Breakfast Sandwich #36 - La Brioche aka In Search Of...

Sandwich: Croissant Sandwich
Location: La Brioche
Date: September 7, 2015
Cost: $10.75

I was up early on Labor Day and went In Search Of...Places That Serve Breakfast Sandwiches On Labor Day. My initial searches weren't turning up any conclusive answers.  It was just like the TV show but with far less conjecture and poorly done dramatic reenactment. Also without the Leonard Nimoy voiceover. Web sites aren't always updated to list holiday hours and some places only serve breakfast sandwiches on the weekend and Monday doesn't count even if it is a holiday weekend. It was soon apparent that the evidence available online at 6 am could only be deemed inconclusive and I would need to start making some phone calls when places opened.

La Brioche was open and I had been excited about trying the breakfast sandwich they list online - Pancetta, Organic Over-Easy Egg, Arugula, Tomato Aioli, Herb Aioli, Toasted Sourdough. Sourdough isn't offered with enough breakfast sandwiches and they're doubling up on the aioli! It sounds amazing - but it wasn't to be. That sandwich is on the Breakfast menu and they were only serving the Brunch menu on this day, which still has a breakfast sandwich, just not THAT breakfast sandwich.

I have to admit I was disappointed but I wasn't going to let it color my review.

The Croissant Sandwich features zero aiolis. 

Put some googly eyes on it and it might look like a croissant trying to eat an omelet in a single bite.

Bacon and cheddar wrapped up tight!

The Sandwich - Croissant, Scrambled Eggs, Cheddar, Nitrate-Free Bacon with Organic Spring Mix Salad. It may be hard to tell from the photos but when this sandwich comes out of the kitchen it's roughly the shape of and definitely the size of a child's football. Not a toddlers football, but a football that a Dad would buy an eight year old that is too big now but he hopes the kid will grow into. Which is to say, it's huge. They serve it with a serrated knife so you can portion it into manageable fractions.

This croissant isn't anything like the Madison Sourdough version - its bigger, a bit denser and less flaky. I didn't think it was as good, but the Madison Sourdough croissant wouldn't have held up to the innards of this sandwich, which are ample indeed. It is kind of like an omelet somewhat tucked in there. The chicken eggs were cooked well, and there was a copious amount of cheddar, although I wanted it meltier. The bacon is the real star of this sandwich. It's nitrate-free, so it's missing that succulent nitrate flavor, but its still fantastic. I'm joking about the nitrate flavor. The bacon was great - salty and crisp and everything you expect from excellent bacon. With strategically placed chomps it was possible to get all the flavors in a single bite.

The spring mix salad was refreshing and is always welcome. Several places offer this as a side and it's pretty much the same at all of them - crisp greens with a light coating of tangy dressing. 

The Result - 4.00 Leonard Nimoys out of 5.00 Leonard Nimoys. This is a really good sandwich. When I looked at the menu I thought it was a little pricey, but I didn't know how huge it was. I feel like I'm giving it bonus points for quantity, and I don't want to do that, but I think it's happening. I like the cheddar and bacon combo here, that counts for something too. Part of this rating is the whole experience as well - it was a quiet morning, I was the only person dining there and the setting was right for day three of a holiday weekend. I'm definitely going back to try the other breakfast sandwich but that might not happen until 2016.

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