Knowlton's Kitchen - 14

Date: 8/7/10

Restaurant: Knowlton's Kitchen   
Address: 16 Church Street   
City: North Walpole
Phone: 445-2660

Breakfast Hours: Served all day. Closed Mondays. Tues. 7am-3pm, Wed.-Sat. 7am-8pm, Sun. 7am-2pm       

This marks the beginning of a new quarter. We are now thrilled, and maybe a little overwhelmed, with the option to order anything we want off the menu. Sashenka (Sven's daughter) joined us this week and she ordered pretty close to the "standard" which was a nice way to transition into our new way of doing things.

STANDARD - 2 eggs OE, potatoes, bacon, toast

Eggs ****         
   

Potatoes ***+
Kind: Home Fries. Sven said a few of his were underdone. Some of them definitely had some crisp, but not many. Sven improved his by adding some homemade salsa.        
   

Toast ****
Kind: Sashenka - white, Sven - rye, Olga - wheat   
Homemade? No
Nicely toasted and loaded with butter. Perfect vehicle for a little strawberry jam!
       

Ham ***+
This is the first time there was no bacon on our plates! It was a little strange and slightly disconcerting. When Sashenka ordered her breakfast she first requested bacon, but as she was finishing up her order a server walked by with another customer's breakfast and there was a steaming slab of ham on top. I noticed it too. She quickly changed her order. So, I had a bite of her ham and thought the flavor was pretty good, but it could have hung out on the grill just a little bit longer.
    


Coffeecake ****
Kind: Pumpkin Filled   
Homemade? Yes
So, this is our 2nd week in a row we have had coffeecake. Because of our piece last week at Yesterday's, Knowlton's coffeecake really didn't have a chance of getting a 5, but it was still pretty stinkin' good. It was homemade by our server, Linda, and it consisted of pumpkin pie filling sandwiched by two layers of pretty basic coffeecake, topped with cinnamon and walnuts. It was definitely fresh, moist and tasty. It was nuked briefly and arrived at the table nice and warm.    
   

SERVER RECOMMENDATION
Linda started off by recommending the pancakes and omelets, but then went on to rant about pretty much the whole menu. 
   

SPECIAL/OMELET
A couple of specials on the board: Lobster Omelet, Strawberry French Toast

SVEN'S CHOICE ***** Basil, Tomato and Feta Omelet
Perfectly cooked and really flavorful without being over powering. The basil in the omelet came from the potted plant sitting on the counter. Sven upgraded to organic eggs for 50¢.

OLGA'S CHOICE **** Veggie Quickie
The jokes were flying when I asked Linda what a "Quickie" was. I think I might have blushed. Turns out a "Quickie" at Knowlton's is a scramble and mine came with mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and peppers. There were lots of vegetables and I am pretty sure the mushrooms were fresh. It was a large portion and it was cooked just right.

Veggie Quickie

SERVICE *****  Linda
Linda rocked! She was super enthusiastic, warm and friendly. Our cups were always full and she really made sure we were happy. When Sven asked for hot sauce she brought over three different kinds, as well as two containers of homemade salsa! All the servers seemed very nice and every customer was greeted with the same enthusiasm and some with a pat on the back. We got more than one nice farewell as we exited the place.    
    
   

DECOR ***+
Family-style with premium grade Eastern White Pine, V-grooved boards on the walls and diagonally under the counter, and a dropped acoustical ceiling with black T-bars. Gee Sven, thanks for those details! The place was rather dark with a faux country feel. All the mugs were different, which was a nice homey touch. The walls were mostly blank except for a few dry-erase boards listing their specials and seafood offerings and a few kitschy signs featuring kitchen/diner sayings. It was a comfortable place to kick back and enjoy breakfast.    


 
NOTES
There seemed to be a number of pork options. They offered a BBQ pulled pork and roasted pork omelets. Each plate came with an orange slice and a sprig of fresh parsley, which was a nice touch and unusual for a place like that.

SVEN'S TAKE   

Coming whenever he gets around to it.