Title: Café M in Berkeley, update brunch
Author: jean komatsu
Last saved by: GCS

Café M in Berkeley, update breakfast
Review date: June 2011
(previous reviews appended below)

Carlos was given the choice of breakfast at Royal Café/Albany or Café M, and chose the latter. This was because only Café M makes crepes, and he wanted that Del Mar crepe that Inez tried last time: filled with crab, mushrooms, cheese, and artichoke hearts. It comes with a dollop of their chile-scented Hollandaise, which he wasn't expecting but likes, so no problem. 

He got tomatoes on the side instead of hash browns, although he asked for grilled and all they did was slice them thick and serve them raw. His usual side order of ham was good, as always.

I got the Combo, which is two eggs with chicken-apple sausage and a couple of pancakes. The eggs were properly done over easy as requested, the chicken-apple sausage was yummy, and the pancakes were tasty although a lot more tender than Mel's Diner/San Francisco, which is our gold standard for pancakes. They're a little on the sweet side, served with decent Grade B real maple syrup and a small knob of butter sprinkled with some chopped pecans, a nice touch.

Service at Café M is somewhat leisurely. It lacks the quick uptake that Royal Café and Mama's Royal have, but it's a sunny and pleasant place to have a good breakfast.

Two people: one side, two entrees, two beverages, with tip was $40.

Café M in Berkeley, update brunch
Review date: April 2011
(previous reviews appended below)

We have made three visits to Cafe M since discovering it in November 2010. It ranks third for us as a preferred breakfast/lunch spot, behind Mama's Royal/Oakland and Royal Cafe/Albany. There are certainly others that are better than Café M, but they aren't near enough to us to be convenient as an everyday destination.

The service is friendly but not especially fast, so be aware that when you come, at least on weekdays, this is a laid-back place. 

We brought Inez with us, and she chose the Del Mar Crepe. Filled with crab, mushrooms, cheese, and artichoke hearts, she really enjoyed this. The overbrowned sliced potatoes weren't to her liking – her osteoporosis has given her very fragile teeth, so she concentrated on finishing off the crepe. 

Carlos chose the crab cake Benedict with a side order of ham. He asked them to sub grilled tomatoes for the hash browns, which they were happy to do. These were big slices of ordinary hothouse tomatoes, but he was fine with them as an accompaniment to the Benedict and ham slices. Their coffee is very good, both regular and decaf.

I decided to try the burger, which comes on a fairly good bun. I asked for grilled onions and mushrooms, but they forgot the Jack cheese. The waitress whisked it away to get the cheese melted on top, and comped us for it (each addition is $1 extra). Neither meat nor veggies are salted, and the burger is very juicy but the bun holds together fairly well. I wouldn't call it the best burger in the world, but it's good and worth ordering for lunch.

Three people: three entrees, one side, two extras on the burgers, two beverages, with tip came to a very reasonable $55.

Café M in Berkeley, update brunch
Review date: April 2011
(previous reviews appended below)

We first visited Café M in November 2010 and preferred it to the more vaunted 900 Grayson. It's prettier, more comfortable, and although not quite at the same level of food, it's very close and thus ranks in third place as a preferred breakfast/lunch spot, behind Mama's Royal/Oakland and Royal Cafe/Albany. There are others that are better, but they aren't near enough to us to be convenient as an everyday destination.

The service is friendly but not especially fast, so be aware that when you come, at least on weekdays, this is a laid-back place. OTOH, Grayson's standing-room crowds make one feel uncomfortably rushed, so of the two, Café M is definitely preferable.

We brought Inez with us, and she chose the Del Mar Crepe. Filled with crab, mushrooms, cheese, and artichoke hearts, she really enjoyed this. The overbrowned, slightly burnt, sliced potato gratin wasn't to her liking – her osteoporosis has given her very fragile teeth, so she concentrated on finishing off the crepe. 

