Monday 20 June 2016

Moonakis Cafe

Moonakis Cafe


Address: 460 Waquoit Hwy, East Falmouth, MA 02536
Website: Moonakis Cafe


1. Initial impression of convenience, parking, and location.
  • Kooky parking. We seemed to drive through spots to get to other spots. We made it work as there were several different spaces to choose from.
  • They are located right on the main drag of Route 28.

2. Wait time to be greeted, seated, and atmosphere.
  • We were behind a large group of individuals, and once they were seated we were provided with menus and told to have a seat in one of the empty tables for two.
  • It was very boisterous and jovial in the large room.

3. Server introductions, impressions and attentiveness.
  • We had several wait staff attending to our needs. One delivered coffee, another took a juice order, the next inquired about food choices and provided the specials.
  • The waitstaff was easily identified in tie-dye t-shirts or black shirts with the restaurant's logo. Some of their shoes even matched the shirts. Excentric.
  • There was always a staff member making rounds to refill coffee mugs.

4. Variety of menu options (too many/too little)
  • The menu had your typical options available, and if that wasn’t enough there was a large specials menu with even more choices!




5. Menu highlights of uncommon items.
  • Cajun Sausage
  • Maple-Cured Kielbasa scramble
  • Lemon Poppyseed pancakes
  • Portuguese sweet bread pancakes and sandwiches
  • Chicken Apple Sausage
  • Cinnamon Bun Pancakes (pictured below- photo not from this breakfast)





6. Speed of food delivery, and first impressions of plating, initial aroma.
  • The food arrived within a reasonable amount of time, there were no thoughts wondering when it would arrive, which would usually indicate that the waiting had gotten too long.
  • First impressions were that it was time to eat!

7. TASTE!
  • Coffee. Medium roast, black, not burnt, Had three refills. Tasted like coffee.
  • The Gentleman scoured the web for recommendations and tips on the food of choice here. Either his eye was drawn to it or there really were that many mentions, the pancakes were the clear favorite. Once the waitress of most occurrence, the mode, read the specials, it was clear the pancakes with fresh blueberries were to be chosen. They were delightful. A hot cake average between a pancake and a crepe. In atypical fashion the gent first tasted them without syrup. I know right? They were still amazing. The syrup almost soured them. These cakes are high on the list of best we’ve tasted and we’ve been to the Pancake Man. Kidding, Pancake Man was awful.



  • The Lady decided upon the special for fresh blueberry pancakes, and opted for the real maple syrup (no table syrup for this girl, thanks!) The pancakes were definitely different than your usual bread discs. These were thinner, and that certainly made them more delicious. The blueberries were delicious, and added just a bit of sour sweetness to the sweet pancakes. The real maple syrup was the icing on the cake, so to speak.



8. Value of product.
  • Yes. The dollar to delicious ratio was excellent.

9. Payment options.
  • Cash only yo.

Overall Rating:

If you are driving down Route 28 towards Falmouth (A joke, I know. Who goes to Falmouth amirite?) don’t drive past this place too quickly! If you have time, and need breakfast, make this a top spot on your list.

Monday 28 March 2016

6A Cafe


6A Cafe





Name of Establishment: 6A Cafe
Address: 415 MA-6A, East Sandwich, MA 02537

1. Initial impression of convenience, parking, and location.
  • Plenty of parking on a dreary Monday morning.
  • Located right on 6A in Sandwich. Probably where they got the name for the place.

2. Wait time to be greeted, seated, and atmosphere.
  • The server was sitting at the bar area chatting with someone, and as such we were greeted immediately and advised to sit wherever we wanted.
  • The interior looked a tad worn, there was a train around the top of the exterior of the room that was not in use, and it was overheard that a telephone call received during breakfast was inquiring as to whether or not it was currently working.
  • In the gentleman’s corner there was a peculiar scent if he turned his head to the left but it disappeared when facing ahead or to the right. It wasn’t him - it was them, we swear.

3. Server introductions, impressions and attentiveness.
  • There was one server in duty. Once we chose our table we were offered coffees.
  • When asked what was good she answered with the customary “everything”. The question was rephrased to inquire what customers typically order and she opened up like a flower on a sunny day. She enlightened us with her preference of the corn beef hash as well as a previously unmentioned special.
  • She came by often to refill coffee.

