After a quick Google search I narrowed it down to Skylark’s. I plugged it into maps and here, once again, we find ourselves in Fairhaven.

I love all the historic buildings in the Fairhaven area. It’s a great spot to come and explore a little bit.

The restaurant itself is a wonderful ambience. Lots of natural wood with nice decorations and a great bar on one side of the restaurant.

There’s also an upstairs seating area and a downstairs seating area which we were led to for our table.

It’s very well appointed and kept up quite well.

But more importantly, the food.

This is one of the best Eggs Benedicts I’ve had in a while.  A decent amount of Hollandaise with eggs so lightly poached I’m surprised the chef could lift them out of the water without breaking them. And they were able to switch out the ham for some bacon for me. And even the potatoes were tasty. 

Absolutely wonderful.

Merilynn had the soup and half sandwich combo.

The sandwich was good but the star here was the soup.

It was a Chipotle tomato bisque and it was excellent. It had a bit of a kick due to the chipotle but it added a really beautiful element to the soup.

The service was very good and the kitchen got our food out to us pretty quickly even though the restaurant was pretty busy.

So far this is the winner if you’re in Fairhaven. Actually maybe in Bellingham so far. Haven’t found anything better I don’t think.

9/10

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Unfortunately this visit didn’t go as well.

To start with it was a grey, somewhat miserable day.

The coffee was good. The view not so much. And much too chilly to sit on the great patio today, even with the heaters.

As for breakfast, the chefs (there were 3) weren’t paying much attention this morning.

Absolute minimum amount of Hollandaise. The eggs were overpoached. The bacon just a bit too crispy and the English muffin completely dried out. I’m guessing par toasted and then finished just prior to serving.

All three of them probably had a hand in this abomination.

Merilynn has the granola and yogurt.

The granola was really good, but the yogurt was plain Greek style. A vanilla or honey yogurt would be much better.

While it is a nice spot the horrible attempt at making Eggs Benny today might make this visit to Keenan’s our last.

4/10

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But breakfast first.

Our last experience here wasn’t great but going to give it one more try.

First thing to note; the weird looking eggs.

In my opinion this is the wrong way to cook Sunny side up eggs. Lower temp with a cover. No color on these eggs and you can see the yolks starting to cook up the sides.

These sould be cooked quick and hot.

The bacon was crisp but cold.

The potatoes too mushy and under seasoned.

The fruit was good though.

So ya not a great visit again this time.

One more thing.

Does anyone know if the female servers are not permitted to wear bras while they work? It’s either a rule or they only hire hippies.

That’s still not enough get me to come back though.

4/10

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We were off to Bellingham this morning so I polled the local FB group for a good breakfast place to visit.

Got a few recommendations and the majority suggested the Old Town Cafe.

First time I’ve been in this part of Bellingham and I found it quite nice.

There was quite a line up when we arrived. Usually a good sign. Unusually you put your name on the waitlist yourself. It took about 30 minutes for a table.

Grab yourself a cup of coffee if you like. Though I don’t really recommend it. It’s not even Starbucks quality.

The interior of the place is pretty neat.  An eclectic mix of art and antiques with lots of wood. It was homey and inviting.

After we sat down though I started getting a granola munching, soy latte drinking, hippie kind of vibe.

Ok there’s way too much tofu on the menu here. And all this organic food. I personally don’t buy into most of the organic hype. Seems to me to be a great way to charge extra for the same food. But we are here, may as well eat.

And I certainly do appreciate the local, farm to table approach when practical and possible. Supporting local growers is always a great idea.

I had the Huevos Rancheros.

This is the half order.

I will say those beans were excellent. The main dish itself was alright. I do personally prefer a flour tortilla when I make it myself. These were corn, the traditional choice. The sauce was pretty bland though. Had to zing it right up with some Cholula hot sauce. But they got the runny eggs right.

Merilynn went with the biscuits and gravy.

Now that was some of the best biscuits and gravy I’ve had. Great flavour. Just the right amount of gravy for the biscuit. Sometimes the gravy is too salty. This was just right. The eggs were tasty, not overdone. The potatoes were mushy though. If they were crispy they would have been better.

