Coolidge Corner Clubhouse
307 Harvard St., Brookline
Price: $8.99
Rating: 80/100
Fullness: not $9 worth, but gratified.
Before hibernating all afternoon, I filled up my reserves at the Coolidge Corner Clubhouse. This is one of my favorite places in the area. I’ve eaten their burger and curly fries and was very pleased so I thought I would try them out for breakfast.
I scanned the menu and saw a number of delicious options. I was torn for awhile between the Egg Sandwich and the Breakfast Quesadilla. I decided $10.99 was way too much to spend on breakfast so I went with the Egg Sandwich. In hindsight, I’d be very curious to see what they do with the quesadilla, which come with salsa and homefries. Perhaps another day…
My meal took a respectable amount of time and when it came out, everything was a good temperature and ready for inspection. As you can see from the photo, they don’t spoil you with homefries. Nevertheless, they were very good. The description on the menu was “2 fried eggs, ham, bacon & cheese club-style on wheat bread”. I guess I didn’t realize what they meant by “club style” and was very surprised when it first came out.
It was clear from the start that whoever made this sandwich took their time with it. It was put together very nicely and had an equal amount of contents distributed amongst the quadrants. The first floor of this sandwich was a fried egg with 3 or 4 strips of bacon and a slice of white cheddar. Whatever skimping occurred with the homefries was made up for in the sandwich. The bacon was crispy and full of flavor and the cheddar added a nice subtleness to it. Dividing the two layers was a third piece of toast, which I hadn’t expected, but was pleased to see. The second deck was a healthy amount of ham, another fried egg and some more cheddar.
When I focused I could discern each of the flavors, but overall the different elements blended very well. Typically I don’t like to mix meats, but obviously since bacon and ham originate from the same animal, I was open to this. I prefer to stick with one animal. This hasn’t always been the case, though. When I was younger I used to go to the deli and get as many different kinds of meat I could and pile them all on one sandwich. No cheese - no vegetables – no condiments, speeding down a Sodium super highway.
Breakfast sandwiches generally have 3 animal products, totally refuting my point about sticking to one animal at a time. But this is one of the exceptions in my reformed life. This sandwich had a lot of good things going for it. I love ham and cheese sandwiches, and this came through in part. Also, the bacon was perfect. The sandwich had a homemade feel to it.
Complaints: club sandwiches are generally enormous, which is why they require being quartered. This sandwich was a good size, but by no means was it enormous. So the whole club idea was used as a sort of novelty. Also, the crust on club sandwiches tend to slash the corners of my mouth like a Chicago Smiley. I do not like this so if I could suggest one thing to the chef it would be to go easier on the toasting or maybe not toast at all?
I wouldn’t necessarily go to the Clubhouse for its prices, but check them out if you’re like me and you like your food made with a little TLC.
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