4. Variety of menu options (too many/too little)
  • Fairly typical for a breakfast location. Omelettes, Benedicts, Pancakes, Waffles, Sandwiches, or egg and meat combos.





5. Menu highlights of uncommon items.
  • Huevos Rancheros without beans (can it still be considered to be Huevos Rancheros?)
  • Plymouth Bay Benny

6. Speed of food delivery, and first impressions of plating, initial aroma.

  • The food arrived in proper time.
  • The gents sandwich should have been on a larger plate. Zero maneuverability.

7. TASTE!
  • Coffee: typical, not terrible.
  • The Gentleman, after much hesitation, ordered the roasted red croissanwich. A flakey croissant around an egg, sausage patty, cheddar cheese and roasted red peppers. Probably where they got the name. A side of homefries was also ordered. The sandwich, from Sandwich, was too big and flakey to be hand grappled, utensils were needed. Overall the croissanwich was tasty. The cheese was thick, the sausage patty a bit spicy, the egg recognizable, and the peppers were aplenty, falling out with every cut. The homefries were spiced and cooked like many are, some soft and white, others flat or rock hard.



  • The Lady ordered one egg, linguica, home fries and an English muffin. The linguica was surprising upon first inspection, as it was not sausage shaped, but something more like a Newfie Steak. The Home fries were there… they were definitely prepared days in advance and reheated to order. The egg was almost cooked enough, there were still segments of egg white that were gooey and not cooked through. The English muffin was sliced in half, thus killing the pockets they are known for.


If you serve English muffins, you need one of these.


8. Value of product.
  • The jury is still out on this one.

9. Payment options.
  • Credit, debit, cash

Overall Rating: 6/10

A substantially better experience and meal can be had five minutes down the road at Cafe Chew albeit at a higher price.





Tuesday 19 January 2016

Betsy's Diner


Betsy's Diner



Address: 457 Main St, Falmouth, MA 02540


1. Initial impression of convenience, parking, and location.
  • We took a couple loops around the lot to understand it. A three point turn was necessary to park in a diagonal spot on the street side.
  • We didn’t see it until researching the restaurant afterwards but there appears to be plenty of parking in the rear.

2. Wait time to be greeted, seated, and atmosphere.
  • The greeting and seating took place as soon as we walked in the front doors. It’s almost as though they watched us drive through the parking lot three times before parking.
  • The feeling of the restaurant was a typical old diner set up, emphasis on old. The tables and chairs were all mismatched, and definitely showed their age.

3. Server introductions, impressions and attentiveness.
  • Is too attentive a thing? If so, this server fits that to a ‘T’. We were provided menus and coffee when we sat, and just as we had finished taking off our coats and other winter accessories, she returned to ask if we were ready to order.
  • The coffee was refilled often, almost too often. The lady had barely had two sips before it was refilled.
  • We were provided the bill mere moments after being provided the food. Did they want us to leave?

4. Variety of menu options (too many/too little)
  • The menu was a one pager, without much variety.



5. Menu highlights of uncommon items.
  • Zip
  • Nadda
  • Nil
  • Zero
  • Did they even have pie?

6. Speed of food delivery, and first impressions of plating, initial aroma.
  • The food delivery was almost too quick. Eggs certainly don’t take long, toast doesn’t take long, and likely the home fries had been made days before hand and were heated up to order. It still felt far too fast.
  • Grease. That was the first impression. Glisteny greasy pile of grease.

  • The gentleman ordered the western breakfast sandwich on a bagel (pronounced baygull). The waitress didn’t like the gents selection which worried him. She said it was on account of her distaste for peppers. He nervously stuck to his guns. Again, it arrived way too quickly.   Overall it wasn’t awful. The bagel was soft and dense. The sandwich wasn’t over loaded with ham, onions, and peppers. The American cheese was thick and gooey. The scrambled were constantly sliding off the cheese.  Like a dog in a bathtub they had to keep getting moved back. There were no additional sides offered and it was contemplated to add more. No more was needed. Full to the maximum. (Photo of food wasn’t captured. Too hungry. Sorry, that comes first.)



