single serving breakfast sandwich: the grove in soma....this won't take long

The Grove, the one in SOMA near Yerba Buena (not the one in Hayes Valley or on Fillmore) is a place I've been to many a time and have quite enjoyed several things there. Including this and also this. Plus they have a salad with chicken and bleu cheese I quite like. The space itself is also rather fun and funky. I will say, in the last couple years, they've changed up a few things like doing away with wifi and raising their prices, that a just a tad irksome. Still, I've continued to patronize them as they are an easy going option when you want something quick and mostly healthy. Though I do suggest to avoid them during lunch hours M-F, can get hectic.

While I'd not been there too early in the morning, they serve breakfast/brunch too, because, well, San Francisco. Since I'd not done the morn thing, I'd never really looked at that portion of their menu (even though you can get it all day). Usually I'm just blinded by the cakes and enormous cookies in the showcase, because, well, I'm me. But being on the breakfast sandwich run around town, I've looked more closely and figured, they have one, I may as well give it a try.

Scrambled eggs, applewood smoked bacon (seems there is no other kind! You could also get ham), sharp cheddar cheese, arugula and mayo on a toasted brioche bun. All for the price of $9.25! Yikes! Once you add tax, suddenly it is a $10 sandwich, and a breakfast one at that. By now, we all know how I feel about this kind of pricing--and I don't care how organic or sustainable your eggs are, it shouldn't cost this much unless it is the size of a baby's head. A really big babies head. Not even a bite of it and it already has a knock against it.

This of course, is where I just sigh and reluctantly fork over the cash and hope it all won't crash even further. Sadly, I'll tell you know, my hopes were crushed pretty quickly.

**cross cut of The Grove breakfast sandwich**

Even though they weren't particularly busy on this Wednesday morning, it took long than expected to get it--somewhere between 15-20 minutes. Not sure what was going on in the kitchen, but that is a long time for a morning grab and go crowd. Size wise, it was more palm of my hand than two-hander (the pics are in extreme close-up). You do at least, get an ample portion of bacon, or maybe it just looked that way because it was a small sandwich for $10! Did I mention that already?

Bacon was more chewy than crisp, but I could taste it. The eggs were hot, which was nice. It helped melt the cheese, a sharp cheddar, though, had it not been listed in the description, I'd never have known it was there. And hey, look, there are a couple strands of arugula. I can't forget it was also loaded with mayo, a condiment I like, but not quite in this much excess. Oh, seems there was some tomato on it too. Along with the mayo, these were two ingredients not listed in the menu description. Basically what you are getting here is a BLT on a bun add egg and cheese. For $10!!

Sorry, I know I keep harping on the price, but this has so far been the priciest breakfast I've had. Yes, the one at Little Skillet was a buck more, but it was huge AND came with a bowl of fruit on the side. It's like New York deli pricing for tourists, except the NY deli version is twice the size of this one.

In the grand scheme of things, it isn't like it's the worst breakfast sandwich I've had, that still belongs to this one. It is not like it tastes anything other than what it is--eggs, bacon and cheese on bread with a little too much mayo. I guess I just figured for the price, it would be something more and it wasn't. But hey, if you want a basic breakfast small bite and don't mind the cost, then this will work fine. For me, I'll skip it as I know I can get a less pricey and better tasting one here. And theirs comes with an apple! And butter!