Saturday Night Foodies: Another Great Breakfast in the OC – Anepalco’s Café

Who knew there were so many good places to get breakfast in Orange County? I used to complain that I could never think of anything other than big chain restaurants. Luckily for me, my wife Kim knows how to shut me up. When it comes to breakfast Yelp.com has become her friend.

This past weekend we visited Anepalco’s Café in Orange. They are about a block north of CHOC. Anepalco’s is a simple little place with indoor and outdoor seating. If you blink you may drive right past it. We chose to sit outside on this beautiful morning. To be honest I did not know what to expect because the name (to me) sounds like it could be Mexican and they are really known for their chilaquiles. When we got their menu we realized that they are more French but have some Mexican flare.

Kim also noticed that a good number of people commented on their coffee so we had to try it. It was not your normal cheap restaurant coffee. It was very smooth and had a nice flavor. Not as bold as either of us are used to but still better than most. Next time we will not feel we have to stop at Starbucks before we get there like we normally do when heading over to other places.

Crepe Le Mexique

We tried two dishes. Of course we had to get a crepe. They offer about 10 different crepes for breakfast. No way we were going to pass that up. Kim chose their “Crepe Le Mexique”. It had scrambled eggs, queso fresco, bacon (Kim passed on the bacon) guacamole, and pico de gallo. This was a very good looking and tasty dish. I did not miss the bacon at all. I actually forgot that it would normally come with it. The crepe was tender, perfect color and just perfect. The guacamole was more of a sauce that was velvety and covered the crepe. It was not over powering at all. The queso and pico added two more layers that finished off the dish nicely. The only thing Kim did not like was the side of fruit that came with the dish. It was apples and what looked like canned pineapple. However it really did not matter because she had to save room for the crepe!

Anepalco’s Chilaquiles

I had their much talked about chilaquiles. Chilaquiles is usually corn tortillas cooked into scrambled eggs with some sort of sauce mixed in. This one was a little different. The chilaquiles were by themselves on the plate with a beautiful scrambled egg layered on top of them. Then on top of the egg was a dollop of guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo. Around the outside was another dried chili sauce. This is a dish I am addicted to. I could eat this a couple times a week. The egg was obviously made with the crepe maker. It was nicely folded and the texture was perfect. The chilaquiles were cooked in something that tasted like a cross between enchilada sauce and salsa, so they were bursting with flavor. The sauce on the outside was more oil-based but it was not heavy at all and the queso fresco on top added a touch of saltiness that completed the dish.

We WILL be going here again. This will most likely become one of our regular breakfast stops when we want something more familiar. However, we are not ready for that yet. This Sunday we are planning to try something new. If you have any recommendations of places to try in the OC, please let us know!