California Travels

Stacks, Campbell

Two breakfasts out in one weekend - we are eating high on the hog now.

Today we are off to the Farmers Market in Campbell and decided to leave a bit early to find somewhere for breakfast. We checked online before hand but the only alternative to the nearby Kings Head is Stacks. Once we went to Stacks in Menlo Park and I was not that impressed but maybe it is time to give this one in Campbell a try out.

It’s another lovely sunny day and hopefully we will find something tasty to BBQ tonight. After breakfast we will head straight to the fish stall. Unfortunately we are not going to find any local King salmon because there is a fishing ban off the California coast at all this year. We will also check to see if there is any sweet corn on sale.

Stacks normally has a lot of people waiting outside for a table but at 8.30 this morning there was nobody. To cope with the expected crowds later on there is free coffee available. Inside we were behind a couple of other new arrivals waiting. When it was our turn, we were aksed if we wanted to eat outside or up at the counter and there would be no wait but we decided to wait for a table inside. It was a very short wait and before long we were led to our table. We were expecting a small table as they are so busy but we were lucky to be seated in a 6 seater booth and have it all to ourselves. Plenty of room to stretch out.

Stacks is quite large - it was difficult to count how many booths and tables. The layout well thought out and the variety of options is extensive. It’s your typical breakfast eatery but, as it is a chain, the artwork and decorative touches are bland. It is also noisy but, of course, that is due to the number of customers here, all chatting away in large and small groups and enjoying their meals.

The menu is OK but I didn’t study it too well. I went straight to the ‘Healthy Eating’ section and checked out the oatmeal. It comes with a choice of blueberries, bananas or strawberries (hmm… just like the Ketch Joanne yesterday). Instead of toast though, the oatmeal comes with a dry bagel.

Within five minutes we gave our order and I asked the same questions as yesterday - Is the oatmeal instant? - No - Are the blueberries frozen? - Yes. So I ordered the oatmeal with strawberries ($5.75). Tom ordered a bacon Belgium waffle (7.65). He asked our server how big it was and she pointed out one on the serving hatch that was about to be served. He debated whether to order a side or something to go with it and decided not to.

The food arrived within ten minutes. That’s good. From arrival to getting our food it had been twenty minutes. We are impressed.

My oatmeal came in a medium sized, deep, round bowl on a large oval plate. Around it were small white bowls with sugar, raisins, strawberries and one with butter (I asked for butter to go with my dry bagel). The milk came in a small stainless steel jug and was full to the brim. Although the oatmeal looked a bit watery, it turned out to be nothing of the sort. It was scrummy. The sugar was not compacted in the bowl and therefore soft and the strawberries were just right. The only observation I would make, it was difficult to eat out of the bowl without moving all the little bowls out of the way, but not a big problem.

Tom enjoyed his waffle and it was soon gone. The server came to inquire if everything was OK. Now normally that superficial question which all servers ask (I guess because they are trained to do so), annoys the heck out of us. They always seem to interrupt at a critical point in a conversation or in the middle of reading an interesting article or, in my case, when I’m concentrating on writing. Our server (her name was Chelle) did it in such an engaging manner, she was excused. She also asked Tom if the waffle was sufficient or did he want to order a side. That idea appealed to him so he ordered a side of sausage. Three sausages on a plate, decorated with two slices of tomatoes and chopped cilantro, were soon put in front of him and, according to Tom, they were good.

The restroom was not that special. One thing surprised me, considering the size of the restaurant and the number of people who frequest the place, there were only two stalls - one standard and one handicapped. Plus there was only one basin. It was clean and bright though.

Our verdict is that the food is very good. Unlike yesterday, everything was piping hot. The service was excellent. All in all, we both agreed that we will come here again.

We had a successful visit to the Farmers Market and came away with 2lbs of Rainer cherries, 1lb of fresh King salmon from Alaska (at $21.95 a pound it was quite steep) and fresh white corn from Brentwood. We also noticed that there was a new restaurant serving breakfast so we will have to try it out next time.

June 17 2008 | Breakfast Log | No Comments »

The Kings Head, Campbell, California

We have come to Campbell to go to the Farmers Market. Campbell is a nice little town not far from San Jose.

The Kings Head is a pseudo English pub which claims to ’serve food fit for royalty’. It is been built to look like a Tudor building with fake timbers. Outside there is a huge banner which says they serve breakfast from 7 a.m. Don’t be fooled by that - they don’t open until 8 on a Sunday.

We were the first customers to arrive at 8.15 and nothing had been set up. There was just one server and one cook. We seriously thought about leaving and finding somewhere else but decided to stick it out.

Our order for drinks was taken, one coffee and one water, but two coffees were brought. I had to wait another five minutes for the water.

The list of what was not available seemed endless - no hash, no eggs Benedict, no biscuits but -worst of all - no oatmeal. Hmm, shall we go or stay? Once again we decided to stay.

A party of 20 turned up who had apparently booked but the server had not been told. It was interesting to see how the served coped, but cope she did.

Now let me describe the interior. On the walls are swords and lots of brass plates. There are full sized figures of beefeaters and one knight. Hanging from the rafters are mock heraldic shields. There is an upstairs area for eating called the Kings Balcony. There are no booths - and you certainly don’t get those in English pubs - just table and chairs. Above the bar is a long painted log inscribed with the words ‘The Kings Head Wicked Wood, which is used in tossing the caber at Scottish Games. It is painted white with a Scottish flag at one end.

The floor is supposed to be flagstones but in places it is worn and you can see plain old concrete underneath.

Our order was taken after another fifteen minutes. Tom ordered the Joe’s Skillet ($8.95) and mine was for cheese omelet ($7.95). Twenty minutes later our food was served. Verdict, Tom said there was not much meat in his but apart from that it was OK. My omelet was good but the potatoes were barely warm. Also my toast was very crispy, more like crisp bread than toast.

The restrooms were labeled Knights and Wenches. Inside Wenches the lighting was inadequate. Just one dim light near the sink. The stalls were very dark. On one wall inside the stalls are boards with adverts but you can’t read them. There was no seat at all inside the handicapped stall. There were no little touches to brighten up the place. Also the handle on the hot tap was missing so only cold water was available.

All in all we were not very impressed with the Kings Head.

November 29 2007 | Breakfast Log | 1 Comment »