'Ino Cafe and the Truffled Egg Toast

As I mentioned in my last post, I was sick a few weekends ago with a bad infection of the ears, nose and throat. It was not fun, and I really didn't get out of bed for about 48 hours. My diet over the course of those 48 hours consisted of Gatorade, cough drops, and a plain bagel that I was craving so bad one night that I just HAD to order one (I was still too sick to go out and pick it up myself).

But thankfully I was feeling more like myself come that Sunday, and I was ready to eat some real food, so we decided brunch was a good idea. Vlady found 'Ino Cafe on Yelp, and it was a nice day for a stroll, so that's where we went. The restaurant is teeny teeny tiny with about 20 seats in the whole place, including the bar. It's got that rustic, homey charm that so many places these days are trying to achieve, and it was nice to not be in a large, crowded and noisy restaurant.

The menu was a decent size, and consisted mainly of paninis, but we were there for mimosas and brunch food! Vlady ordered the yogurt and homemade granola for himself, I ordered the ricotta and orange bruscetta, and we ordered a serving of truffled egg toast (which was recommended by the Yelpers) for the two of us. Vlady's yogurt and granola was surprisingly good, which was impressive for a dish that normally can be pretty bland! The yogurt was sweet and actually flavorful, and the granola was just as it should be: crunchy and full of nutty flavors.

My bruschetta with ricotta, orange peel and honey was pretty good, although I may not order it again after tasting how delicious some of their other dishes are. The ricotta and orange were just slightly sweet, but perhaps a little too bitter for my taste (it could also have been a strange aftermath taste from all of the cough drops I'd been eating over the past two days).

Now, for the good stuff: the truffled egg toast.

Oh.My.Word. It was so good. They took some delicious, buttery bread and basically made a 'toad in the hole' (or egg in the hole, or egg in the basket, or whatever you want to call it). The egg was over easy, so the yolk was nice and runny, and then they topped that with melted cheese that I would guess was provolone. I honestly don't know where the truffle flavor came from, whether it was an oil, or a salt, etc. When a dish is that good though, I don't really care because it WORKED.

The truffled egg toast was so good that we actually ordered another because splitting one between the two of us just wasn't enough. I'm already thinking of how I can recreate this dish with the truffle sea salt that I have at home (and make it a lower fat version), and I know that Vlady would gladly be the guinea pig for my efforts.

All in all, I would highly recommend 'Ino Cafe for everything that they offered, but mainly for that truffled egg toast.. it is not to be missed!