The Friendly Toast, Cambridge, MA

Yesterday we went to The Friendly Toast, an incredibly popular spot near MIT. Maybe because there aren't that many shops and stores around campus and, most likely, because the food is delicious and much more student-budget-friendly that the neighboring Blue Room, it draws a crowd from early in in the morning. We got there at 11 am and there was already one hour of wait, with about 50 people waiting outside (from the distance, we even thought there had to be some sort of event going on!), under very cloudy skies. Clearly, all these people were willing to brave the rain for a chance to eat TFT's spongy homemade bread and filling breakfast plates.

We had come here a couple of times before and, even more, Diego had gone to-and blogged about- their New Hampshire sister location. So, we put our names on the list and went for a long walk.

Exactly one hour later we were at the table. Inside, the decor is crazy eclectic. With bright green walls and 1950's posters, wall papers and memorabilia, it is as if you were having brunch at the place of someone with an incipient hoarding disorder. Somehow, it all works together.

The coffee mugs also look like they came out of a 1950's cupboard. They are thermal; two layers of plastic with pastel-colored knitted patterns in between.

As the name suggests, most plates feature some homemade toast. The bread here is awesome. It is light, and fluffy and one slice can pretty much make a meal (for example, Laura -our Argentine friend who joined us during the weekend- had the French Toasts that come plain, without any fruits, or cream, or toppings, but they are perfect just like that). There are several types of bread: whole wheat, cinnamon-raisin, oatmeal, anadama (molasses and coconut), cayenne-cheddar and a rotating special.

In fact, Diego's scramble came with a side of toast, and he asked for the special: the atomic! A base of cayenne-cheddar with with jalapenos, crushed red peppers and all kinds of spiciness. He complained, however, that it was not as hot as it could have been. In any case, it was delicious. Diego's scramble was the "New Hampshire's finest": an egg scramble with locally-made goat cheese, asparagus, scallions and bacon. I tried one of the asparagus and it was crisp and tasty.

As I had had brunch already on Saturday, I ordered a fruit salad (this is what I usually do when I have brunch twice in one weekend) but I couldn't resist having a slice of cayenne-cheddar toast on the side. The fruit salad was fresh and made-to-order. It was brought to the table after all the other plates, and our server excused herself saying that the fruit was being cut as we spoke. It had strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, honey dew, pineapple and grapes. When in season, it also comes with kiwi. It is a great healthy option. And, if you want to add a little bit of fat, it is topped with homemade granola (you can ask it to be on the side), which has pecans and cashews, and it is very lightly drizzled with honey. Spot on.

To top it all off, we had coffee, orange juice and a mango-strawberry smoothy, which was a little acid and could have used a banana (my own fault, as it is made-your-own...), but which was entirely gulped down anyways.

So, is this the perfect brunch? well... we come to The Friendly Toast often, rain or shine, we walk for 25 minutes to get here, then wait in line for almost an hour every time, and we always leave happy... you can figure it out.