Cure for a Warrior

Steve's Kitchen

120 Harvard Ave., Allston

Price: $3.95

Fullness: The homefries pick up where the sandwich leaves off

After many months and several futile attempts, I finally caught Steve’s Kitchen while they were open. Following a lead sent in by a BSA fan known only as “Myk”, I dipped into the “Kitchen” for a bacon, egg and cheddar. For a very affordable $3.95, Steve gives you a side of homefries and a large bagel with one (possibly two) fried egg(s), 3 slices of properly prepared bacon and your choice of cheese. Predictable as always, I went with white cheddar and sure enough it was the perfect selection. What makes this little number special is that just prior to being served, the sandwich spends a short stint under the broiler ensuring that the cheese drapes over everything nicely.

Aside from the fact that my napkin looked like a sheet of saran wrap from all the grease, this sandwich put me in my element. They say half of cuisine is the presentation and Steve’s got it down. Most of what I’m referring to is the bubbling cheddar from a flash exposure to extreme heat right before being served. I guess that’s all I’m referring to actually…

I was not overly impressed with the homefries, however they did fill in the hunger gap, which you sometimes run into with breakfast sandwiches. One sandwich doesn’t always fill me up, but two sandwiches makes you a tub o’ lard (apparently). So when homefries join a sandwich, there’s no need to fear.

Far superior to the neighborhood all-day-breakfast nemesis, Allston Café, Steve’s Kitchen has what it takes to be considered a great breakfast sandwich distributor. I would definitely recommend the bacon, egg and cheese at Steve’s for you “Weekend Warriors” out there who believe that grease is the “cure”.

Thanks Myk!

Medley

Bruegger's Bagels (Kenmore location)

644 Beacon St. Boston

Price: $3.99

Rating: 80/100

Fullness: full for hours

Bruegger’s has been advertising “4 sandwiches under $4” as if that’s some sort of great deal. I haven’t dabbled with them too much since my days as a 14 year old newsie slinging Boston Herald’s at 7AM in front of a local franchise. I ate a few too many of their peppered bacon, egg and cheese’s and tapped out for the next 9 years. That was until Monday morning when I got reacquainted with them by trying out their new Western Egg Sandwich. A bacon, egg and cheddar on your choice of bagel and piled high with a cooked veggie medley of green/red peppers, tomatoes and onions, topped off with a chipotle sauce.

Aside from the unfavorable customer service, I was pretty pleased with this one. It had pretty good weight, if you will. All you recreational eaters out there know what I’m talking about. I knew I’d be filled up even before I peeled back the tightly wrapped wax paper.

It was a little further towards the damp end of the sandwich spectrum than I prefer. This can be forgiven, though as moisture is an inevitable byproduct of cooked vegetables. The cheddar that was supposedly on it was sort of vaporized by the heat and got lost in the veggie moisture.

The surprisingly sweet veggie medley (love that word) minimized the impact from the traditionally spicy chipotle sauce. Regardless, this was every bit as heartburning as you could imagine.

The egg was in typical mass-produced patty form serving it’s purpose I ‘spose. Nothing to write home about.

I guess anything with tomatoes and onions could be considered a “western” these days. I wouldn’t really consider it a western, though. Just a regular bacon, egg and cheese complimented by a surprisingly decent selection of vegetables.

If you’re a bacon junky out there looking for a fix and want to pretend you’re being healthy by having vegetables put on your sandwich, consider stopping at Bruegger’s to take down one of their Western Egg Sandwiches. It’ll smooth ya RIGHT out.