Molly Brown's Country Cafe

When you live in an area that's flooded with country cafes, it's often difficult to get the courage to try a new spot for breakfast once you've found a cafe that you enjoy. It's often very difficult for country cafe's to separate themselves from the herd, considering that just about all of them serve the same food (scramblers, biscuits, gravy etc....). However, when you see a breakfast spot that's parking lot is constantly full, it's safe to say it's usually full for a reason. Pulling into the parking lot of Molly Brown's, the place looks like somewhat of a dive. It shares the parking lot with a sketchy hotel, and looks more like a shoebox than a restaurant. As you walk in you'll notice a lot of the cliche country kitchen items such as tacky wallpaper, old antique's, and a wall of daily specials. If you ask any of the waitresses what's good to order, they will all recommend the "Chicken Fried Chicken" plate. I ordered the recommended dish with a bit of negativity, I felt that any restaurant could dump gravy over a chicken strip and call it "special". When I received my food i was very surprised at the large fried boneless/skinless breast, huge pile of hash browns, and perfectly cooked eggs. The first thing I did was get a spoon and taste the gravy that flooded the plate beginning at the top of the chicken breast. The gravy had a smooth taste, with a hint of a sausage aftertaste, and the consistency was smooth with no lumps. Once I cut into the chicken I quickly noticed that the cut of meat was perfectly fried with a moist and juicy center. The chicken tasted like it had been soaked in butter-milk before being fried, this is a GOOD thing. The frying batter was a thin batter similar to that of a batter you would find at a county fair (minus the grease and thickness). The combination of the above items makes for an amazing breakfast dish that is far from my original thought of a chicken strip smothered in gravy. The eggs were cooked perfect and the hash browns had a perfect top crust without any burnt spots. The high desert hosts two Molly Brown locations and the waitresses told me that the food is cooked exactly the same at both locations. If you're near any of the two locations, I highly suggest you ditch your normal breakfast spot and let Molly Browns have a shot at your business. My entire dish with Iced Tea ended at just over $8, and the portion was enough to keep me full for the rest of the day. Molly Browns locations: 15775 Mojave Drive and 13778 Hesperia Road, both in Victorville.