This weekend was particularly special to my family and I. Ever since my son was born, my husband has vowed that we would have a real Christmas tree every year. For the last three Christmases we have had just that! My parents also like to have a real Christmas tree on occasion and therefore, we have made a tradition of driving into the country, eating breakfast, and buying our Christmas trees. This year, our plans had to change a bit due to the bad weather. Unfortunately, we were pounded by freezing rain making driving conditions nearly impossible so we chose to stay local for our traditional breakfast and tree buying. We chose to have our breakfast at The Country Cottage!
The atmosphere at The Country Cottage
Walking up to the Country Cottage, it isn’t really much to look at. Simple white exterior but, it does have a covered entrance to the front door which was much appreciated by my family and me, trying to escape the bad weather.
Once inside, we were greeted as many diner staff greet their patrons, and told us to “sit anywhere”. The five of us chose a table in the corner of the main dining room which seemed large enough for all of us. The dining room is clean, well-lit and largely decorated in a country, piggy theme! I have seen similar themes in other restaurants and diners and they can be overwhelming, and frankly quite juvenile. However, the Country Cottage did a nice job of keeping the pigs relevant and subtle.
The Country Cottage felt warm and inviting from the inside, out. The waitresses were dressed professionally, kind, and served us in a timely manner.
The food at The Country Cottage
My parents both ordered the same menu item. It’s called The Skillet! It was a breakfast bowl consisting of a large open-faced omelet covered with home fries, cheese, sausage, and sausage gravy. They added a homemade biscuit to the side, as well. Both of them greatly enjoyed their meal and said it was “stick to your ribs” filling! Neither of my parents could eat more than half of their breakfast bowl and decided to box it up for leftovers!
I ordered the eggs benedict. The eggs were perfectly poached and the hollandaise sauce was deliciously creamy and seasoned very well! The ham slices were Canadian bacon which is the proper way to make eggs benedict. Unfortunately, my English muffin did not stand up to the weight of the sauce or egg yolk. It became quite soggy very quickly. It also came with a side of hash browns which were perfectly cooked! They were golden brown, crispy and flavorful. I added a side of bacon because, well, it’s bacon! I was disappointed with the sizes of the bacon strips and the “doneness”. However, they were not nearly the worst bacon strips that I have ever had and they did have a nice flavor to them! I too needed a to-go box.
My husband and son shared a plate of chocolate chip pancakes. These pancakes were nearly as big as the plate! The pancakes came with a side of bacon, toast and home fries. My son gobbled up his part of the shared breakfast and my husband required a to-go box about halfway through his meal, just like the rest of us.
My final recommendation
Overall, the atmosphere is welcoming and the service is good. The food is served in extra-large portions and is overall, quite tasty! The negatives of this restaurant include their prices as they are a tad higher than normal diner food cost and the location is further than I would typically go for breakfast.
4072 Beach Ridge Rd
14120 North Tonawanda, New York
