Pauline's: Worth the Wait, but Beware of Waitress Woes

Even though we had to wait a while to be seated, Pauline's host did his darndest to make that wait pleasant. There was OJ and coffee to be had, plus an entertaining local man, who apparently just hangs around with a modified stroller bearing his two charming parrots, Sam and Beauford. They posed for camera-phone pictures. The coffee, by the way, was notably phenomenal: strong and not at all watery.

I had the Alaskan salmon omelette. Five eggs sounded like a lot more than I could eat; however, I was able to not only finish the omelette, but also two pieces of "Gonnella" thick toast (well worth the 60-cent upgrade). The decadent ingredients - salmon, goat cheese and two types of asparagus - were all present in generous proportions. The salmon/egg combo worked well because Pauline's cook used a drier, flaky salmon fillet. While I love lox, I suspect something that salty and slippery may have created a salt overload in tandem with toothy yellow blanket of eggs.

The signature side dish - Pauline's potatos - were awesome. I like a firm, well-seasoned and crispy potato chunk: These were just that. The onion and green pepper snippets added some extra crunch and bursts of flavor.

The only blemish on the whole experience was how busy the place was. The wait staff seemed over-extended and distracted. Our table lacked basic supplies: pepper, ketchup, cream, etc. Our coffees were only refilled for the first time after our meal was over and Gavin didn't get his toast until his main course was long gone. I could go on.

But I won't. Overall: The food was excellent and any shortcomings in service can be easily overcome if you have good company along to weather the bumps, which I did.

Hmm, we need some sort of rating system. Any ideas? For lack of a better measure, on a scale of one to five parrots, I'd give Pauline's a four.