Plums Cafe -- pickins to start your day with

Plum's Cafe
369 E 17th Street, Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(714) 722-7586
www.plumscafe.com

My husband and friends all love going out for breakfast. Me? Not so much. I'm not a big breakfast person -- Western breakfast that is. Asian breakfast, on the other hand, I love. I always figure, why pay exorbitant prices for something I can whip up at home right? However, I'm no party pooper when my friends are in the brunching mood especially to a place I've never been before.

Plums Cafe is absolutely delightful in terms of decor. It reminded me of cafes in Sydney where the use of natural colors makes you feel like you're enveloped in eco-friendly surroundings. Does that make sense? The main dining area is round while the adjoining area is sort of rectangular. I guess its kind of like an exclamation mark stuck together. Our server was simply charming. Not only was he full of smiles, accommodating, but he was cute too. That's always a plus right?

The menu was creative, yet not complicated with too many choices. But with that in mind, it was laden with enough appealing items for me to become very indecisive. Usually, when my husband is eating with us, I can coerce him into ordering something else I wish to try, but since I was with my friends, I didn't want to seem overbearing about it. Turned out, our other friends were late so we started with some feta and chive popovers while we waited. They reminded me of light versions of Yorkshire pudding, but not as good. I could barely detect the feta and they were too dry. It would've been better had there been a chunk or two of feta tucked between the popover giving a soft contrasting texture to the puffed dough.

Everyone ended up ordering smoked salmon hash except me. I got the eggs Benedict. They do the Benedict a little different here -- baguette instead of English muffin, chipotle-cilantro Hollandaise instead of regular Hollandaise and peppered ham took the place of Canadian bacon. I thought the eggs Benedict were good, but it didn't blow me away. The rosemary potatoes accompanying the eggs Benedict were outstanding though and I don't even like potatoes unless they're French fries.

Unfortunately, I wasn't keen on the smoked salmon hash, but then again, I don't like cooked salmon much. I find the texture very unpleasant. The other thing I'm not fond of is homestyle potatoes and that's what they use instead of hash.

Apple honey sausages were cute and small, but at a buck and a quarter a pop, it was very pricey and on the sweet side for me. I'm glad we ordered the Oregon peppered bacon (also immensely pricey at $1.25 each) because it was definitely some tasty bacon!

Plums Cafe is a great place for brunch, and if you're a breakfast kinda guy or gal then you'll love it. I thought it was on the pricey side as most specialty dishes average around $15. If you add a side or two, a drink, your final tab with tip included can easily lurk around the $30 mark per person. Not a place to indulge in on a weekly basis, but when you do get a chance to visit, you'll be glad you did. I sure was!!