Westchester Breakfast Club

The Westchester Breakfast Club went Wobble Cafe for a second time. This was to document the “origins” of the club. We took many photos to concede with New York TImes, “Moment in Time”. The lazy web editor is taking his sweet ass time putting up the post, so in order to save time, here’s a link to the old post for the basic information followed by everyone’s reviews from the most recent visit.

OLD WOBBLE POST

Attendees: Shelley, Reid, Pat, Sylvia, Jeffrey

Shelley

Right about now you’re probably thinking, “Hey, wait a minute. Didn’t the Westchester Breakfast club already review Wobble Cafe?” Yes, yes we did.
However, we all like Wobble, and since Wobble was the location of the first unofficial WBC meeting, Jeff had the charming idea for us to convene here on May 2 and take pictures of ourselves at 11am to submit to theNY Times’s “A Moment in Time”.

So, off to Wobble we went. There was some bumpiness in the beginning when it took awhile for the staff to round up a chair for Jeff. We assured them that Jeff could just stand for the duration of the meal, but they inisisted on getting him a chair. Finally a chair was found and ceremoniously presented to the table, but then there was one more problem: there were 5 of us, but only 2 menus. When we pointed this out, our waitress apologized and scurried away, quickly returning with the menus we needed.

Like last week, I was uninspired for breakfast this morning, so I settled on what I always settle on when I’m uninspired: eggs. Since I had thoroughly enjoyed the omelette I had had the last time we went to Wobble, I decided to try one again, this time opting for cheddar cheese and peppers inside. I asked for sides of home fries and fresh fruit, and skipped the toast. My beverage was cranberry juice. Halfway through placing our orders the waitress announced that there were some breakfast specials. One of the specials sounded uninteresting, but when she announced that they also had Wobble’s made-to-order doughnuts (which you’ll recall are called “frats”), I looked to our czar for confirmation that we should get some, and then I ordered a plate for the table.

After we had passed the time with some trivial pursuit (Wobble places a stack of cards on each table–did you know Nixon was the first president to visit Moscow?), our frats arrived. Ah, lucious, lovely frats. The six doughnuts were stacked beautifully on the plate. They were warm, allowing the vanilla glaze to melt on the doughnuts. The glaze was not too sugary, and the doughnuts were not too heavy.

As soon as we had finished licking the frats glaze off our fingers, our main meals arrived. The food on my plate was arranged nicely. (The homefries came in their own separate bowl.) However, there were alot of peppers, a blast of red on one side of my plate. Way too many peppers, which all seemed to be surrounding my omelette instead of being cooked into the omelette. The omelette also was not cooked in the same way as it was the last time I was at Wobble. They were fluffy, sure, but they somehow didn’t seem as fresh as before. The eggs today had more of the consistency of Egg Beaters. The fruit was a refreshing complement to the meal. There was a nice assortment of fruit (grapes, apple slices, pineapple slices, and some melon slices), and all of the fruit was very fresh. The homefries were fine, cubes of lightly seasoned potatoes. They were not greasy nor too salty.

Our waitress was attentive, coming over frequently (but not too frequently) to ask if everything was ok or if we needed anything else. I assume that, like the last time, the prices were reasonable. However, I didn’t pay for my meal today, since Jeff and Pat owed me money from our recent golf excursion, at which Jeff defied the laws of physics. But that’s another story, and since it’s not breakfast-related, I won’t go into it here. Overall, today’s breakfast was good. Although I was disappointed by the less-impressive quality of the eggs in my omelette and by the fact that the peppers were not cooked into the omelette, these things would not stop me from going to Wobble again.

Reid

The Case: Wobble Cafe vs. The Westchester Breakfast Club

The Jurisdiction: Campwoods Road in Ossining

The Venue: A charming diner/cafe

The Facts: Despite not sending back the RSVP card enclosed with my engraved invitation, I attended this week’s meeting of the Westchester Breakfast Club at the Wobble Cafe in Ossining. This was my first trip to Wobble, as I was not a member of the WBC back at its first meeting. This period in the Club’s history is known as the “pre-Aronsonian period”, or simply, “the Dark Times.” Wobble is a bit off the beaten path for me, but once you know where it is, it isn’t difficult to find.

