Mason's Grill: Brunch

Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Mason's Grill, every Sunday morning the people of Baton Rouge seem to flock to this place. This was my first time coming to eat brunch here and I was pretty surprised as to how busy this place got. What was even more surprising is the lack of parking. They were completely slammed. But I have heard very good things about their brunch menu so I had no problem waiting around an hour for our table. Sadly to say I've heard more excitement out of their drink specials than their food. You can get bottomless champagne for $4.00 and a dollar off on their popular                                                                                             bloody marys.

                      
The way you order their bloody marys was something that I've never seen before, it's quite genius actually. There's a sheet listing of all of their choices in vodka's, garnishes, and heat level to say exactly how spicy you want it. You check off what you want, and the waiter brings it to the bar. I went with the bottomless champagne and our table got glasses of orange juice to create our own mimosas. We put our orders in and waited for our food. I suggest that you get the never ending champagne to kill the time, or come with some very interesting people while you wait. This place was so busy that you have to prepare yourself of the wait time for your food.

The best part of dining with a ton of people is the opportunity to try as many dishes that come to your table. My friend got their very popular Breakfast Burger. This monster is equipped with a sausage patty, 2 fried eggs, bacon, a hamburger patty, lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese. This thing is pretty hard to tackle just because of its shear size. The messiness from the runny yolk doesn't help either, but I love runny yolk so I didn't mind it. I was already expecting it to taste really good because of the contents. But, it was surprisingly sweet from the sausage. Sweet like a maple syrup, but not overpowering. You also get a choice of a side, he ordered the Fried Jalapeno and Cheese-stuffed Grit Cake. It was a bit on the greasy side, but still nice. My friend certainly picked the heaviest dish possible, I bet his stomach felt like lead at the end of the meal.

I only tried a couple of bites from two dishes of my other friends. One ordered the Cajun Breakfast that came with two fried eggs over the Fried Jalapeno and Cheese-stuffed Grit Cake topped with a creamy seafood auGratin Sauce, plus a side. And the other got the Top Sirloin and Egg Breakfast. A 10 ounce top sirloin, with two eggs any style. It was also served with toast and a choice of a side. The Cajun Breakfast tasted very good. The steak... not so much. I don't know how my friend got it cooked but it was pretty dry, I tend to like my steaks to bleed when I cut into it. It was also a piece close to the fat line, so I was pretty shocked as to how it wasn't more tender.

For my selection, I decided to go with the Seafood auGratin Benedict. Two poached eggs served on top of an English muffin with Canadian bacon, topped with their creamy seafood auGratin sauce, plus one side. I decided to go with their hash browns. First off, I would probably say that if it is at all possible to get my eggs cooked in any way, they would have to be poached. Cutting into one is so soft that you can't believe it's not butter, if done properly. English muffins aren't my favorite but this one was a lot softer than I expected so it suited the eggs very well. I also prefer regular bacon over Canadian bacon, but this reduced the amount of saltiness that should really be emphasized in the seafood auGratin sauce. Which it did. From what I could identify in the sauce, the seafood was crawfish and shrimp. I think it was prepared well, the sauce was rich and creamy but not very heavy considering that you use mainly egg and butter to make it. So, it sat pretty well in my stomach. The only downside of my meal had to be the hash browns. They were definitely overcooked so that you could taste the char off of the flat top grill that they probably cooked it on. Some people like it that way I suppose, but not me.

Surprisingly after tasting a few dishes and eating all of mine, I was still hungry. I was juggling my options when I was ordering whether or not to order the Fruit-Topped Belgian Waffle. Because I wasn't entirely full, I figured to hell with it and split it with my friends. You get the choice of having either a blueberry or strawberry topping, from the picture on the left you can clearly see what I went with. Aside from the powdered sugar, whipped cream and strawberries, this waffle was one of the best I've ever had. It was very light and fluffy and not overly buttery. The toppings only made it THAT much better. If you're a Baton Rouge local, consider this as the breakfast strawberry Ambrosia cake. Just about anyone who had room left in their stomachs took a bite, and none of them had anything negative to say.

Well, that was about it. I certainly had enough food to last me through the day and it I wouldn't say that it was entirely worth it, but I did have a good time. My bill totaled up to be around 27 dollars including the gratuity. If you do come here for brunch, come hungry and come thirsty.


Mason's Grill - 13556 Jefferson Highway, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
http://www.masonsgrill.com/