Harry's Coffee Shop

Rating: 8/10
Date visited: Aug 2, 2009
Party of Two
Breakfast

I was craving for good old diner type food. There weren't any diners in Australia (or we were not able to find one.), and in North Carolina the diners were chains like Waffle House which served very greasy food and made us feel like throwing up after couple hours. So we hardly ever went to diners for the last four years. In Rochester there was a nice little place close to our apartment - Mount Hope Diner. We used to go there once every 3-4 months for a big breakfast. I wonder if it is still there?

As I said, I wanted diner food - eggs, toast, coffee etc. This was one of our regular Sunday-morning farmers' market visit days and breakfast with coffee is a must. We had noticed Harry's during our previous trips to the La Jolla market (we had been to Pannikin during those trips). Breakfast is served here all day everyday. We took a seat out on the patio, to enjoy the view.

Service was a bit slow, but we did not care, in fact we liked it. We were there to relax and have a lazy morning. The waitresses gave us a lot of time to review the menu and order. I got the "2 x 1", that is two eggs and a waffle, and my husband got their unadvertised special - Machaca Con Huevos. Of course, we got coffee - the regular diner drip coffee (this was brought out quickly).

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2 x 1 I had ordered my eggs poached. (I thought I may try to have a bit less butter by doing so. After all I was going to eat the butter on the waffle.) The eggs came in a small bowl, and instead of two there were three poached eggs! I love eggs, I will never complain no matter how badly one cooks it. These were done right, white and firm on the outside while 'gooey' yellow inside. I could see that they used a poaching cup (because the eggs were perfect circles) and did not use vinegar during the poaching process (there was no smell or the stringy texture).

The waffle was delicious. It was thin, crispy, and golden. The butter was served on the side in a small ramekin and maple syrup in a packet. I was a bit surprised. Diners usually serve it the other way round - butter in small packages and maple syrup in a pourer. Anyway, I liked it very much. I took my time and slowly ate the whole waffle. (oooh! the calories!)

Coffee This being a diner, we weren't expecting great coffee, but to our surprise, it was quite good. I would rather have the regular drip coffee here than the bitter brown sludge that Starbucks serves. At diners I usually expect a bottomless cup of coffee, here it came in a nice thermos. Thumbs up for coffee here.

Machaca Con Huevos This was a new one for us. My husband was initially planning on ordering either the Chorizo and Eggs or the Huevos Rancheros (again!). But the waitress said that there is this unadvertised special and she highly recommends it. It turned out to be a wonderful surprise.

Machaca is beef that has been marinated, cooked, shredded and then dried. It is very similar to beef jerky but with mexican spices. It is available in the Hispanic section of large supermarkets or in Mexican grocery stores. Here they cooked it with eggs, peppers, onions, tomatoes. The dish came with a side of salsa and corn tortillas. It was very tasty and quite filling. I am sure my husband is going to develop a craving for it soon, and either we will have to cook it at home, or (more likely) we will visit Harry's again. I hope they make this a regular menu item.

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In all this was quite a satisfying meal and we will go there again. I highly recommend it to everyone.

Address: 7545 Girard Ave., La Jolla CA
Website: hhttp://www.harryscoffeeshop.com/
Ph: 858 454 7381
Timing: Mon - Sun 6AM - 3PM
Liquor served - No