BREAKFAST AT KITCHEN ON THE TRENT

The Kitchen on Trent is not new.  When it first opened several years ago, the place was swamped with customers who loved the cafe theme.  It was so popular that the owner expanded when the adjacent commercial unit was available.

This is a no-frills small cafe-style restaurant with great prices.  Carb lovers will delight in the freshly-baked muffins, cookies, scones and other pastries.  Teas and gourmet coffees are available at a self-serve station, and you can order breakfast, lunch or dinner during  the appropriate hours, Monday through Friday.  Saturday hours are 8am - 2pm for breakfast and lunch only.

It's been a long time since I visited KOT, so hubby and I decided to have breakfast there.  We placed our order at the counter, and I asked for 1 egg over easy with bacon and whole wheat toast.  (I wanted soft-boiled or poached, but that's not an option at KOT.)  The counter person informed me that they were out of whole wheat toast but they had light wheat.  I asked for a glass of water with my breakfast and was told it would be brought to me.  Hubby asked for 2 eggs over easy, ham and potatoes, but was told there were no potatoes.

We went to the self-serve bar to get our coffees.  I got the hazelnut cinnamon, and hubby got a house blend.  The coffee was steaming hot, but only available in paper cups.  The cups were large, but KOT calls them small and charges $1.63 per cup, a fair price for gourmet blends.  These blends are not like Starbucks coffee, more like McDonald's, which I particularly like -- not too strong, not too weak, just right for me.  We loved the coffee, but not the paper cups.

We sat at one of the small tables to wait for our meal.

Our breakfast came to the table in a reasonable amount of time.  Thankfully, several napkins were on the table, so I could sop up the grease from my plate.  We were surprised that a beautiful fruit cup came with the breakfast.  What a bargain for $3.71.  Unfortunately, my water never arrived.

Hubby was already not happy because he wanted his spuds, and he was even more discontented with the thinly sliced ham.  He wanted a real slice of ham.  I mean, really, what do you expect for $3.71 anyway?  There's a lot of food here.  Maybe it's not perfect, but where can you go in New Bern to get a full breakfast like this for $3.71?

Our entire bill came to $11.50.  Now, truthfully, we're not going back.  It's because we're hopeless food snobs.  I want my eggs poached or soft boiled, I don't like sopping up grease from my plate, and I hate coffee in paper cups.  Guy wants a thick slice of ham and he wants his potatoes. We'll pay more to get what we want.  But for others who may not be as snobby and don't want to pay the prices at the Hilton (my top breakfast-place pick) or at IHOP, Kitchen on Trent is a good choice.  You can also order omelets, French toast, oatmeal or sweet potato pancakes.

There's not a lot of atmosphere here -- it's a spread out diner without a sit-down counter.  There's no view, and the food is not gourmet.  Still, for the right people, this could be a top pick for breakfast.