I think that the primary feeling I got from Wobble was “a little tired, but otherwise charming.” The menus have a fun font, the tables remind me of 50s-era lunchboxes, and there were some old Trivial Pursuit cards for us to amuse ourselves with. (Sample Question: What is the most rural State in the U.S? Correct Answer: Yo’ Mama.) All in all, a very pleasant atmosphere for a Sunday morning breakfast.

The food did not disappoint either. Wobble offers something akin to “make-your-own-pancakes.” For a small price, you can add a whole grain (i.e. buckwheat) to your pancakes, and/or a fruit (blueberry, strawberry or banana,) and a miscellaneous additional topping (walnuts, I think, were an option.) I stayed conservative, and merely asked for blueberry pancakes, and a side of bacon, along with a glass of orange juice.

Unlike many breakfast places, Wobble did not skimp on the size of the juice glasses, which were as large as the glasses containing Pat and Sylvia’s iced coffees. The juice itself was nothing remarkable, but there was plenty of it. I could say the same about the bacon; it was tasty, not as crispy as I normally like, but there was as much as I wanted.
The pancakes were the best part of the experience. They were very nice and fluffy, and the blueberries were spread liberally throughout the batter. Good pancakes leave you full, but still wanting more. These fit that to a “T.”

The Verdict: I will definitely come back to Wobble again; now that I know where it is, it will become a regular part of my breakfast rotation.

Pat

What I Had: Buttermilk Pancakes, Bacon, Iced Coffee

What It Cost: $12.00 or so

Worth It: Eh

The Rating: 2.5/5

The Details: If you visit Wobble on a weekend morning, expect to find an abundance of families and children. The eatery seems to pride itself on being child-friendly; its walls are decorated with crayon drawings of different foods. We arrived at 10 AM and waited 10-15 minutes to be seated. If you want to eat right when you get there, I suggest traveling in smaller parties and arriving a bit earlier in the morning.
I opted for the pancakes with a side of bacon. I was delighted to see that Wobble offered not just hot coffee but iced coffee, and given the temperature I took the plunge into its icy, caffeinated goodness. Sadly, the coffee was the highlight. The pancakes arrived a beautiful golden hue, and the restaurant offers genuine maple syrup (HOORAY!), but when the elements combined, I immediately sensed a problem. The pancakes immediately absorbed the syrup, becoming a soggy mess with an unappealing texture. The sweetness of the syrup, rather than blending with the taste of the pancake, completely overwhelmed it. The exterior of the pancake simply wasn’t cooked well enough. Perhaps some fruit or other filler would have improved the experience and varied the texture more. Sadly, I didn’t have the foresight to find out. As for the bacon, I generally like my bacon to have a nice mix of crispy and fatty, but this bacon wasn’t cooked well enough and needed a little more crisp. Overall, the food was decidedly disappointing (though the tastes I had of Sylvia’s potatoes and grits and Jeffrey’s Pain Perdu were more promising). The service was adequate.

The Bottom Line: This is the second time I’ve left Wobble disappointed. I’m starting to wonder if its reputation exceeds its actual quality.

Sylvia

We went to Wobble Cafe on Sunday, at 10AM, blue skies with a high of 90 degrees forecasted for the day. A day like this means that hoards of people will be leaving their homes to collectively descend upon local breakfast and brunch joints. At first it seemed like we were going to have to wait awhile, seeing how there were two parties of 5 ahead of us, and just a few tables that can accommodate a party of that size. But we were given a corner table with expandable wings. It was a tighter than normal squeeze, but we all like each other enough so that it wasn’t a problem.

Once most of us were seated, and a last chair for Jeffrey was located, drink orders were taken. I was on autopilot and ordered a coffee. The waitress instead asked if I wanted Iced Coffee. Since it was almost 80 degrees in the place, I happily and gratefully took her suggestion and got an iced coffee.

Figuring out what I wanted to eat was difficult. I decided to try something different this time around. Instead of going for an old favorite (pancakes), I went with something unique that Wobble had, and no one else did (or at least to my knowledge). I had Green Eggs with home fries and a side of Grits with Cheddar Cheese on top and a couple of slices of homemade brioche to top things off. Green Eggs are eggs gently poached in a creamed arugula.

We also got an order of half a dozen fresh Frats (dounuts) for the table.

