Venture beyond E.L. for best breakfast
Going out for breakfast is always a great way to start a weekend day. I traveled a little out of my East Lansing comfort zone for the ultimate weekend comfort food — a bacon and eggs breakfast at The Golden Harvest, 1625 Turner St., in Lansing. And after my experience there, I’ll drive the extra couple miles west on Grand River Avenue to hit up this Lansing breakfast nook instead of confining myself to East Lansing.
My friend Matt Tugender and I set out on this journey for Golden Harvest and were pleased that the restaurant screamed local diner. We were excited to enter, only to have to drive back down Turner Street to get to an ATM — Golden Harvest accepts cash only. And be sure to go early if you go, as Golden Harvest is only open until 2:30 p.m., as per their Web site at www.myspace.com/golden_harvest.
After visiting the nearby Speedway gas station, Matt and I found a seat in Golden Harvest instead of opting for the outdoor seating. I ordered the Mother Trucker — two eggs, hash browns, choice of meat (I chose bacon), toast and biscuits with sausage gravy — while Matt ordered the Hungry Man, which has everything from the Mother Trucker but substitutes two hotcakes for the biscuits. I became anxious right away, as I noticed employees from nearby competitor Fleetwood Diner, 2211 S. Cedar St., were waiting for food at Golden Harvest.
We had to wait a while, but this was expected considering the menu made it explicitly clear that the restaurant was understaffed and overworked. Luckily, though, the restaurant could double as a museum of miscellaneous memorabilia, ranging from 1950s advertising posters to original paper mache art. It was enough to keep us entertained, as we always found something interesting to steal our attention for a minute.
We were taken aback when the food arrived. Each of Matt’s two pancakes, which came out at the same time as my biscuits and gravy, were about the size of Verne Troyer but thick and fluffy at the same time. My biscuits drowned in a flood of sausage gravy, but it was a soothing sort of gravy — not the thick, heavy, almost molasses-type substance that an IHOP or Denny’s would serve. It honestly was the best sausage gravy I’ve had in my life.
Then came the rest of our breakfast, although it was hard to believe by this point that enough people could finish these meals to warrant keeping all this food on the menu for one order.
I was pleased to see the hash browns I had asked for well-done indeed came well-done, and with a side of sriracha — a garlic, chili-based sauce — to add spice. It would be a bad idea, though, to use too much sriracha, as it packs more of a punch than Tabasco or Frank’s Red Hot Sauce.
The eggs were runny, which made the toast come in handy to soak up all the yolk. The one thing I really enjoyed about the eggs, too, is that Golden Harvest purchases its ingredients from local farmers, which ensures freshness and a boost to the local economy. It makes you feel good about yourself to help the state’s commerce after consuming a meal that would make your cardiologist’s heart stop.
And speaking of heart problems, when Golden Harvest says you get bacon with your meal, you definitely get bacon. We each were served about five strips of bacon with our meals, which is a far cry from what you might get at the standard breakfast place. My bacon was a little more well-done than I would have preferred, but it was still tasty nonetheless.
When all was said and done, both of us had finished our meal — how, I am still not sure. But it was easily the best breakfast I’ve had in the East Lansing area, and the only thing I’m disappointed with is it took me three years of college to finally try Golden Harvest.
Luckily, though, we had a little while to let our food digest on the short drive back to East Lansing. But Golden Harvest is proof that taking Grand River Avenue west of Harrison Road can provide diners with a whole different array of options. And the amazing food that awaits at the end of the trip — especially with Golden Harvest — will make that drive seem even shorter.
The opinions expressed above are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the State News.