Thursday, December 30, 2010

BREAKFAST AT CHRISTOPH'S ON THE WATER

In my search for the best breakfast, hubby and I ate at Christoph's, located in the Hilton Hotel, 100 Middle Street, in downtown New Bern.  The above photo was taken at our table and overlooked the Hilton patio area and boats.  The photo of the pool area below is from another window.
Christoph's is a sophisticated restaurant with a classically trained chef, Tom Pristash, but you can come in casual dress.  After all, it is a hotel restaurant and, as such, is used to catering to hotel guests who are dressed casually.  What sets Christoph's apart is their menu and the excellent food that is served here.  Here's a sampling of breakfast menu items:

Two Eggs - Any Style
   Choice of Crisp Bacon, Sausage Links or Griddled Ham
Skillet Potatoes and Choice of Toast   7

Riverfront Omelet
Three Eggs & Cheddar-Jack Cheese folded with Choice or Combination of
Ham, Bacon, Sausage, Mushrooms, Onions, Peppers, Tomato or Spinach
Skillet Potatoes and Choice of Toast   8

Eggs Benedict
Toasted English Muffin, Griddled Country Ham, Poached Eggs
Skillet Potatoes and Classic Hollandaise   9

Southern Breakfast
Apple Bacon & Cheddar Cheese Grits
Topped with Two Eggs Any Style and Choice of Toasted   7

You'll also find French toast, pancakes and waffles along with specialty items such as Florentine Turkey Wrap, Shrimp Eggs and Grits, Crabby Bay Breakfast Melt, Breakfast Croissant and Sweet Brioche French Toast.  And if you don't want to wait to order from the menu, then by all means help yourself to their wonderful breakfast buffet which includes hot and cold food items and beverages for $12.95.  

Hubby Guy ordered two eggs over light with bacon, skillet potatoes and toast and said it was the best breakfast he's had in New Bern.  The bacon was crisp and the eggs were perfectly cooked.  Nothing was greasy, and it came to the table hot.
I ordered my usual, one egg and 1 piece of toast.  Before I could say how I wanted the egg cooked, the server asked me, "Would you like that poached?"  And when she brought the order to the table, it was one egg and one slice of toast, exactly what I ordered.  It's hard to imagine that a poached egg could be anything sublime, but this poached egg was perfect in every way.
There is no kitchen presence at Christoph's -- no banging of trays, no kitchen odors -- the dining area is totally separate and feels special.  There's plenty of room to be comfortable and it's a quiet, relaxed atmosphere.  The food is delicious, the service is good, and there's a view.  What more could you want?

Right now, I'd like to stop my search for the best breakfast place in New Bern and just concentrate on enjoying more breakfasts at Christoph's.  But to be fair to other eateries, I'll keep looking.   Somehow, I think I'll be coming back here.

Visit Christoph's website for photos and a complete list of menu items -- Click here

6 comments:

  1. Wow, we only went there one time and thought it was terrible. But I think we went wrong by ordering the buffet. The plates at the buffet line were DIRTY. If I recall correctly, there were even dead flies on some. That pretty much ruined it for me, but the buffet also was not great. Typical hotel unremarkable buffet plus dirty plates. We had a feeling we should have ordered off the menu. Not sure I can go back though after my buffet experience. Too bad. Sounds like I'm missing out!

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  2. Marisa, thanks for your comments. I am sure that any restaurant has slip-ups, and the ones you experienced were pretty bad. I hope you complained to management, because I know they would want to be made aware.

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  3. We ate dinner there one time. It was just "okay" for us. We also ate outside and the waitress was a bit slow. The other table walked out because they were ignored. Maybe it's just good to eat there for breakfast? Would love to read a review from you aside from their breakfast.

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  4. Judy- Thank you for your kind words. I think Christoph's ala carte menu is very unique and I am very pleased that you enjoyed your breakfast experience with us. I hope you try us for lunch and dinner as well!!...That being said...To Marisa and Jacki- I do appologize. It is certainly not the standard of quality that we wish to offer. Every restaurant has some growing pains from time to time and I am working with both the service staff and the cooks to provide our Guests with an exceptional dining experience. I truly hope that you both will give us a second chance to correct your unfortunate and unacceptable intial visits to Christoph's. Thank you and I wish you happy eating in 2011!!

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  5. Jacki and Chef Tom, You can bet hubby and I will be back at Christoph's for dinner as soon as we can fit it in our schedule. I love the ambiance there as well as the food.

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  6. Chef Tom, will definitely try your restaurant again in the future. Have not tried Sunday buffets yet.

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