Carlos chose the crab cake Benedict with a side order of ham. He asked them to sub grilled tomatoes for the potatoes, which they were happy to do. These were big slices of ordinary hothouse tomatoes, but he was fine with them as an accompaniment to the Benedict and ham slices. Their coffee is very good, both regular and decaf.

I decided to try the burger, which comes on a fairly good whole wheat bun. I asked for grilled onions and mushrooms, but they forgot the Jack cheese. The waitress whisked it away to get the cheese melted on top, and comped us for it (each addition is $1 extra). Neither meat nor veggies are salted, and the burger is very juicy but the bun holds together fairly well. I wouldn't call it the best burger in the world, but it's very good, almost as good as Café Rouge/Berkeley, and well worth ordering for lunch.

Three entrees, one side, two extras on the burgers, two beverages, with tip came to a very reasonable $55.

Café M, update breakfast
Review date:  January 2011

Carlos and I went back to Café M for breakfast. This time he tried the breakfast crepe of ham in pesto sauce. He loves crepes and it was a well-filled quarter-folded crepe, with a very tasty filling. I had the same corned beef hash as the last time. Two entrees with two beverages with tip, cost $37. Not much more than Brush Broom, but better quality and (ahem) a much cleaner dining room.

Café M
799 Fourth St. (entrance @corner of Fifth Street and Delaware), Berkeley
http://www.cafemberkeley.com/menu.html
Review date:   November 2010

This cheerful, modern, well-lit breakfast and lunch café is off the main Fourth St. drag. It’s unobtrusively located at the far end of the tiny parking lot where the charming Miki’s Papers sells Japanese art papers on the corner at Fourth St. It’s actually easier to find this café if you look for Ergo Sleep Systems (801 Delaware St.) on Fifth, which is across the street from the café.

We picked up a menu while walking by one day, and thought it sounded interesting enough to try. We are breakfast fanatics. To us there is nothing better than a hearty breakfast at the civilized hour of around 11 a.m. or so.

The menu isn’t overly large (except in paper size) but covers all the breakfast basics: omelets, Benedicts, and pancake/French toast. They add one category that very few breakfast places do, and that’s crepes. The coffee is Peet’s, our favorite. Breakfast is available all day, and lunch starts serving after 11 a.m.

Carlos ordered the crabcake Benedict with a side of ham. I got the salmon Florentine, which subs a pan-sauteed filet of salmon for the English muffin in an Eggs Florentine. Both come with a side of potatoes that are thinly sliced lengthwise, then folded into a pan and sauteed until crisp and brown, in a nice variant on the usual hash browns.

That Café M doesn’t use frozen shredded pre-formed hash browns is a big point in their favor. The hollandaise was orange from a surprisingly spicy chile powder. The crabcakes, although certainly not Dungeness, were extended with flaked fish but still retained good flavor. 

As Carlos pointed out, it’s a waste to make top-quality crabcakes if you’re going to smother them with a rich sauce and eat a thick muffin and poached egg in the same mouthful. His side order of ham was four surprisingly large, thin slices of a good quality ham, quickly sauteed without drying them out.

My salmon was nicely sized, the spinach was sauteed and not just wilted, and if the cook hadn’t poached the eggs a bit firmer than we prefer, both plates would have gotten our highest rating. Still, not everyone enjoys their yolks as runny as we do, so it’s merely something to make a note of for next time.

There will certainly be a next time. The servings are generous, and the coffee was very good, although I prefer the decaf blend they use to the regular coffee. Carlos is eager to try the crepes, one of his favorite food items, which he can seldom find. 

We both liked this place much better than 900 Grayson/Berkeley, which we reviewed August 2010. Having crowds of people hanging around the edges of a tiny room, waiting to grab your table, is not a relaxing way to eat. Although the food was pretty good at 900 Grayson, the breakfast entree was inferior to the lunch entree, so it didn’t ring any bells for us the way Café M does.

Café M is larger, more attractive, and more relaxed. It’s in the same price range as the others we like (Mama’s Royal/Oakland and Royal Café/Albany) but offers some different things to try. Two entrees, one side, two beverages, with tip came to $43.