Black Walnut Cafe

Houston, Texas
It's around 9 AM in Rice Village and I'm with three of my friends. We decided to go to Black Walnut Cafe because we heard they have good breakfast. Not only do they just serve breakfast, they serve food for all meals and also carry an award winning gelato. One of the major perks of this place is that they have happy hours. But, unlike any other place I've seen, Black Walnut Cafe has a happy hour in the morning! Yes, the morning. The early bird happy hour runs from 7AM to 10:30AM, and there is an assortment of beer, wine and cocktails that you can choose from.

 

It's never too early for a good mimosa, so we all split a carafe. It filled about 10 flute glasses. Their mimosas consists of fresh squeezed orange juice, sparkling wine, and Grand Marnier. Their mimosas were incredible, I'm sure that the fresh squeezed orange juice had a lot to do with it. This was also the first time I have ever had Grand Marnier in a mimosa. I think it's something I will make sure to include from now on.


Well, here is what I ordered. Texas Cut Brioche French Toast. It's made with English cream batter, and topped with lemon zest, honey whipped butter and New England maple syrup. You could also add thick cut peppered bacon for two dollars, and that's exactly what I did.

The first thing I noticed was the golf ball sized dollop of butter sitting on top my French toast. I have to say that it was a bit of an overkill but you can just put it to the side. The amount that was melted on top was more than enough anyways. Sadly, I couldn't taste that it was honey whipped. What I absolutely enjoyed the most was the lemon zest on top, it added a nice fruity touch aside from the sweetness from the powdered sugar and maple syrup. The bread that was used held its shape through the cooking process and wasn't soggy at all (tends to happen sometimes). The taste was excellent, it wasn't overly sweet and the use of the thick cut brioche made it very filling. The bacon was also a good choice. The peppered bacon also added a savory aspect to my breakfast, I don't know what it is with the sweet and salty combination but it works every time.

Overall, my experience here was better than I expected. I'll be sure to return if I'm ever back in Houston. The mimosa carafe was 18 dollars, and my French toast plus the bacon was $9.50. Not too shabby.

Black Walnut Cafe - 5510 Morningside Drive, Houston, Texas
http://www.blackwalnutcafe.com/rice.html