We added a side of chicken sausage. No pic, was distracted by the 3 guys wearing beanies sitting behind us.

The sausage was almost inedible. Not the chicken itself. The amount of sage they seasoned it with. There was so much sage it actually started tasting like lavender. It overpowered any taste the chicken had. But I don’t have a lot of experience with chicken sausage. Maybe it needs that much to disguise how bad chicken is in a sausage?

Next time we’ll get the bacon.

So there were some hits and some misses today.

Excellent biscuits and gravy. Mediocre (at best) potatoes.

Great beans. Not the worst Huevos Rancheros I’ve had.

It’s a cool spot. Good atmosphere, even with all the bohemians around.

Will we be back? That remains to be seen.

Food 6/10

Ambiance 8/10

Service 8/10

Overall 7/10

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It’s a dairy and gas run to Bellingham kind of day today.

With the amount of butter I use at home I couldn’t afford to buy it in Canada.

For lunch we are gonna skip Mexican this time. Let’s see what else Bellingham has to offer.

I settled on Keenan’s at the Pier. It’s in Fairhaven, a historic old part of town. Quite lovely if you’ve never been.

This is the view you get from the Pier.

The restaurant itself has some very nice views of the bay as well.

It’s casual but elegant, but not stuffy.

We started with a cocktail, the Bee’s Sneeze.

Gin, fresh lemon juice and ginger basil honey. A nicely balanced cocktail.

Merilynn had a beet salad.

I thought that perhaps there weren’t enough beets, but the overall taste was good. I think I preferred the version I made a couple weeks ago. Link here.

I had the grilled apple lady sandwich with seafood chowder.

The seafood chowder was great. Until I had one of the clams and it had 5 or 6 grains of sand in it. That kind of put an end to my enjoyment of it. I don’t have a lot of experience cooking with clams or mussels. But one thing I do know, serving them without cleaning them properly is a big no-no in the culinary world.

The sandwich had pink lady apple, prosciutto, arugula, fontina cheese and blueberry preserves, on sourdough.

It was very good. I’m not the biggest sandwich fan. I mean it’s just meat on bread. Perhaps I’m too picky about my bread, being a baker and all. So a sandwich has to be elevated for me to enjoy it. And this accomplished that. The blueberry preserves really added a great touch. I’ll try something like this myself.

I did really enjoy Keenan’s, other than the beach in my soup. I think a return visit is warranted

Food 8/10

Ambiance 8/10

A visit in the summer to sit on the deck would be fantastic.

Service 7/10

A bit slow, but not unbearably so.

Overall 7.5/10

If you’re in Bellingham and looking for a nice lunch this would be a good option for you.

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Just about every time we make a trip to Costco we also stop for lunch.

Today it ws a stop at Mi Mexico.

If you’re looking for truly authentic Mexican food this isn’t it. Call it Tex-Mex if you will.

I had the Chile Relleno lunch special.

For 12 bucks it’s a pretty good deal.

Hey El Santo take note. This is how you do Chile Relleno and refried beans.

If you don’t know, Chile Relleno is a poblano pepper stuffed with cheese, dipped in egg, fried and then topped with sauce.

Good food! It’s a perfect lunch on a chilly December day.

The restaurant itself is a bit kitchy. It looks like a Mexican decorated the place as how they thought Americans might think a Mexican restaurant should look.

At any rate, the food was solid. As it has been every time I’ve been. (I’d guess 6 or 7 times) Won’t blow you away, won’t disappoint.

If you’re looking for really authentic Mexican food I’d head down the street to La Gloria Market. If you’re really white, this will do.

Food 7/10

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Our original plan this morning was to try the Birch Door again. Our last visit there was excellent. However none of us wanted to wait the hour that was the line up this Saturday morning. We had already waited at the border almost 2 hours. Whose idea was it to cross the line on the long weekend again?

I was quite willing to forego breakfast entirely but the others were not so quick to skip it.

To my abject horror IHOP was the next restaurant we came across.

