The Joy of the Greasy Spoon

For those of you who don't know, I am moving. Tomorrow. The city I live in requires that you get permits to block parking spaces with your moving truck, and you have to post about it 24 or 48 hours in advance. So today the Mysterious Mr. Bo and I went out and taped up our moving signs. And then grabbed breakfast, as he hadn't eaten and I'd only had a hastily aborted attempt at a bowl of cereal.

A couple blocks from our new apartment is a place called Capitol Coffee House. Looking at the sign, I expected your stereotypical slightly upscale coffee and pastry sort of place. Oh no. Laminated lunch counters, crappy little tables in the back, specials on printer paper slipped in plastic sleeves, and the old sign boards where you slide or snap on letters to tell you their menu. I got a bacon, egg, and cheese on an english muffin with a cup of coffee, and Mr. Bo got a 1 egg special (egg, toast, homefries) and coffee. And we sat down at the counter.

First of all, that was some mighty fine coffee. I almost wish I hadn't let them put cream in it, although wherever they're getting their cream, it was smooth and rich and so much better than at Dunkin Donuts (where I've stopped letting them use cream. I ask for milk instead). I wonder whether its some kind of fancy coffee, or just that they've managed to keep it hot without burning it the way most places do.

Secondly, an egg sandwich has no right being that tasty. It was just a fried egg, bacon, and a slice of american cheese on an english muffin. But it tasted divine. Best egg sandwich I've eaten. The bacon and the cheese provided all the flavor it needed, so there was no salting or peppering. Unless they're putting something in the butter, I think the food is flavored with old-man cantankerousness. As the cook and the guys behind the counter were all older, slightly surly gentlement. Mr. Bo was equally pleased, and wished that he had gotten two dropped eggs instead of one. Although he says it wasn't that it was cooked with spite or surliness, but onions.

He refers to their home fries, which I did not poach from his paper plate as the portion was not huge. But he says they were excellent. And with everything coming to under $10, I suspect the girls at my local starbucks will be wondering where I have gone.