Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010

It takes a village

The Village Café

Setting the Table

A comfortable corner spot, The Village Cafe is my newly discovered culinary treasure. It's practically hidden behind the convenience store that clogs up the corner of Surfside Drive and U.S. 17 Business in Surfside Beach. But the little village of locals along the Drive knows all too well the charm and quality of The Village.

Pull up a chair or slide into a booth for breakfast or lunch in this quiet dining room, and you'll feel like you're sitting in someone's cozy home sweet home, complete with sunny walls and cute wall hangings, ruffled curtains and a tiny open kitchen where all the menu goodies are made from scratch. We sat at a cocoa-colored booth and ordered a Diet Coke and sweet tea ($1.25 each).

Down the Hatch

Daily specials are regularly offered in this comfort food haven. We arrived when breakfast, brunch and lunch merged (but breakfast items are served here all day) in time and the cafe's Chipped Beef on Toast was listed on the special board.

After our bubbly server announced the quiche special, I was brunched. A hunk of vegetable quiche, baked with mushrooms, spinach, sweet red peppers and cheese, arrived with my choice of two sides: fresh fruit and pasta salad ($5.95). Homemade never tasted so good. And I found out later, ingredients, including the red peppers, are often plucked from the staff's local gardens. Sustainable living at its finest. The pasta salad spirals were sauced with vinaigrette perfectly and the fresh fruit medley was a beautiful presentation of watermelon triangles, banana slices, blueberries and strawberries.

Mom leaned more on the lunch side of the specials, choosing the shrimp salad paired with her two sides: a fresh garden salad and fruit ($6.95). I stabbed at one of her plump shrimp, and the flavors and Old Bay seasoning were irresistible. She was quite pleased with how delicious and healthy her lunch selection turned out to be. Portions were aplenty, but just the right amount that was called for on our lunch date on that day.

It was one of those visits that had me looking ahead to see what I'd order the next time I was in the neighborhood. The Hot Lunch Plates are an unbeatable bargain at $5.95. Choose from pork chops, roast turkey and stuffing, fried chicken, grilled chicken breast, meat loaf, chicken tenders, fish & chips, open-faced turkey or roast beef sandwich, hamburger steak and country fried steak, plus two sides and a chef's dessert.

Eat your heart out, without eating too much into your budget. The café's maxim, after all, is: "Not pricey. Not fancy. Just good food."

Check, Please

That's a humble adage, but one that works at The Village Café - and one that impressed the socks off my palate. I'm looking at my calendar right now to see when I'll be passing by Surfside Drive next to order the Chipped Beef on Toast for breakfast.

The Village Cafe is at 828 Surfside Drive, Surfside Beach. Hours are 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For additional information or delivery (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), call 477-8029.