Morning Edition Cafe

Recommends

bawlmerbawler83

Joined 2 years ago

Baltimore's Best Breakfast. This place is a revelation: light and colorful decor, an extensive and very creative menu, a great signature coffee a variety of drinks. Bold savory choices include a wide selection of omelets, and fresh non-savory favorites like french toast and pancakes. Haven't been enough to recommend anything in particular, but would need multiple visits to test out this menu. I only wish this place had more extensive hours, or served dinner (as they suggest on their sign). Miss Sherley's, Pete's Grill, Papermoon Diner, City Cafe all excel at breakfast/brunch, but this is my new favorite in Baltimore.

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CSMobileUser3

Joined 5 years ago

Baltimore's Best Breakfast Chef. Delicious, creative and tasty breakfast food from arguably the best breakfast chef in Baltimore. This has been my favorite breakfast place for the last 10 years.

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MJ21044

Joined 3 years ago

Morning Edition Cafe. Submitted July 14, 2010

I went to the Morning Edition Café this past Sunday, arriving at about 11:30 AM. When the host found out that I had ridden my bicycle there, he offered to house it for me inside the building. WOW! I frequently ride from the I-70 park-and-ride to have breakfast/lunch somewhere in the city, and rarely do I encounter such hospitality. This was the beginning of a great experience.

The interior of this small, rustic, 10-12 table restaurant features old wood – lots of it, and enough decorations and newspapers to occupy the eyes. I was seated immediately at one of the two tables that were open. And it was quiet, blessedly quiet, with conversation being the auditory backdrop - a welcome change from most restaurants.

Before I could read the handwritten menu that was specific to today, I was served a piece of banana bread and offered a cup of Zeke’s coffee. The banana bread was soft, warm, and outstanding in its multi-level flavor and consistency. Zeke’s coffee, if you haven’t had it yet, is strong and flavorful with no bitterness in its aftertaste.

The menu was extensive, with everything you could imagine as a breakfast meal. I found the accent on the fruited choices irresistible, and I chose the berry French toast. It arrived in about ten minutes, just after my coffee was topped off. Garnished with watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, cherries on the stem, orange segments (and a tootsie pop!), the entree looked so beautifully prepared that I had to take a photo of it. (My brother and I send photos of the best foods that we either make or encounter outside of our homes to make each other jealous. This one will have the desired effect.) The browned toast array was topped generously with blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries – all fresh and each perfect. The toast pieces were hot, having been well-dipped in an egg and light seasoning mixture and fried gently. The taste combination of the berries and the toast led me to conclude that I really didn’t need the maple syrup that accompanied this dish.

My server checked on me shortly after I began, and my coffee cup was never allowed to get low. I overheard two ladies at a nearby table telling their server that they had read about this restaurant, noting unfavorable service comments. I have since found a couple of such reviews. Maybe there was slow service and preparation when these reviews were written, but I found no current evidence to support that evaluation. Maybe it’s because even the Citypaper’s review dates back to 2004. I couldn’t find any indication of inadequate service, there being three servers working the floor. The coffeepot was frequently brought from table to table, and the servers were always in sight and available when not actively offering further assistance. Appreciative of the quality of the food and the level of service, I left a 50% tip.

A final note: I asked my server to pass on my appreciation to the owner for letting me stow my bike inside. (Baltimore is second only to New York in bike thefts.) To my surprise, I was invited to the kitchen to meet him. Having been around the restaurant business for many years, I know that this is quite unusual. Introduced to me as “Brian,” he told me that he was glad to be able to extend the offer and that he hoped my brunch was satisfactory. It was, and I’ll make this a future destination.

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bohs and os

Joined 3 years ago

Banana Bread. Disregard all reviews that do not mention banana bread. The reason Morning Edition is so great is the Banana Bread, which is possibly the best in the world. Don't come to Morning Edition hoping for a home run from every dish. Feast on banana bread and get some eggs if you'd like.

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Mike7112

Joined 3 years ago

Great food; Eclectic Menu; Lots of mimosas. This is one of those restaurants that makes Baltimore a great place to eat. A quirky, eclectic decor complements a quirky, eclectic menu. It sort of feels like you're eating in a craft store - a stark and pleasant contrast to the neighborhood in which this place is located.

You won't be served with a smile, but I don't think that means the service is particularly rude. Our server seemed to be on top of the coffee and drinks throughout our brunch. Speaking of drinks, Morning Edition features a wide variety of mimosas, and most of which I tried were pretty good, although I'm more of a bloody mary person.

I can't speak as to the whole menu, but I have had some fantastic, creative omelettes, such as the sage and smoked salmon, a great bagel and lox, and delicious "holdiay" pancakes featuring caramel and walnuts. To summarize, the menu takes conventional breakfast items and puts a creative, upscale spin on them.

