The Strand House

Not a bad view for brunch!

I don't know how many times I've walked down to Manhattan Beach and passed The Strand House, right there on the water's edge overlooking the pier, and wanted to go inside and sit on the patio, drink a cocktail and have a delicious meal. Well, today was the absolute perfect day to head down and do just that.

We sat outside on their outdoor terrace under a sleuth of umbrellas, which was the perfect accessory since the sun was out in full force and the temperature was creeping to around 85 - which also gave us a little leeway to order their fresh pressed coffee and enjoy it with the breeze while we looked over the menu.

Fresh pressed coffee <3

After sipping our coffee for a few minutes and just enjoying being outside with the beach in view, we settled on a few dishes to split. I thought it was pretty awesome that you could choose your eggs to be either a scramble, frittata, or as an omelet, something I haven't seen anywhere else yet. Pretty cool.

Chicken sausage frittata with goat cheese, asparagus and parsley
Fingerling potatoes and pain de mie toast 

House-made chorizo omelet with roasted corn, poblano, and queso fresco
Fingerling potatoes and an English muffin 

And then to add a little sweet to our savory dishes (read: splurged!) we got this amazing stuffed french toast stuffed with huckleberries and mascarpone.

Stuffed french toast with challah, huckleberries, and mascarpone
Strawberries, blackberries and maple syrup 

The frittata and the omelet were very tasty. The asparagus is making me so excited for fall vegetables to be back in abundance and the homemade chorizo was spicy, just the way I like it. The french toast was like eating the best coffee cake and doughnut rolled into one. The goal was to bring back the french toast to eat it later, but after the first bite I knew it was not coming home in a doggy bag.

The staff at The Strand House was very friendly and super nice. I love when waiters don't pressure you into ordering, eating, and signing the bill so they can flip the table and get a new party seated. I greatly appreciated the pace they set, no obligations to order the second the waters were dropped off, and even offered to refill our coffee so we could stay a bit longer. Top notch.

This also was the first time eating at a Neal Fraser eatery and now I'm itching for Redbird to be open so I can shimmy over there and grub out some more.

This is going to be a great weekend!

Cheers,

Kate