Hobees, Sunnyvale
Hobees used to be our favorite place for breakfast when I first came here but it’s been a while since we have eaten here. We are on our way to Sunnyvale Farmers Market and decided to revisit an old haunt.
Nothing much seems to have changed. The greeter is the same one that has always been here and one of the servers I recognized as well.
At the weekends it opens at 8 and we arrived soon after so there were lots of empty tables. We were shown to a four seater booth in the window, which pleased us as Tom likes the bigger booths so he can read the newspaper comfortably. I noticed that the upholstery on the back of the booth had been ripped which didn’t look too great. Looking around, the place needs some work done as it is looking a bit run down.
The menu hasn’t changed either but they always have about five specials. Tom had coffee and I had their orange and cinnamon house tea. I do like it but it is a bit on the sweet side. Both coffee and tea is $1.90 with free refills. Tom ordered the weekend scramble for 9.95 with coffee cake (another of their specialalities). Me, well I always have oatmeal here because it is a bit different. It’s not steel cut unfortunately but there is an oatmeal bar where you help yourself to as much as you want for $4.75. What I particularly like are the choice of toppings – brown sugar, raisins, walnuts, sliced almonds, cranberries, shredded coconut, cinnamon and nutmeg. There are small pieces of coffee cake to sample as well. I did ask the server for some blueberries on the side for 50c. She told me they were frozen, so I asked if they were still frozen but I could tell my humor was lost on her when she asked if I wanted them warmed up.
I went straight up to the oatmeal bar – with luck I will be able to get a second helping in. The oatmeal was a bit runny but I’ve seen worse. The bowls are not very big but that’s OK as there is always seconds. I added cranberries, walnuts, coconut and cinnamon. The milk is in a bit jug on the side so of course I had some of that as well.
I had nearly finished my first bowl of oatmeal before Tom got his scramble but he was quite happy reading the paper. He informed me that there may not be a King salmon fishing season this year which is a terrible blow. One of our favorite meals is BBQed salmon and we look forward with anticipation to May each year when the King salmon season starts. The experts are forecasting that the numbers of salmon returning to the Sacramento River to spawn have dropped dramatically so to safeguard the numbers the fishing season is likely to be canceled.
I did my usual review of the surroundings. As I mentioned before, the place does need to be redecorated. There are quite a few artificial plants around and they all look rather sad. Each table though does have a small , real , plant in a Hobbees mug which is a nice touch. There are no pictures as such but there are a few old framed adverts for products like Waldorf apples, Aranci oranges and Morjon apples. There are also a couple of very small photos on the far wall but it was impossible to see what they were off. They do have a Kids Corner with a small table and two chairs and a box of toys. On the wall near the restrooms is a large noticeboard with a collection of photographs taken all over the world where customers are wearing Hobees T-shirts. I saw no adverts though for the T-shirts. Maybe you can buy them online.
I did go up for seconds of oatmeal though I didn’t have a full bowl the second time around.
And of course I did pay a trip to the restroom. Like the restaurant, they are in desperate need of refurbishment. They were clean and well equipped and the water was plenty hot enough but the partitions are battered and very rusty down the bottom. There was one picture in there but it wasn’t on the wall. Maybe it had been once upon a time, now it is just leaning against the wall. A nice vase of artificial flowers does brighten the place up a bit.
Our verdict on the food was mediocre. Tom said the scramble was OK, the coffee was weak and not very hot and the coffee cake was not up to their usual standard. As I mentioned before, the oatmeal was a little runny but the toppings were great. The blueberries were awful – soggy and tasteless. The tea was good though.
All in all, our visit was a little disappointing. But our trip to the Farmers Market was great. We bought some fresh sturgeon from the fish stall and some asparagus grown in the San Joaquin Delta. We also bought a bottle of Bistro Blend made by John Spenger – the very best balsamic vinegar we have ever found. Plus we spent 20 minutes sitting, watching the world go by and listening to the lady street musician who was wearing the most fantastic hat. It was a lovely sunny day which just made everything perfect.
March 10 2008 07:07 am | Breakfast Log
Sue on 14 Apr 2008 at 2:47 am #
oatmeal, oatmeal, oatmeal! Is this all you ever eat, Margaret?
Please describe this most desirable food – is it porridge?