  • The lady had one egg over easy with rye toast, sausage and home fries. The toast was mush, due to the copious amounts of butter that had been spread onto it. The egg was dripping with whatever it was cooked in (likely a butter flavoured oil of some sort) The sausages seem to have come from the same place that every breakfast restaurant gets their sausages from. The server had exclaimed that the home fries were the best thing there. If that is the case, I would suggest not trying anything else. These were nothing to post a status update on Facebook for. No so called ‘Food Porn’ here.



8. Value of product.
  • The bill was inexpensive in comparison to some of the other locations we have been to, however, sometimes a deal is not worth the product you get for it.

9. Payment options.
  • Cash and traveler’s cheques.

Overall Rating:  Meh.

Falmouth seems to be one of those places where if you live there, you never leave, and if you don’t live there, you never visit. If you do decide to take a trip down to Falmouth to visit Main Street, you can keep on going past Betsy’s diner, and you will not be missing anything.

Monday 4 January 2016

Grumpy's Restaurant

Winter is a strange time on Cape Cod. All of the tourists have gone, a majority of the locals have fled to their winter homes in Florida, and often times businesses close, or partially close their doors. As such, we ended up driving to a total of four locations. Two were closed, one was super shady and reminded the lady of the nasty cafe she worked at for a time, so it was decided that today's breakfast would be at a location that has always been on the back burner, due to the fact that it is a favourite of Aaron's.

Address:  1408 Route 6A East Dennis, MA

1. Initial impression of convenience, parking, and location.
  • Two connected parking areas are available. In front is a paved lot and to the side is compressed dirt parking adjacent to a marsh.  Today there were ample spaces available although on a weekend or holiday one may have to take a couple spins around before settling.
  • Located near the intersection of Route 6A and Route 134.

2. Wait time to be greeted, seated, and atmosphere.
  • Once through the front doors we encountered the daily muffin selection. A quick glance and we were welcomed and seated immediately.
  • The majority of seating options were wooden chair and table options. Two counter sections flanked the kitchen entrance. There was an aisle of half booth/half chair seating down the initial middle section of the restaurant.
  • Seasonal lights hung from the cross beams.

3. Server introductions, impressions and attentiveness.
  • We were greeted quickly with coffee.
  • Our server kept us up-to-date with her time and when she will be back.
  • Coffee refills, check-ins and offers for to-go boxes were on point.

4. Variety of menu options (too many/too little)
  • The menu has three pages of items for breakfast, there are also chalk boards on the walls showing specials.
  • There are all of your typical choices here, pancakes, eggs with toast, omelettes, French toast, waffles. However, there are numerous different types of these available for you to choose from.





5. Menu highlights of uncommon items.
  • Oatmeal Waffles
  • Meatloaf Benedict
  • Chili Omelette

6. Speed of food delivery, and first impressions of plating, initial aroma.
  • The food arrived fairly quickly. The meal arrived shortly after the delivery of the gents grilled muffin.
  • The portions were large. The plates were full.

7. TASTE!
  • The coffee was typical restaurant style, it was not watered down and actually had flavour. It was replenished at just the right times.

  • The gentleman selected the chili and sour cream omelette with a corn muffin appetizer. A southern taste with a egg blanket. The chili was delicious. If there was one note to make it would be to go light on the sour cream or ask for it on the side. It masked the taste of the delicious chili. The corn muffin sopped up the meat juices and all was right.




  • The lady decided on a Spanish Omelette, which contained bell peppers, onions, cheddar cheese and salsa. On the side, some raisin toast as a nice little treat. Now, often times salsa in restaurants is pretty well on the same level as tomato sauce. The salsa was surprisingly flavourful, and had a hint of spice to it (this lady can take some heat, and salsa is generally not served spicy anywhere) The omelette was ginormous. The lady would not be surprised if it had it’s own gravitational pull. It had the right amount of veggie to egg ratio, and the cheese was not overwhelming. Often times things can be smothered in cheese to a point where it is off putting. The raisin bread was your standard Pepperidge Farm with too much butter. The lady managed half-way through here omelette before she could not take another bite.



8. Value of product.
  • The prices here are very fair for the amount of food that you receive. The portions are what one may consider to be “American”.

9. Payment options.
  • All of them

Overall Rating: Grumpy’s is a staple for locals here on Cape, and is busy no matter what time of year it is. If there is nowhere to park, it is worth driving around until you find a spot.

We will be back. He will probably be back 30-40 times next year. Hold a parking place.