Broken Yolk Cafe - And the Curse of Dior....

I'm not a a very superstitious person. Although, I wouldn't do anything that would bring me "ba-chi", Local Kine Japanese slang for "bad luck" or "bad karma". I also will not remove lava rock(really bad luck), cut my toenails at night(Dey goin' rob your house), and as a child wouldn't touch a match ("you play wit match, you goin wet da' bed, so I goin know you play wit matches!"). But other then that, I'm really not superstitious at all! Except, that I think the Missus's Christian Dior Handbag is cursed. You see, we've never had a really good meal whenever she's brought that darn bag along. And the curse seems to extend to anything related to food; once we went shopping together (pretty rare event in itself, the Missus hates grocery shopping), and the simple act of finding a dozen eggs took me like 15 minutes. I sorted through carton after carton of cracked and broken eggs, finally finding what seemed like the only carton of "intact" eggs in the market.........

Broken Yolk Cafe, has always had an odd attraction to the Missus. I think it's the long lines, and crowds of people crowding the sidewalk during weekends. After all; all these people must know something, right?

Broken Yolk Cafe, is a very popular Breakfast and Lunch destination open from 6am to 3pm daily. Crowds of people Young and Old feast on omelets and burgers, and sip mimosas. The numerous  Omelets and Burgers have names like, The Cisco Kid (Four Egg Omelet with Ortega chilies and jack cheese topped with guacamole and sour cream), and Patty Melt Down (Ground beef, American cheese, and grilled onion on rye).

On this sunny, mild, weekday we arrived at about 1pm, after all of the breakfast chaos, and were seated upstairs.

We were served quickly and professionally, and our orders were taken, coffee and water quickly provided, and we were on our way.

The Missus decided on a Rosarito Beach Burger($7.19):

The slightly oblong burger(supposedly 1/2lb), was served on a French Roll, and topped with 2 slices of bacon and guacamole. The Missus, as is Her norm ordered the burger with no mayo, She wants to taste the "beef". This was a bit of a mistake; the burger was very dry. I took a bite and darn if I didn't bite into a "toenail".... that's what I call a piece of bone or other inedible hard piece of "something". The burger came with a pretty large portion of crinkle cut fries:

I really felt like these had been "re-fried", the interior were cold and the fries were very dry.

I ordered the Omelet called the "Border Check"($8.29):

This was a 4 egg omelet with Beef Chorizo, Jack Cheese, Jalapeno Peppers, and topped with guacamole and salsa. I thought the omelet was decent, and enjoyed the heat of the jalapenos, though the Missus thought that the flavoring of the chorizo over-powered everything else. I ordered the "Home Fries", that was more like scalloped/gratin potatoes; pretty bland stuff. I'm taking the Blueberry Muffin home; to use as a paperweight.

Not all was bad about Broken Yolk; I thought the service was good. Our coffee and water was kept refreshed, and our Server was the epitome of efficiency and professionalism. I felt really quite guilty about Her having to walk all the food up the stairs. When I mentioned this to Her, she told me "It keeps me in shape". If you're feeling especially ambitious, Broken Yolk serves something called the "Broken Yolk Café Special"($18.99). It's a dozen-egg omelet served in a pizza pan, with mushrooms, onions, American cheese and smothered with chili and cheese. On the other half of the pan is homefries and two biscuits. Eat it all within an hour and it’s only $1.98 and receive a complimentary T-Shirt. Angioplasty not included..... Good Luck!

In the end, I think I'll blame it on the "bag". Not that I'm superstitious, right?

Broken Yolk Cafe
1851 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

Comments

[dietchilicheesefries]

its the Christian Dior bag for sure..

next time have the Missus bring a Jansport backpack and the Low Maintenance Gods will provide for you ....... the "Ultimate Food Experience"... dis no lie mon

[Jenn]

Hey there! How are you doing? I was reading this post and a question occured to me: how often, if ever, do you send things back to the kitchen? I had dinner at TGIFriday's a couple weeks ago, and the fries they brought me were still frozen in the middle. I sent them back. The time before, when I was there with my friend, I complained because they brought me fettucini instead of the "spaghetti" I'd ordered from the menu. The time before that, the hamburger bun was so stale it fell apart into tiny bits when I picked it up.
Next time, I'm probably going to have to send my meal back, saying, "I didn't order this big glob of spit in it! Hmph!"
So, if somethings undercooked or stale or just plain bad, do you take a picture of it and fetch the waitress, or do you just deal with it and eat it?

[jem]

Have you been to Tiki Hut in Sorrento Valley?

[Jo]

Good question Jenn... Yea Kirk, what do you do? I personally just don't eat it. Had that happen at breakfast in Hatteras as a matter of fact.

[rooney]

re: tgif to me the obvious question is, why do you keep going back?

[Barbara Fisher]

You know, sometimes I think that nothing is as depressing as a bad breakfast. Breakfast food, when good is just plain old good, comforting, delicious food.

When it is bad, it is inedible, and just sad. I guess because it is not particularly good for you, so if you are going to take in that huge amount of fat calories--it had better be cooked right and taste good in order to do it.

[Kirk]

Hi DCCF - I may let the Missus reply to your comment Herself! LOL! Because She thinks Ferragamo will be the remedy.

Hi Jenn - Well, when do I return stuff? I guess it depends on if it's inedible, price, and frankly how we're feeling at a paticular time. Like if these fries were frozen, I'd send them back, but they were cooked, if the burger was raw, I'd send it back - but I think this is about as good food as we're gonig to get here. We'd be trading one crappy burger for another, and so forth - plus the Server was very nice, so it didn't make much sense. Now if I'd gotten scrambled eggs instead of an omelete - that would've gone back, simply because it's not what I ordered. Hope tat makes some sense.

