Of course, being the culinary high brows we are, we had to stop by Denny’s for breakfast while down in Ocean City, MD. It was nearly directly across from our hotel, and honestly, there are no Denny’s in NYC. I don’t know why. Low prices can’t pay the high rents, perhaps? I just know that Denny’s is something I miss from my college days… hanging out until 3am, then hitting Denny’s for some grub… ahhh.
My unlimited refills coffee… and me trying to be artsy. Haha… I am no coffee drinker by any means (besides on vacation), so all I can say is the coffee didn’t taste bitter and it didn’t taste oh-so-creamy (without any help from cream! like the coffee in Spain had, sigh) the way I imagine really good coffee tastes. It was standard.
We both opted to “BUILD OUR OWN SLAMS” which is basically your choice of 4 items for $5.99, and you can add up to another two items for 99c each. The list from which to choose: two eggs (your choice on how they’re cooked), two bacon strips, two pancakes, an English muffin, oatmeal, hash browns, a buttermilk biscuit, two slices of toast, two sausage links, or creamy grits.
I’m into getting the most bang for my buck, beating the system, while B is more into getting what he wants, and who cares if he winds up not getting the best value as long as he’s happy. Which you know, works… but still didn’t make me thrilled to see him order toast, which must’ve been the lowest cost item on the menu! Come on! Haha. But he doubled up on bacon, and that worked fine for me, along with his scrambled eggs. I didn’t hear any complaints.
Every once in a while, I get a craving for pancakes. I kind of view them as the ende of my breakfast, because they’re sweet… these were very puffy, even kind of dense, and they satisfied the craving, though I can’t say they were wonderful. It really depends on the kind of pancakes you like – some people like them thinner, with more holes throughout, and some people like them more cake-like. I’d say these were good but I’m really not an expert on pancakes.
Speaking of getting the most bang for your buck, I guess she thought I ordered bacon as well? I wound up receiving two strips of bacon along with my order of two sausages, two sunny side up eggs, hash browns and pancakes. Yummm! I like bacon a lot so that was fine by me. However my sunny side up eggs – look closely, especially at the one on the right – WTF? The line cooks make eggs all morning. In fact maybe even all day, because it’s Denny’s and they serve breakfast all day. It took forever for our food to come and you still didn’t manage to cook the egg white of my egg a LITTLE bit more? I was pretty grossed out; now, ordering sunny side up eggs as I do, I know there’s always a risk that some idiot is going to cook them improperly. Either overcook them (gross, but generally still edible) or undercook them (possibility of getting sick or at the very least, definitely grossing out my dining companions, as I did this day by scooping off the raw white and still eating my eggs). Grr. To add insult to injury, one of the yolks was totally cooked on the bottom side, leaving so very little of the delicious raw yolk to break and dip my meat products into, boo.
I note here that when she brought our platters, one of the cups of syrup she’d brought for me somehow managed to fall over and drip down her shoulder (!) to her apron and then onto the booth seat where B sat. He pointed it out to her (I was oblivious until he said something), and helped her clean up her shoulder and the booth, which she thought was so very kind of him. She actually even comped his second glass of orange juice for being “such a sweetheart”, which I thought was cute. Honestly, though, I couldn’t look at her after that, because one of the reasons I rarely eat pancakes (aside from honest! just not liking them that much! this isn’t the main reason, I swear!) is because I detest being sticky… and sometimes, that’s just one of the things that come with eating pancakes with syrup. You get sticky. Anyway…
We also added on a bowl of grits.
Now, you should all know by now that B is more than picky. He’s strange. He has his “I will eat that” and he has his “Never in a million years”. Sometimes, if I’m lucky, I can trick or con him into eating something on the latter list. A lot of times, I’m surprised by what’s on the first list. Like, where does grits come into play? A straight up Yankee from NYC who finds most “ethnic” cuisines too weird for him… eating and liking grits? Let’s be honest here, grits are not exactly pretty food. I am going to guess his dad eats them, which would be why he eats them. (They both have some of the oddest eating habits I know… Italians who won’t eat seafood, who ever heard of such a thing?!)
Grits is one of the things that he not only eats, but enjoys, and has told me on occasion that he makes the best grits (!!!). So I decided we should share a bowl of grits because I hadn’t really ever had grits, and wasn’t sure I liked them.
B, the standing judge on this dish, took one spoonful, broke into a wide grin, and said, “They use the same brand I do!”
Ah… he makes instant grits. That makes so much more sense.
In any case, I found the grits alright, creamy, tasty, buttery… all things I like. So you can’t really go wrong.
It was a good start to a wonderful day at the beach, where we both received first and second degree sunburn. Yay.
Yvo says: What did you expect me to say? I’m reviewing a Denny’s. It’s DENNY’S. Which has, in recent months, resorted to using ex-Sopranos cast members to threaten their competitors in commercials. Hahaha. And not only am I reviewing a Denny’s, all we had was breakfast, none of the slightly more interesting dishes Denny’s offers. No points for ambiance, other diners or anything, but solid and a good value to boot.
good for a pit stop during a road trip, or late nights after parties… or studying… if you’re still that young
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