Nudy’s Café Phoenixville: Festive Breakfasts for a December Birthday

My cousin Ed’s birthday is in December. 

What with the holidays and end-of-the-year to-do list, it’s often difficult to fit in a celebration that’s about him and not “the season.”  (Of course, it doesn’t help that I usually threaten to move his birthday to June “because it would be so much easier!” but that’s another column.)

I needed a place that would treat him well, wouldn’t take up too much time and had celebratory food. I needed breakfast at Phoenixville.

The waitress greeted us warmly when we came in the door and asked what we’d like to drink. Since it was a warmish day for December, I chose Cranberry Juice ($1.99) and my cousin Ed wanted a Pepsi ($1.79).  Our waitress was prompt with refills throughout the meal.

Nudy’s has the usual breakfast arrangement of eggs any style, breakfast meats, omelets, build your own oatmeal, pancakes, French toast and Belgian Waffles.  We ignored all that and went straight for the “Day’s Breakfast Specials” and “Specialties.”

From the “Day’s Breakfast Specials,” my cousin Ed chose the Apple Cake French Toast ($7.99) which was three pieces of cinnamon apple cake dipped in batter, baked, topped with cooked apples and served with sides of whipped cream and cinnamon sugar butter. It was heavenly, especially when you spread the cinnamon sugar butter over the warm cake pieces and topped it off with whipped cream. The waitress brought a pitcher of pancake syrup, but it wasn’t needed—the cinnamon sugar butter and apples gave all the sweetness (and extra fruity depth) that the dish needed.

Ed’s a meat eater, so he also ordered a side of Sausage ($2.79), which featured two plump links with a nice balance of pork and fat. Since the pancake syrup was there, he poured it over his sausage, which is why I write the restaurant reviews and he does not!

From the “Specialties,” I picked the Crab Benedict ($9.99) which was two perfectly poached eggs (crispy on the edge with the yolk firm enough to be cooked, but soft enough to spread) over lump crab meat on English Muffin halves with hollandaise sauce, two asparagus stalks and a side of homefries.

The Crab Benedict was flawless. As I mentioned, the eggs were perfectly cooked, there was not a shred of shell in the crabmeat and the hollandaise sauce had the just the right tang of lemon. The homefries, however, while browned nicely on the grill, appeared to be bulk shredded potatoes from the freezer. I love potatoes, but these strips were flavorless. For $2 more, you can substitute fruit for the homefries and I’ll probably do so in the future.

Service was friendly, efficient and quick. The wait for our food was minimal—we were hungry and delighted to be served a quality meal in record time. The restaurant is always busy; you’ll probably see other people you recognize from Phoenixville eating there at breakfast or lunch.

December is a busy time and even family members can get lost in the shuffle. If you want (or need!) to show someone that you really do care about them, treating them to breakfast at Nudy’s Café in Phoenixville should make you both happy.

If You Go:

Location: 450 Bridge St., Phoenixville

Cost: Breakfast items:  $3.99 to $9.99

Phone:  610-933-6085

Website:  http://www.nudyscafes.com/index.php

Hours:   Monday through Friday:  7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

              Saturday and Sunday:  7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Payments accepted: Cash, Credit Cards

Parking:  Parking lot behind restaurant or on-street parking