Also - be sure to try the baked goods. The banana bread we tried was the best I've had.

Skip the Blue Moon in Fells and its hour(s)-long wait, this place is just as good, and rarely a wait.

Doesn't Recommend

anonymousbmore

Joined 5 years ago

Embarrassing Service. My thinking is the people who said this place is quaint and charming are employees of Morning Edition.

Why would anyone pay $12 for brunch and to get such bad service that you feel like you've been robbed for your money. The two women working the tables were incredibly slow and rude. The one slammed plates and in two separate instances seated a table and then made the customers get up and move to another table. The place was not busy at all so there wasn't a line of people neeeded to be seated. The waitress made an error on our check and when we showed her, the response we got was, "Don't pay the total bill. Subtract out what is incorrect." Of course she still ran the bill on our credit card at the full price.

The food is okay at best. But its certainly not good enough to make you forget about the service. 60 minutes to make an omelette? For those of you who have never made an egg before it should not take more than 10 minutes to cook. And thats being extremely generous. The staff is lazy and rude, the food is okay at best but overpriced. Why waste your time and precious Sunday morning at this place. If you don't believe me, please check it out for yourself. Make up your own mind.

Also, the person who said this is just like in Vermont and how you order iced tea, etc. Not sure what part of Vermont you've been to but my experience in Burlington have been nothing like this. If fact, Vermont has always been a place where locals are friendly.

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BrianAlex

Joined 5 years ago

Amazing and true Vermont ...Fun, Casual, Adult Place for Casual Chat, ...........oh the VT attitude is part of the fun.. If you have heard the old VT jokes such as, "I'd like Ice Tea" and the server replys, "we don't serve that here" . Customer says, "bring me hot tea, and a glass of ice" waiter says, "we know how, we just don't serve it here." Imagine the folks working there live there, and you are a casual friendly visitor not a paying customer. If you have been a visitor in any of the country places in vermont, slow roads slow casual pace, and a resistance to "flatlanders". Then this is the place for you, service is not fast food service, appropriately and the food is fabulous, appropriately priced for baltimore or any other large city on the east coast. The food is superior to anyplace we have found in Baltimore. The problem is that they are only open 3 days a week and close by 2pm. Go, be patient, and enjoy the amazing food, everyone who visits gets to go there and loves it.

Doesn't Recommend

baltofoodie

Joined 7 years ago

dirty. Ok, how did this place receive five stars? The service is terrible, the mimosa's are not even mimosa's and the place is so dirty! My glass had a piece of food stuck to it, the table was sticky, the floor was dirty, clearly the decorative "antiques" have not been dusted in MONTHS! I think it's time the food inspector pays a visit to this little restaurant. I was so grossed out, that we paid for our drinks and left before the food arrived. I do need to point out that this was 30 minutes after we placed our orders...who knows how long we would have waited for our meals to arrive???

Doesn't Recommend

ndp1016

Joined 6 years ago

if you want to be cheated and ignored.... How in the world have you given this restaurant 5 stars? Would you enjoy dining where you are mostly ignored, and when you were noticed it was as if you had bothered your waitress, your food took at least 45 mins, and this was after you were careful NOT to order something they had explicitly told you would take an hour to prepare. Perhaps where tables had their food long before yours, even though they were seated after you AND had ordered the items you had carefully NOT ordered because they would have taken too long! When we did finally get our food, it was cold and so meager we were amazed. Then to make matters worse, after we had to ask the waitress to take away our , warm, flat cokes ( how can you screw up a coke? ), we couldn't get refills of water. Our biscuits and gravy only came with enough gravy to cover one biscuit. Our eggs and canadian bacon, with 2 tiny pieces of bacon was $10!! And the price was not listed on the menu. So, to recap, if you liked to be cheated , ignored, and wait forever, be my guest, I will never go back, and am sure to tell everyone about this place.

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everly

Joined 6 years ago

An exercise in frustration!. No, no, no, no, no. Yes, it's cute in a cluttered Grandma's kitchen kind of way. But, the service is depressingly slack. We were the first customers (knowing that the Edition is famous for its long waits). This will not buy you any brownie points with the staff nor will it get your breakfast out before other customers. Our waiter arrived to work (after us), walked past us and mozied around for a good 20 minutes before bringing us menus. He then mozied some more and finally asked us for a drink order (drinks only - the kitchen wasn't ready to take our breakfast order). After finally ordering and waiting another 40 minutes the omelettes were on the table and were quite good, plus the fresh fruit was a nice touch. However, the frustration is just not worth it. Weekend breakfasts are supposed to be relaxing, not a test of your willpower to remain civil.