A Very Fine Fiddle Indeed

By Flojo - January 08, 2013

We are always on the look-out for an awesome weekend brunch spot. This weekend we think we may have found our new favorite. Fiddlehead Fine Foods & Café is about as unpretentious as they come in a non-descript building. It may not be well known or easy to find, but the best thing about this place is everything you order off the short menu is A-MAZING!

We went there for brunch to celebrate Ro's birthday hoping it would be good, but not having any expectations. We got there right at 9 a.m. when it opened and highly recommend this strategy as the small café fills up very quickly. We were the first in line and although the menu is pretty short, we had a hard time deciding what to order because everything sounded so good. Ro went with the banana pancakes (they lived up to the Jack Johnson song and more)! FloJo being a huge biscuits and gravy fan ordered Fiddlehead's version anxious to see how they tasted and hoping this was a good choice. What we would later realize, is that everything is a good choice, you really can't go wrong with anything on this menu.

Fiddlehead has an expresso machine and makes their own chai. FloJo went for a chai latte and Ro had a vanilla latte. Both again, were excellent! The café also makes its own granola, which we plan to try on our next visit.

The decor is really simple, but fun. Colored stools at the bar in the front where you order. Most of the furniture seems to be reclaimed. For example the table we sat at was an old window or door frame with cool vintage metal chairs. Water and utensils were put on a counter for guests to self-serve. We loved the simple, clean feel of this place. Easy going yet everything was brightly colored, clean and the quality of the food was superb.

The banana pancakes were light, fluffy and topped with mango, strawberries, macadamia nuts and what tasted like a mango syrup. The candied bacon on the side is salty and an excellent counter-balance to the sweet. A better pancake you'd be hard pressed to find.

FloJo having tasted many a biscuit and gravy in her brunch lifetime has not tasted one like this. It shot to the very top of her list almost immediately. The biscuits were huge and fluffy (ended up taking half of it home). The gravy had big chunks of sausage that stood out in the smooth, silky sauce. We've never seen green included (spinach) nor tomatoes in this dish before, but liked the healthy touch in a famously not so healthy breakfast dish.

Although the menu is trim, there are still several other dishes for us to check out including the salmon potato cakes, BLT biscuit, cheesy grits and the pork hash. Here it's not about quantity, but quality. Besides brunch, they also serve a weekday lunch if you happen to be in the West Seattle Alaska Junction area. They have a bakery case filled with sweets and goodies baked in house as well.

Live Life with Flavor and Fun!

Fiddlehead Fine Foods & Café
4310 SW Oregon St
(between S 44th Ave & S California Ave)
West Seattle, WA 98116
(206) 708-7891
Hours: Tue-Sun 9 am-2:30 pm

Price Range: $$ ($10-$20/pp)