Phantom Gourmet: The Corner Cafe In Marshfield

MARSHFIELD - Who says you can't have an appetizer at breakfast? Or your favorite breakfast foods all piled into a big bowl? What's so wrong with a little candy in the morning, or your favorite fast food in grilled cheese form? At The Corner Cafe in Marshfield, they do breakfast a little bit different.

"We have probably over 200 items on the menu. Almost every one of them you would say, 'Wow! I don't know if I've ever seen that before,'" said owner Bill Keren.

"We didn't want to be just your normal breakfast place that does eggs and pancakes and bacon and stuff," added Brendan, his chef and son.

"I think if we made the same thing every day, it wouldn't be as exciting as it is to work here," said Tammy, Bill's wife.

At this small, sunny spot on Ocean Street, it is most certainly a family affair for the Keren's. Daughters Kate and Megan Elizabeth round out the restaurant family.

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The fun loving group has been frying, flipping, and fixing up creative breakfast combinations for as long as they can remember, making everything from Cinnamon Bun French Toast to pancakes spiked with Reese's peanut butter cups. There are over-the-top benedicts like the California served over a croissant with avocado, tomato and spinach; or the hearty Cowboy Benedict featuring pulled pork and eggs over a warm biscuit.

No matter what you decide on for your main meal, you need to try the Nacho Eggs, their version of a breakfast appetizer. The breakfast finger food features tortilla scoops filled with jalapeno cream cheese, salsa, scrambled eggs and cheese, for the ultimate way to kick off your meal.

"While you're waiting to get your main meal, you split them between a few people and they're really good," promised Brendan.

From there, order a Breakfast Bowl, a dish you'll find only at The Corner Cafe.

"We put our specialty home fries on the bottom of the bowl, and then we mix in scrambled eggs, and then a variety of other things," explained Bill. "It comes served with a warm flatbread so you can kind of scoop into them and get to a different layer every time you take a bite."

Each bowl starts with the most important item in The Corner Café kitchen: the Corner Fries.

"They're a little bit of everything," Tammy described. "They are potatoes. We mix in sour cream, cheddar cheese, cream of mushroom soup, little bit of butter, chopped onions and then they are oven baked, topped with corn flake crumbs."

From there, the options are endless. There's the Crab Cake Bowl, served with melted brie and drizzled with a spicy sauce; or the Reuben Bowl, featuring Corned beef hash, cream cheese, sauerkraut & Thousand Island. For a south of the border bowl, order the Mexican Seven Layer.

"The Mexican bowl is actually my favorite bowl," Brendan said. "It starts with the Corner Fries on the bottom, and get some black beans, and then we'll take scrambled eggs and mix in some sausage. Then it gets salsa and Mexican cheese. And when it comes out of the oven, we'll put a flatbread around the edges of it, and then it'll get avocado and a dollop of sour cream on top."

For customers, it truly is a jaw dropping way to start your day.

"It looks like a lot of food, but I'll tell you, every time a bowl comes back, there's nothing left in that bowl," Bill said.

The Kerens aren't afraid to go a little over the top with grilled cheese either. There's the Nacho Ordinary sandwich with jack cheese, jalapeno peppers, and toasted tortilla strips; and the Mickey D's, a sandwich with all of the taste of a fast food favorite.

"It's just cheddar cheese, sliced dill pickles, onions and Thousand Island dressing, and we grill it up on the flat top. And the reason we call it the Mickey D - I hope we don't get sued for this -is that it tastes exactly like McDonald's cheeseburger without the meat," explained Bill.

For something completely different, order the Blueberry Grilled Cheese French Toast.

"We take blueberry goat cheese and we'll spread that on a piece of sourdough bread. Two pieces of bacon on that and then top it with fontina cheese and another piece sourdough bread. And then we'll take that whole sandwich and dip it in French toast batter and grill it. And then once it comes off, we'll cut it in half - stacked on top of each other, drizzle it with pure maple syrup, and then we'll put fresh blueberries, strawberries and a little bit of powdered sugar on top," described Brendan. "It's one of the more creative kind of things we do on the menu, and it tastes great."

The Keren's will continue to wow their customers with creative fare, because there's nothing they'd rather do.

"We're foodies," Bill stated. "We love food and the thing that makes us the happiest is when we set out some food and we see someone truly excited about it and really enjoying it."

You can find the Corner Café at 2000 Ocean Street in Marshfield, and online at cornercafemarshfield.com.

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