Sammy's Bullfrog Cafe

8:48 - 9:38 am

This is our second attempt to review Sammy’s Bullfrog Cafe. Our first attempt ended quickly when we couldn’t find a parking spot and the line out the door was so long. With a tight time frame, we decided it was not worth it and ended up somewhere else for breakfast. This time, we planned accordingly, expecting a bit of a wait but knowing we had enough time. Although the place was popping, including some older folks who should no longer be driving based on how poorly they parked, the wait was not as long as anticipated. The interior was quirky, almost giving off beach-y vibes with the bright teal wall paint and mismatched decor. There were also unique mugs everywhere, both hanging from the ceilings and walls as well as a different set of mugs on every table. 

Bethany 

The decaf coffee was fine, just an average cup of coffee. The mug I got was so big I actually needed an additional sugar and cup of creamer in it. The water was good and not chlorinated. With no breakfast wrap in sight, I ended up ordering one of their specials called the Nashville Chicky Biscuit. It was a piece of fried chicken dipped in Nashville hot sauce on a biscuit with an egg, dill pickles, and coleslaw served with a side of home fries. If you take a look at the picture, you can see it came out in two separate halves, almost like when you get a real big burger at a restaurant. I don’t know if the expectation was for me to eat it like a sandwich, but that was nearly impossible due to the size. I ended up taking off the egg and eating it with the homefries. I then attempted to eat it like a sandwich, but it was a disaster. Part of the reason it was an absolute mess was the lack of structural integrity of the biscuit. It was as dry and crumbly as you can get, and between that and a lack of any flavor, it was a disappointment. The chicken itself was fine. It definitely was not “Nashville” hot because there was barely any spice (not a complaint), but the chicken itself was a bit dry. I could barely taste the coleslaw because it was put on that super dry biscuit and all the juice was soaked into it. The dill pickles were very average, nothing special there. The home fries looked really good. They were homestyle, red skin potatoes with a spice blend on them. The first few were really yummy, but then I kept eating them and due to the uneven cut and cook, they were super inconsistent. It was not as good as I wanted it to be.

We also ordered a cornbread french toast and unsurprisingly, it's exactly what it says it is. It's cornbread that was made into french toast. The cornbread was unbelievably dry, some of the driest cornbread I have ever eaten. There was a lavender lemon curd on it which I didn't mind. It wasn't too floral for me. They also put a big ol’ scoop of pecan honey butter on there. I thought it was whipped cream or ice cream, but was disappointed to find out it was not. It was still really hard and did not have much flavor. As if there was not enough on there already, there was also some fresh fruit, which was yummy. Overall, with how dry the cornbread was, the french toast itself was lacking.

Ben 

The orange juice was quite good. It felt almost like a half concentrate half natural or maybe it was just like a strong concentrate with pulp but it was very tasty. I got the regular eggs benedict. There were a couple other ones that were catching my eye, specifically the schnitzel eggs benedict. It sounded very interesting, but it did have probably a mustard Hollandaise. I just decided to do the regular just to keep it kosher. When I got the plate it did look quite good. The hollandaise had some scallions in it and was probably one of the tastier hollandaise sauces I've ever had. It wasn't really like most other ones. It was creamy but still light. I don't know, I couldn't tell you why it was so good, it just was. The egg was a tad overcooked but nothing criminal. On the menu, they said that the meat was cured and smoked by them and I think that really showed. It was very thinly sliced but the piece was so big (I think it was a single piece) that it did not matter. It was really nice, probably some of the most noteworthy Canadian bacon I’ve had. The English muffins were a little thin but not in a bad way. It definitely had a good toast on them with some butter on top or something. They were just excellent. Overall, the eggs benedict was one of my favorites I think I've ever had. It really was doing work. I think if I had to complain about one thing, it is that they didn't put enough sauce. I feel like generally I have too much sauce to know what to do with. I did use some potatoes to swipe it up but this one it was I was rationing so every bite could have a little bit. Since the sauce was so good, I really wish I had a little more. Just by looking at the potatoes, I could tell that they were going to kind of be how Bethany described them. They reminded me of those potatoes from that one place I didn't like (Madeline’s). Just the fact that they're unevenly cut and with that seasoning, they weren’t giving me good vibes. I had two pieces that were stuck together and they were effectively raw.

I picked out the cornbread french toast, and it was not my favorite. It was kind of a mess. I feel like part of my problem with it is that it had lemon curd with lavender in it. That sounded really nice to me, but at the same time, I felt like generally anything that has a super floral scent could be too perfumey and it definitely felt that way with this. The big scoop of butter that was on top didn't melt even a little bit and I had to keep taking off like pieces of cold butter to put on each bite. Not good.

Overall we think this place has a lot of potential. There were a lot of things on the menu that sounded great. We considered a revisit, but it was also extremely expensive, so we aren’t sure if it is worth returning.

Rating

Overall dry, eggs Benedict is hard carrying