Deeg’s Place (Evansburg Country Kitchen)

3839 Germantown Pike, Evansburg, PA 19426

In our neverending quest to find a good place for breakfast on the weekend, we finally were able to go here. I say finally, because we had had two aborted attempts to eat breakfast when there was not a free space in the parking lot.

This, to us, boded well.

Not so much.

The atmosphere is basic — nothing horrible, but nothing attractive; the TV blaring Saturday morning cartoons is a nice touch, if you like that sort of thing — the busgirl seemed to while I waited for coffee. Otherwise, the service was fine — generally attentive, and our orders were correct.

Rick had scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, and potatoes, which were strangely sweet; I think we finally agreed that they had drenched the poor things in Old Bay, which didn’t really result in anything I’d want to have again. I had the two-two-two, which were two decent but strangely glossy pancakes, two scrambled eggs, one piece of nice sausage, and two strips of bacon that were burnt and would have still tasted strange were they cooked properly. Deeg’s is apparently not so good with math, and only barely better with cooking: apparently I’m missing something because that full parking lot we encountered on previous occasions means someone thinks Deeg’s is something special, even if I don’t agree.

Patti Jean’s Diner

1968 W. Main St., Jeffersonville, PA

In our never-ending quest for weekend breakfast spots, we decided to try out this place in the slightly hardscrabble no-man’s land between Norristown and Collegeville.

Food-wise, it was largely acceptable: the bacon was a tad too crispy and the eggs a little too dry, but the potatoes were a good balance of crispy and not. The service was good overall, and the prices very reasonable.

Nothing to disparage really, but nothing to write home about either.

However, the menu is really the star of this place. That is, apparently Patti Jean let the world’s worst editor at her menu, because it is a never-ending source of typo fun (somehow, the takeout menu was largely saved from this). We’re not just talking misplaced commas or apostrophes, though there are plenty of those. No, we’re talking, major misspellings, including ‘omlet’ and ’scarple’. There seems to be a problem with spuds, as you can get either ‘patato skins’ or ‘mushed potatoes.’ I know ampersands can be confusing, but to replace them with percentage signs seems counterproductive, especially when it becomes a ‘egg cheese % meat sandwich’ — not exactly appetizing. Nor, frankly, is my favorite typo dish: the ‘fish filled sandwich.’ I suppose it’s better than a fish filler sandwich, but neither are good.

So, if you’d like some typo humor and decent enough food, do go to Patti Jean’s.

Collegeville Diner

290 Main Street, Collegeville, PA

http://www.collegevillediner.com/

When we first moved to Collegeville, there was a Pizza Hut on the corner. Sadly to some, I love me some Pizza Hut, but we didn’t go often. So, when the Collegeville Diner rose from the rubble of the PH, we were pleased, though we didn’t see the absolute need for another diner, since they seem to be everywhere in this area. Within ten minutes, there are probably half a dozen places we could go for our weekend morning breakfast, the time we’re most likely to go to a diner.

However, the Collegeville Diner has pleasantly surprised us. Beyond breakfast, they offer good food at decent prices — and service is quick. Breakfast though is what we normally go there for, and so:

We each got the #1 — your basic two egg breakfast with coffee and (a thimble of) juice included, all for less than $5. The eggs were quite good: the scrambled ones weren’t soupy nor rock hard, and the over easy were good, so Rick said. The bacon is good quality as well — enough crisp that they can stand on their own, but not burnt. Also, the home fries walk that difficult line of crisp/tender well — with enough crunchy bits to keep me satisfied.

So, Collegeville Diner will remain a standby for breakfast — and any other time we need a place where anyone can find anything to eat.

Ray’s

14 E. Germantown Pike, East Norriton, PA 19401

http://eatatrays.com/

“Classic” diners appeal to me, in some strange way. It’s not like I was alive during the 50s to get the whole sock hop, sharing milk shake, checkerboard floor, going steady vibe. However, these places often are friendly and do what they do well. For a few years now, I’d wanted to go to Ray’s, in part, because it is always packed. My first trip was no different: we stood in line for a bit for a table, and the line soon extended out of the door. Part of the reason for the line was there just being a lot of people there; the other part of the reason was this woman:

She seemed to be confused much of the time, and was, in general, just not a very efficient or effective hostess.

However, once we were seated, I was glad I got such a plumb seat in plain view of this:

Because, you know, what says retro diner like a Jamie Kennedy send-up of breakdancing?

There is a soda fountain part of the restaurant that looked cute:

So, all is not lost.

As noted, it was very busy, and the service was just OK. My bottomless mug o’ coffee did in fact have a bottom at times, and the food was a little slow getting to us. Rick got eggs and turkey sausage and I got a combo meal that was bacon and eggs and a stack of pancakes . No, I didn’t eat all of it.

Overall, the food was just fine. The helping of bacon was good, but the quality was uneven–some crispy, some soggy, some lean, some fatty. The potatoes were underdone–I need some crisp there, and there was very little. The pancakes were nice, but the syrup was unwieldy and uninteresting. Rick’s breakfast was also ho-hum.

Now, dependable, nothing outstanding diner food would be great to have, were the prices were not a bit too high–I think the total ran over $20, and it just didn’t warrant that expense. Maybe they’re paying for the neon bills or something. I don’t know; I think I’d try Jem up the road over Ray’s again, neon and all.

Michael’s

709 Bethlehem Pike, Montgomeryville, PA 18936

OK, so this place is definitely on the chicken-fried side of things. In our never-ending quest for good breakfast places (of which there are surprisingly few), we came across this place as we were in the area. This area is in fact not close to Stonesthrow, but actually closer to Rick’s work and the Montgomeryville Mall.

Just to give you a sense of the era in which this place was last remodeled, this was above us:

In case you can’t tell, that’s a skylight. Ringed in neon. There was a lot of neon, not all of it working.

Let’s cut to the chase. We both had bacon and eggs–mine scrambled and Rick’s over easy, as is his latest wont:

Really, perfectly fine. The eggs were cooked well, the bacon crispy yet not burnt, and the hash browns adequately crispy. So, despite the surroundings and propensity for running into coworkers, Michael’s will service need we breakfast in that area.