On Saturday, I was down in South Beach celebrating with a soon to be bride for her bachelorette party, and by the end of the night, I ended up one very hungry girl. With only a little hummus as my dinner, and the two burritos I had for lunch being just a faint memory by the wee hours, I was absolutely famished. Literally, my stomach hurt from hunger! I ended up at the 24 hour pharmacy picking up some Triscuits and raw nuts to eat before bed. Sunday morning I woke up with a sense of purpose (and more hunger!); I was going to go to Darbster for Sunday brunch!

the bride to be!

See, I’ve been meaning to try Darbster’s brunch for EVER, but we never get out of bed early enough to get there before 2pm. I know, Thomas & I sleep like adolescents. That’s the beauty of having cats for children. They just let us do whatever we want. ; ) So being that I had no control over my wake up time, and that I was already dressed and in a car by noon, I figured this was the best chance I’d get, and I made the journey north. Here is my trek on a map, just so you realize how dedicated I was:

I had already decided before I got there that I was going to order at least 2 items since I may never be up that early on a Sunday again. I knew I wanted french toast or pancakes, and a more savory dish too. When I told the waitress I was going to order two things she said, “I’m not judging”. Which was actually really great, because I remember the first time I went there and ordered a bunch of food, the waitress (she wasn’t there for too long) kept telling me that I was ordering too much food. (Really?!) Aside from the one food phobic girl that waited on me that first time, I’ve had nothing but excellent service from super warm hearted people at Darbster, and that always makes the experience twice as nice.

AM Quesadilla: hash brown, eggs, cheddar, salsa $10.00

So for my savory dish, I chose the AM Quesadilla. It was stuffed with tofu scramble, large cut home fries, mushrooms (not in the description, but at least fungi and I are starting to be friends now, so it was OK.) and just a hint of queso (Daiya cheddar), contrary to what you might expect. It came drizzled with vegan sour cream and presented with a nice dollop of guacamole and a side of salsa. I am the type of person that needs ketchup and hot sauce to make eggy dishes feel complete, but I refrained in order to get the flavor of the dish. Honestly, it wasn’t a really fair taste test though, because I had already eaten half of the yummiest vegan french toast I’ve had to date… I had a few more bites and then proceeded to annihilate said toast. I did however, take it home and eat it for dinner properly with ketchup and hot sauce. ; )

Challah French Toast: cinnamon and nut crusted with maple syrup, fruit, whipped cream and sausages $10.00

Hi, this is vegan brunch heaven on a plate! This hits on SO MANY LEVELS! The french toast was perfect… toasty edges and a slight mush in the middle. Well flavored and topped with rice whip and sweet, sliced strawberries. It turns out I really didn’t need a savory dish to balance out my meal because it came with two plump, delicious veggie sausages that I proceeded to cut up into little pieces so that they could be a part of every amazing bite. The fruit salad was cut up into teeny little pieces that were bursting with flavor. This plate is masterful and enough to make even this dedicated weekend slumberer re-think her ways (at least occasionally!). I have a feeling I will be craving this fairly often! AWESOME.

Darbster is open for Brunch on Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm. Do yourself a favor and GO! Oh yah, and there’s live music on the deck. The dude even played Norwegian Wood (Beatles) which made my breakfast [in my Abbey Road t-shirt] that much better. ; )