Hi Jem - I've been having some bad luck in trying Tiki Hut - I've visited twice, but they've been closed. I think I'll wait until spring break and try the one in the college area.

Hi Jo - I hope my rather long-winded comment answered your question. In this case I just ate - or didn't eat it. It wasn't inedible, just mediocre. Trading mediocre food for mediocre food is a waste of time.

Hi Rooney - Thanks for visiting and commenting. Not to put words in Her mouth - but I think Jenn is currently living in Korea - so I'm sure since She is from North America, that She craves some of that type of food now and then. Maybe Jenn will respond as well.

Hi Barbara - You summed it all up, and got to the point in one short paragraph, just as you always do! We really don't eat American-style breakfasts very often for exactly that reason - we need a nap afterwards to recover, but we just woke up!

[mabel]

Haha, being a purse girl myself, you lost me at Dior (this was a post about breakfast food?). You must definitely test out that curse though--a gorgeous Chloe or Celine should suffice.

Broken Yolk has always been a favorite of mine, but recently a lot of my friends have been saying Hash House in Hillcrest is better. Have you tried HH?

[Kirk]

Hi Mabel - Ha, I'll make sure to have more "handbag" references in future posts - can't wait to see what rhymes with Miu Miu! We've eaten at Hash House several times, but as you can probably tell, we have crowd-o-phobia, and the lines at hash house get crazy! HH has huge portions, and is pretty good - though I hate their biscuits. To tell you the truth, I kinda like Perry's & the Missus likes Brians'.....I guess now you'll never read this blog again? LOL!

[Jenn]

Hi All,
Kirk is absolutely right, when I feel like eating food that reminds me of home, I usually go to TGIF's because it's conveniently located. I've been there maybe only 6 times oe so in the almost 2 years I've been here, so they get stuff right about half the time, ha-ha!
We have McD's, but TGIF makes a much much better burger.
There's also an Outback Steakhouse and a Bennigans and I haven't been to either. Maybe I should give them a try next time.

[Jim (BM)]

Hi Kirk,

I don't think the BY is know for their quality, more so for the quantity. I live close to the place and it is flooded on the weekends with starving college students that want to eat a lot, but do not want to pay much. Everyone in there has the $2.00 off coupon.

[Joan]

Kirk,
We have crowd phobia too, so I haven't been to the Broken Yolk in a LONG time! I have good memories of the food though, so it's kind of disappointing to hear that it was only mediocre. HH is yummy, but definitely crowded- we end up going for dinner more often just to avoid the crowds. Brian's is good too- where's Perry's?

[RONW]

ah, crinkly fries....I use to order that all by itself at "Minute Chef" in Waikiki. Nothing like crinkly fries if it's done right. About sending things back to the kitchen: that's the only way. To do anything less only makes it bad for the next customer. So you may actually be doing the restaurant a big favor with your "compliments" to the chef.

[James]

I'd have to agree with Jim, BY is sorta' more of a quantity over quality place. Sort of like the Antique Row Cafe on Adams Ave., another place that attracts massive crowds.

[JS]

I haver never heard a single positive thing about Broken Yolk.

One place that I quite like for breakfast, though only when I'm in a real specific mood, is Shakespeare's Pub. They have a small-ish breakfast of eggs, Irish back bacon, potato pancakes, and grilled tomatoes that comes with tea. Good, simple, honest food.

Also, have you ever tried Original Pancake House on Convoy? They have some of the best breakfast in San Diego, in my opinon.

[milgwimper]

Kirk,

I have to agree wit Ron, sometimes you just have to send the fries back. Just so the next customer can be satisfied with their meal; it might be you!

[clare eats]

You can send them back OR write a bad review of them on your blog so that every other san diegoan can google them ;) HA!

Hopefully the chef's will start looking for reviews so they can improve their food

(HI!!! if that's the case)

[dls]

In san diego, long lines mean nothing. I have never really cared for Broken Yolk, but day after day, the lines are there. Everytime I drive by, I scratch my head. I can understand the HH phenomenon, but even that has gotten a bit out of hand. Just an opinion. Great (and funny) review!

[Kirk]

Hi Jenn - Hi hope you have better luck at those places!

Hi Jim - It's the crowd attraction that got to us.

Hi Joan - Perry's is near Old Town, right beside the 5 freeway - we call it the "truck stop".

Hi RONW - Sounds like Broken Yolk has so much business that it really wouldn't matter if we sent something back.

Hi James - I really didn't find the "quantity" to be all that much.

Hi JS - I like The Field for a nice high cholesterol breakfast on a Sunday morning. We've been to Pancake House several times, we don't care much for their pancakes for some reason, but I enjoy their omeletes, though they seem to overbeat the eggs to a very light texture.

Hi Mills - It just looks like the typical MO, and I couldn't prove they had refried it - it wasn't inedible, just cold and dry.

Hi Clare - They have so much business, I don't think one post like mine will make a difference.

Hi dls - Welcome and thanks for commenting. I think the same can be said for almost any large city. There are places that are favorites for one reason or another, with long lines, and a extended wait, but is really mediocre overall. But if we never tried, we'd never know.....

[Jack]

"it's gotta be the handbag"

I never understood the Broken Yolk appeal. I usually pass by there on an early Saturday or Sunday morning on the way to go surfing and see the lines out the door. I've always assumed that most people go there the next morning after a big party night and all anyone wants is a cup of coffee and a large quanity of food. It is in PB after all :)