After the waitress took our orders, we passed the time by playing with some old trivia pursuit cards that were on the table. The lesson learned from this…Reid gets around…

Our donuts finally came, piping fresh and drizzled with glaze. Fresh donuts are the best. I gave up donuts a long time ago for diet reasons, but I can never say no to a fresh donut (or a gift donut…I have to be polite!). These did not disappoint. Because they were not dipped in glaze, but sort of haphazardly drizzled in it, the donut was perfectly sweetened without leaving the glaze all over your fingers and your mouth.

The food came out soon after in a flurry. The green eggs were definitely different than anything else. The eggs were poached, but not as well as I would have liked. But, since the eggs were served in a ramekin complete with some of the creamed arugula, I couldn’t tell how sturdy the eggs were. The big give away was the floating raw egg yolk that poked through the surface. The creamed arugula was, well, arugula cooked in a cream sauce. It was a bit heavy for breakfast, but it was pretty good overall. I don’t know if I’d personally ever be in the mood for something like that, but I would recommend it to anyone who likes poached eggs and something creamy.

The grits were pretty good. I don’t usually see grits served up here, so I’ve only had them a couple of times. These were pretty decent with the cheese, and of course inspired a flurry of quotes from My Cousin Vinny.

After we polished off our food, 11am rolled around and we whipped out our cameras to participate in the New York Times Moment in Time experiment.

The Czar says: If I lived closer to Ossining, this would be a place I’d frequent. It’s cozy with a good variety of food that is not like everywhere else one can go to. It’s very kid friendly, and every time I go, there are always children present and playing in a play area located in the back. One of these days I will stop in for lunch and one of their milkshakes.

Jeffrey

Wobble Café strikes again!

We decided to go to Wobble again because we wanted pictures of the first place where, I believe, Westchester Breakfast Club started. The photos were for The New York Times’ photo of a moment in time or whatever their little campaign was.

The day was hot and steamy. It’s weather I don’t enjoy mainly because it’s the type of weather that I start sweating in profusely even just by sitting. The wait for a table for the 5 of us wasn’t an extremely difficult wait. We stood outside. The occasional breeze cooled us off enough. That’s right, the wait. I think this is the first time I’ve had to wait more then 5 minutes for a table at Wobble. Then again, normally we show up early. We would usually beat the crowd of hungry children. Today, it was full. I wouldn’t say packed, but it was full.

To our delight, the corner table up front opened up. It’s further away from the rest of the dining area, which is probably a good thing considering the nature of some of our conversations. I think the people at Wobble are on to us. Who knows, we may have some pull in the town… or county… geographical area? Either way, the conversation soon erupted.

Reid was put on trial. (Get it? He’s a lawyer.) Many members of the club were not happy with Reid’s participation level in the group e-mails planning for events. On the other side of the coin, Reid fights back with the idea that he is usually left out of the planning process. We all came to the revelation that on a recent golf ball-hitting venture, someone may have overlooked Reid. After a heated argument and some punch throwing, and then a rather long and awkward make out session, we all settled down for the food that we had ordered. So, on to the food.
So, what does one order the second (or third) time around? I didn’t want to review the migas again, so I ordered the Pain Perdu. What is a pain perdu? I’m still not really sure. It seemed to me to be 2 slices of French toast with a fruit and cheese mixture in the middle. Is this some sort of breakfast sandwich? I think not. One would find it hard to pick this contraption up with one’s hand and chow down on it like a sandwich. No, this is a knife and fork operation. To quench my thirst, I had considered coffee when the drink orders were being made, but then I, and the people who had ordered coffee, realized that it may be too warm of a day to order scalding hot coffee. I had to side with orange juice. The coffee order-ers switched to iced coffee, which the waitress kindly recommended. She also understood that it was a mighty warm day.

Was the meal good? I’d say yes. I ordered something I’ve never ordered before and I was pleased with the meal. It was sweet, but not too sweet. It was cheesy, but not the same cheese you would find in an omelet. Would I order it again? Probably not. It didn’t strike me as an amazing breakfast.

One gripe I had was the orange juice. Granted, juice is expensive, but 2 dollars for a second glass? I didn’t mind paying for it because I was indeed thirsty and it was worth it due to the heat. But unless you’re freshly squeezing the oranges, I don’t think you should charge for a second glass. If it’s coming out of the Tropicana bottle, I think the second glass should be free. Charge the third if you must, but seriously!