Restaurant Review:

While South Coast Plaza has more than enough places for lunch and dinner, breakfast seems to be lagging a bit for early morning shoppers.

One exception to this is the Corner Bakery near the Bloomingdale’s in the mall.

Though the restaurant is known more for lunch, and all my meals there prior to this were in the afternoon, the breakfast menu is very formidable.

There are 12 items on the breakfast menu, and there is enough variety that just about anyone can find something they can eat.

The scramblers are the biggest items on the menu. There are three of them; the Farmer’s, All American and Anaheim scramblers.

Of the three, I would go with the Anaheim. The Farmer’s has more vegetables, with red and green bell peppers, mushrooms and red onions, but the Anaheim uses applewood smoked bacon with the eggs. Tomatoes, green onions, cheddar cheese and avocados are also added.

A perfect menu item for anyone with a sweet tooth is the French toast, though for me it was a bit too sweet. Cinnamon raisin bread is baked in vanilla French custard and sprinkled with powdered sugar. If that wasn’t enough fructose, it is served with homemade vanilla syrup.

The same sourdough bread the restaurant uses for many of its sandwiches is used for its two breakfast panini. The smoked bacon and cheddar cheese panini has scrambled eggs with the applewood bacon and cheese that are pressed on the grilled bread. The ham and cheddar panini has smoked ham instead of bacon.

The best sandwich, though, is the commuter croissant. A croissant is stuffed with scrambled eggs, applewood bacon, tomatoes and cheddar cheese. I liked the flavor of the sandwich, and I didn’t have to struggle with all the sourdough bread of the other two sandwiches.

In the fruits and grains section, I liked the Swiss oatmeal. The cold dish was like cereal with green apples, bananas, dried cranberries, yogurt and milk. It was an unusual entrée, but one I have ordered more than once.

The good part about the restaurant is that if you desire lunch items, they can provide them, which I like because their sandwiches are some of my favorites.

The Bavarian is one I really recommend. The sandwich comes with the choice of smoked ham or smoked turkey. The bread is the bakery’s own pretzel baguette, which has a sourdough taste to it with a slight sprinkling of sea salt. Inside the sandwich are red onions, plum tomatoes, Havarti cheese and a stone-ground mustard-mayonnaise spread, which is used very judiciously.

The Bavarian is one of eight specialty sandwiches, and each one intrigues me in one way or another. I also liked the turkey Frisco. The combination of turkey with artichokes, spinach, provolone and sun-dried tomatoes with a pesto mayonnaise and the distinctive ingredients worked quite well together.

Of the five paninis, I like the chicken pomodori. The café’s signature sandwich has sliced chicken breast, basil and spinach, oven-roasted tomatoes, provolone cheese and a pesto mayonnaise on grilled sourdough bread.

The club panino is a close second. Hickory smoked turkey breast is combined with applewood smoked bacon, white cheddar cheese and plum tomatoes on sourdough country bread.

The salads and soups are just as inventive. The Santa Fe ranch has roasted chicken, corn and tomato salsa and cheddar cheese tossed with iceberg and romaine lettuce and ranch dressing. Tortilla strips are sprinkled on top.

One item I get when I don’t want a whole sandwich is the corner combo, which features half a sandwich or panini and a choice of Caesar salad, mixed green salad or a cup of soup.

If you order a sandwich, it comes with potato chips, which I painfully forgo, opting for baby carrots instead.

One perk for me is the café serves caffeine-free diet Coke, as I try and limit the stimulant whenever possible.

The restaurant has a nice mix of items that can be eaten at both breakfast and lunch. Some of the breakfast items are available in the afternoon. I liked that I could eat breakfast later and lunch items earlier. This is a perfect, quick stop that can be made when running around South Coast Plaza.

Corner Bakery Café

ADDRESS: 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa

PHONE: (714) 966-2404

WEBSITE: www.cornerbakery.com

CUISINE: Breakfast and lunch

SPECIALTY DISH: One of three breakfast scramblers

ALCOHOL SERVED: None

ENTRÉE PRICE RANGE: $5.29 to $7.29

FAMILY FRIENDLY: Yes, multi-item menu and activity book

CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED: American Express, Discover, Visa and MasterCard

RATING: ***

JOHN REGER reviews local restaurants and may be contacted at [email protected] or P.O. Box 2984, Seal Beach, CA 90740.