Orange County Register

The wife and I were out early last Sunday, ready to have breakfast at Villa Roma Market & Deli in Laguna Hills, when we realized that they didn’t really have the kind of breakfast we wanted. They had mostly sweet stuff when I was really in the mood for a big ol’ plate of anything-but-that.

We decided to return to Villa Roma for dinner (more on that next week), and headed out in search of greener pastures (and scrambled eggs).

I’ve kept a visit to Mitze’s Kountry Kitchen in the back of my mind for months. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to take that trip.

The “L”-shaped restaurant, tucked into a recently remodeled strip mall, has been there for quite some time - for how long I’m not sure - but I do know it recently changed hands. It’s still family owned, it’s just that another family owns it.

For a Sunday, there are hardly any people in the joint, but a few more come throughout the time we have our meal. I take a quick look around and immediately see two specials that stand out - pumpkin pancakes and a seafood omelet. Though I order neither one, it immediately pegs this “kountry kitchen” as a place that’s not just plating up stuff and covering it in gravy (though there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that).

We both order eggs, and a plate of French toast to pick at, when I notice the walls.

Every booth is lined with these little place cards, etched with the name of the regular who calls that booth home at least for a little while each week.

Anyways, the food.

I go with the Hobo Omelet ($8.99), pictured at top, and soon learn that Mitze’s has the omelet formula down. While there is no cheese, and I didn’t add it, the omelet comes with ham, bacon, sausage, bell peppers, onions and tomatoes. I enjoy every bite I take of this yummy scramble. It’s heavy on toppings, but also has a lot of egg. I can only get through half.

The same goes for the huge serving of hashbrowns. They have a nice crust without being oily.

My only complaint is the biscuit and gravy that arrives.

If we’re eye-eatin’ then we’re looking at a feast, but we aren’t. Friends, we’ve got gravy-covered fail on our hands. There were so many things that were right. It looks fluffy, the gravy has the right consistency (though it seems light on the pepper) and there’s bacon in it. While looks can be deceiving, taste buds aren’t.

The biscuit was thick, nearly cake-like, instead of being a little pillow of sexiness. The gravy was an even worse offender. It was slightly sweet(!?!) and strangely flat. I can’t even begin to suggest what went wrong here, just know that something did.

Nadia was in the mood for Rooster Cafe’s Portuguese Scramble, so she went with the closest thing to it: Mitze’s Italian Sausage & Eggs, with a side of steamed rice, ($7.99).

The dish comes with a homemade salsa that she says is just hot enough. The rice is perfect, the eggs nice-and-fluffy and the sausage well-seasoned. I took a couple bites and had no complaints.

Because we both ordered egg dishes, I made sure to get something sweet just so I could speak to it. Mitze’s French toast isn’t on thick Texas bread, it’s not stuffed and doesn’t come with a warm berry coulis. It’s bread, dipped in batter and cooked on the flat top. It’s chewy, mildy sweet and lightly dredged. Kind of like the stuff Mom used to slap together. I like it.

It’s kind of the reason I also really like Mitze’s. While we were relatively safe in our food choices (no pumpkin pancakes or seafood omelettes here), I’d like to think Mitze’s serves honest food at reasonable prices. That’s something I’m always happy to endorse.

More breakfast from Food Frenzy!

Mitze’s Kountry Kitchen
25381 Alicia Parkway
Laguna Hills
949-768-6499

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