake (as you might imagine if you’re going to use it for a sandwich) with just a bit of greasy crispness (what’s a nicer, GOOD, word for greasy?  because it was greasy in a good way – buttery maybe?) and these little crunchy surprises of sweetness on the top.  Turns out those were little maple sugar candy kind of things.  She didn’t eat all of her griddle cakes, so we took the rest home, and I took a delicious bit every time I walked by until they were gone.

I ended up liking the hash brown thingies that were in my burrito so much that I wanted to just get those the next time I went back, but I also wanted to have those griddle cakes again.  What to do?  There were four of us there that time, so I convinced the crowd that we should have a breakfast appetizer of the loaded hash browns – kind of like nachos with hash browns instead of chips.  This was the only thing I didn’t love at Dutch’s.  The cheese sauce was a white version of the stuff you’d get on your nachos at the movie theater.  I’m definitely not above that and have eaten my fair share of it, but on the hash brown beauties at Dutch’s, I wanted real, sharp, cheddar cheese.  We all found ourselves eating around the cheese sauce.

For my “main course”, I did end up getting the MacDutch.  I wanted those griddle cakes again, and they were every bit as good as I remembered.  The inside of the sandwich was good, too, but definitely not as memorable as the bread.

This, most recent time, the croissant sandwich on the specials board caught my eye, but as I stepped up to the counter to order, this gorgeous creation caught my eye.

I just had to have it – a brioche cinnamon bun – and it was so worth it.  The pastry to cream-cheesy frosting ratio was just right.  The middle – always the best part, right? – was perfectly ooey and gooey and frosting-y.

Mike remembered my delicious burrito from our first visit and didn’t even seem to consider the rest of the menu before ordering that.

(Pretty much destroyed by this point)

They have a nice website whose pictures will make you drool.  If you’re like me and need some time to digest the menu (ha ha pardon the pun), I suggest you check out their menu on-line before you go.  (You order at the counter vs. having a server come to the table.)  Then you can focus on the specials board (every time I’ve been they’ve had 5 or 6 specials) and weigh your options.

I was a little surprised the first time I walked in.  The interior is quite spacious and spartan.

It’s not what you would call a cozy restaurant, but I’m thinking they must do a strong take out business during the work week so probably need the space for a long line.  They have a cool old-style, postcard-like mural on one of the walls, and the bathroom is wallpapered with old Maine Gazetteer maps.  The decor is very down-to-earth, similar to Bayou Kitchen and Sinful Kitchen.

It’s not in the best part of town, but it’s across the street from Slab, so it’s in good company.  There’s a countertop at the window facing Preble Street where you can sit and watch the world go by.  You may have some of Portland’s less fortunate stop and stare in the window not realizing you’re sitting there.

Back on the running side of things, I started to think even my cut back mileage was at risk when Mike started hinting at taking the bus or a cab (or uber if we were cooler, younger) home.  I usually bring a second set of clothes to change into when we go on a breakfast run – or at least a shirt – so I don’t freeze to death as my sweat starts to get cold.  This time I didn’t.  I was freezing, so I was anxious to finish up breakfast and get home.  The idea of a warm cab was very tempting (waiting for the bus in the cold, not so much).  I decided I’d eaten all the cinnamon bun brioche I possibly could and would warm up a lot faster if I just started running again – probably in the time it would take for a cab to arrive.  Besides, I really didn’t think I could stomach wimping out on a breakfast run like that.  (No offense, Mike.)  Seemed like a slippery slope to start down.

Mike and I agreed that he would get a coffee and have a long, leisurely breakfast while I ran home to get the car.  I managed to get 14 miles in, and he managed to limp out of the restaurant to the car (and has run a few times since), and we can still say we’ve never not gotten ourselves home after a breakfast run.

Thanks for reading.  Happy eating and running.