Utopia Café

Utopia Café
3308 SE Belmont St.

Date: 11/5/06
Arrival Time: 9:28am





Today we got an early start to our breakfast adventure and arrived at Utopia Café at around 9:28am. I tried to recruit more friends to join the breakfast club, but most of them scoffed at the idea of eating breakfast before Noon on a weekend. Fear not, I will try and peer pressure them again next time. In my opinion, true breakfast afficionados are willing to sacrifice their time for a more pleasurable eating experience. It usually pays off, and today it definitely did. It was a drizzly Portland morning, the type of morning where you don't want to arrive late and wait outside for a long time. Because we arrived early, we only had to wait 9 minutes inside the warm café as the friendly staff offered us coffee.

We had a very difficult time deciding what to order for breakfast today. There were many eye-catching specials written on the big chalkboard near the kitchen (ricotta pancakes, cajun curry tofu scramble, potato cakes, etc.). The main menu featured many delicious scrambles, pancakes, brioche french toast, oatmeal, potatoes, etc. I could not decide, it was like a crazy breakfast war inside my head. My roommate always raves about Utopia's pancakes, so I decided to go with blueberry pancakes and a side of potato cakes. I was extremely impressed when our food came to us 14 minutes after we ordered.

I must admit that I could probably be classified as a pancake snob. I don't want to toot my own horn or anything, but I can make pretty decent sourdough and swedish pancakes because of the great recipes that were handed down to me from my mother. So when I say that these blueberry pancakes at Utopia Café were so divine, so fluffy, and so delicious, just know that I really mean it and that I would not say that about just any pancakes. The potato cakes were also quite tasty, a bit smooshy in the middle, but overall I was pleased with the flavor.

Jay ordered the Cajun Curry Tofu Scramble that was featured on the specials' list along with a side of potato cakes. He was not too pleased with the scramble and mentioned that it didn't have enough spice. He thought that the tofu should have been cut into smaller pieces or perhaps crumbled. Jay was pretty much in love with the potato cakes, though, and was happy to not have to add ketchup.

Kara ordered the Veggie Saute, which featured potatoes, green and red bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, basil, and goat cheese. She said it was tasty, but after having a bite of my blueberry pancakes, she wished she would've ordered those as well. Our friendly waitress noticed Kara's shirt and asked if she had seen Quasi at the City Hall show this summer. We had a nice chat with her about that.

Even though Kara and Jay were not 100% impressed by their choices, they both agreed that they would love to come back to Utopia to try other options (aka my blueberry pancakes). I think next time I will have to try their famous French toast.

Wait Time Inside: 9 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 14 minutes
Service: Very friendly, always refilling our coffee/water, appreciated Kara's shirt
Food: Very tasty, I heart their pancakes. Don't order the tofu scramble.
Options: So many options, esp. w/ weekend specials. Veggie sausage is available.
Price: $6-8, all scrambles are $7.95
Atmosphere: cute, friendly, art on the walls, very Belmont.