My initial thought, as I surpressed screams of terror, was noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. My second thought was even a Starbucks breakfast sandwich would be better than IHOP. As the (admittedly self appointed) food expert in the car I knew I should speak up and veto this decision.

I can’t be the jerk everytime though so reluctantly I passed on using my veto powers and joined the others in what I was certain was going to be a disappointing experience.

Here we have the California Omelette. Bacon, sausage and pulled beef (?) The beef in this was just weird. The bacon and sausage were ok. But it was overcooked. Very dry eggs. And under seasoned. Thank God for the salsa. The hash browns were fine. At least they had a nice crunch.

The teenager (who doesn’t like eggs BTW and won’t eat my delicious Huevos Rancheros I made at home) had the benny. WTF? Not surprisingly it wasn’t great. Overcooked eggs but apparently the packaged sauce was ok. I’ll wager that when I make Eggs Bennedict at home with scratch Hollandaise she doesn’t even try it.

Two breakies and one juice came out to be $38 USD. By my calculations that’s about $33 more dollars than a Starbucks sandwich.

I guess I should have been the jerk….

Food 2/10

Ambiance 3/10

Value 2/10

Overall 2/10

How does this place stay in business?

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Scared of a potential multi hour wait to cross the border back into Canada after a gas and Costco run to Bellingham we decided to fuel ourselves up.

We picked the historic district of Fairhaven as our destination and had a few restaurants on our radar as potential victims for my critical review.

We came upon Colophon Café first. It’s a dated but cute cafe with various baked selections, sandwiches, soups, etc. There’s a bookstore attached from which the name Colophon is derived. There’s also an Olive Oil/Balsamic  vinegar tasting shop upstairs which was closed by the time we arrived.

I experienced two new things from our visit. Not only did I learn a new word (colophon) I also discovered a wholly new and delicious soup.

The soup was an African peanut soup.

I really found this both disturbing and fascinating at the same time. The taste of the peanuts, ginger, tomatoes and turkey were excellent but the smell just reminded me of the peanut butter toast I had for breakfast. But I polished off the bowl! It was sooo yummy.

Personally I thought it was excellent but this soup is not for everyone. I can tell you Merilynn wasn’t enthralled.

We followed that up with a turkey bacon avocado sandwich on toasted sourdough.

I’m not a huge sandwich guy but this one was great. Great balance of flavours with a large portion of meat. Those homemade potato chips were a perfect compliment. Only complaint tonight was the soggy pickle.

Overall a very good meal. Colophon Café wouldn’t hurt from an updated interior but there certainly is a certain charm from the antiques around the place and it certainly fits in with the area of Fairhaven.

Food 9/10

Ambiance 6/10

Service 7/10

Overall 8/10

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I usually go to Bordertown Mexican Grill for my Mexican fix. After my experience at Lilia’s a few weeks ago I’m not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to go off the reservation again, but we decided to anyways

A friend recommended La Gloria on the Guide Meridian, and he said go to the truck on the north end, not the market.

Easy enough to find. But more than a little sketchy.  The trucks order window was borded up. We found a sign that said order food inside. Well it is a large house, with a small mexican market. We looked around, then went to the counter to order.

No one understood a word we said. And ya ok I speak a little Spanish, but today I wasn’t up to the task.

So we gracefully vamanos the f**” out of there and go find their other restaurant.

Right beside the market is their little restaurant. Counter service with a few tables.

I got my usual, tacos. Merilynn had Sopes
New one on me. Though honestly just looked like a tostada.

Shrimp and Carnitas tacos. Really nice, and with the ambiance I felt like I was in a small town in Mexico. Shrimp were well cooked, the Carnitas were moist and delicious.

The bottom tortilla, which apparently is supposed to be hard, was soft and tough. But the rest was very nice. The protein was Carnitas with refried beans. Overall very tasty.

The Jamaica was lovely. Not too sweet.

With the very Mexican feel and good food I really enjoyed eating here and plan to go back.

Food 7/10

Ambiance 8/10

Value 7/10

Overall 8/10

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