Brunching and the Hangar Café

I love brunch. Though as much as I love the time of day that brunch occurs and the kind of food generally present, sometimes the act of brunching can seem like it requires too much effort. Do you ever get that feeling? I do when I drive past the hordes standing outside Dish in Fremont/Ballard, Portage Bay Café in the U District, Hi-Spot in Madrona or the 5 Spot in Queen Anne.

In fact, I’ve resisted the first two just because I couldn’t stomach the wait. But I suppose that’s the part of the whole brunch experience, right? Hanging around and chatting with your friends and the other members of the horde waiting to be seated. I especially like places like Senor Moose in Ballard and the Streamliner Diner on Bainbridge Island that outfit you with a cup of coffee while you wait for your table. Excellent!

I really and truly intended to dive in and brave the crowds at one of the brunch places mentioned above that everyone seems to love, but instead last weekend decided to venture off to a new spot. Maybe it’s just that now I fancy myself a fan of Georgetown, but back I went for brunch on Sunday.

The Hangar Cafe sits slightly apart from the main strip of bars and restaurants that includes Stellar Pizza, Nine Pound Hammer and the Georgetown Liquor Company. It has a big patio outside in the front and the requisite mismatch of tables and chairs inside that fits the old-house-turned-restaurant interior. The breakfast menu is crepe-centric with a waffle accent, which is just fine by me. I had the special crepe of the day with bacon, black beans, spinach, avocado, carmelized onion, fresh tomato, egg and I'm sure some kind of cheese I can’t remember. My friend had the Hangar crepe with egg, black forest ham, swiss, cheddar, red onion, fresh tomato and spinach. A roasted poblano basil vinaigrette and creme fraiche graced the top of both crepes. Although we had to skip the waffles this time around, we agreed that next time the Triple B is a must. How can you go wrong with a waffle topped with apple smoked bacon, brie and fresh basil? Another must includes something from the sweet crepe family like Pear Ricotta or Coco Banana. Start to finish, including terrific service, I thought that the Hangar Café was a winner.



Some of my other favorite brunch spots:

Volterra in Ballard (do not pass on the peach bellini)

Café Presse on Capitol Hill and its sister restaurant, Le Pichet, downtown (what can I say -- I’m a sucker for French food any time of day and the presence of eggs allows me to qualify this as brunch food)

Tilth in Wallingford (I suppose it’s not technically a “favorite” because I haven’t been there yet but I’m headed there soon, I promise)

Café Soleil In Madrona (traditional breakfast menu by day, Ethiopian menu by night)

[Photo of the Hangar Cafe courtesy of Jen Waller]