My favorite brunch buddy and I are up early on Sunday morning, I mean early like 8:00 am.  We’re ready to eat early too but most of the restaurants we frequent don’t open until 10:00 or 11:00 am.   Last Sunday, however, my friend wanted grits and I told her that I had the best cheesy grits at Spoons Café in Federal Hill, Baltimore.  We googled the hours and luckily they open at 8:00 am. We arrived at Spoons around 8:45 and half of the restaurant seating was already occupied. The hostess sat us quickly towards the rear of the restaurant at a two-seat table adjacent to the kitchen.  Spoons is a quaint restaurant space that looks like it could have been a house converted into a restaurant.

My friend and I order a carafe of Apple Cider Mimosas because it’s October and that means you drink apple cider.  That was my first time trying that flavor mimosa and I was impressed. I ‘d never thought to mix apple cider with champagne, but it was a fresh Fall take on the original mimosas. We scanned the menu and decided on The Beast, Fried Oysters and Grits, Deep-Fried Stuffed French Toast and the 2-2-2 (Two Eggs, Meat of your choice and French Toast or Pancakes).  I know, I know… we’re greedy.

The Beast sandwich is — well you guessed it — A Beast. It’s a biscuit sandwich with buttermilk fried chicken, fried egg, smoked bacon, American cheese topped with sausage gravy.  Even though the menu describes it as a sandwich it’s not meant to be handheld, you have to eat this with a fork and knife.  In addition to the chicken and bacon, the sausage gravy added another meat element. The chicken was a tender cut, seasoned well and the biscuit was moist.  The Fried Oysters and Grits were my favorite. The oysters had a crispy, seasoned, thick batter on them, what you would call chicken-fried,  and the oyster inside was soft and fresh. The grits at Spoons are always great, even when I get them as a side with cheese, they are thick like grits should be. It also had an oyster sauce that was the consistency of soup and paired well with the oyster/seafood grits dish.  The Deep-Fried Stuffed French Toast was just light and flaky on the outside and stuffed with warm sweet cream on the inside, it’s the perfect portion to share.

Spoons is a great neighborhood restaurant with tasty food and great service. It’s the type of place you bring family that’s visiting from out of town, they’d love it.  They have beer and lunch options also. And because it’s in the heart of Federal Hill, you may want to stop at one of the nearby bars after brunch.

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