Cheat Day at Broder and Over the Top

While I try to stay strict with my diet on weekdays, I let myself go wild with gluttony on Saturdays. Not only does a Cheat Day help you stay mentally focused throughout the rest of the week, but it is said that it keeps your metabolism up. Last weekend, I celebrated Cheat Day like it was my birthday. First, we had Scandinavian breakfast at Broder. For dinner, I finally got my bison burger from Over the Top.

Danish pancakes at Broder.

Breakfast at Broder

Saturday, I woke up earlier than I normally would on a Saturday… because I wanted breakfast. Like a good nom-nom-nommer, I had planned on waking up early for this trip to Broder. The one downside of Portland’s infamous breakfast scene is that, at any decent place on a weekend, there’s always a 40-minute wait in line. Not this time, I swore. I had less than 24 hours of gluttony to enjoy and I wasn’t going to let any of it get wasted standing in line.

So, this time, we arrived at Broder at SE 25th and Clinton, minutes before it was open; there were already a few people in line but we were seated immediately.

Waiting outside Broder. It was freezing cold!

This place is really small so it was a good thing we had arrived early. It got filled pretty fast and I’m sure it didn’t take long for a line to form out the door.

We had heard about the cute presentation of the dishes here and the little creamer for the coffee seemed like an intro to what was to come.

We ordered a platter of Danish pancakes to accompany our meal and they brought it early as an appetizer. I love the server for suggesting that. I love it when servers aren’t obnoxiously enthusiastic but are still pleasant and easy to interact with.

They served the Danish pancakes with apple sauce and lemon coulis. I had to pause to take pictures but my hands were almost shaking because I wanted to tear into these pancakes. I was surprised by how small they were because they look about the size of tennis balls in photos. In truth, they’re closer to the size of golf balls, maybe slightly bigger.

They were so light and fluffy! They were lighter and fluffier than any pancake I had ever tasted. The lemon coulis and apple sauce really added to the taste.

And then… the rest of breakfast arrived.

My god, they were not kidding about the presentation here. I wanted to take everything home – not just the food but the platters and skillets, too.

Baked scramble with Danish bleu cheese, Applewood smoked bacon and roasted tomatoes...

Like many local Portland restaurants, they use only cage-free eggs and hormone-free, antibiotic-free meat.

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Okay, now I regret waking up late every morning in Copenhagen. I never got to see breakfast like this in Denmark because I was always up so late! I’m so glad Portland has a place like this. I kept thinking how great it’d be to bring Chi there sometime. I really do hope she fulfills her promise of visiting Portland in the summer!

Another view of the baked scramble.

The egg was a bit stiffer and drier than I would like scrambled eggs to be – I like my morning eggs wet or runny – but I did appreciate that they were baked, not fried. The potato pancake was so perfect. I didn’t even want ketchup or any topping on it because it was seasoned perfectly. I didn’t want anything getting in my way of enjoying its flavor and soft chewy texture.

Boyfriend's pytt i panna (swedish hash) with baked eggs on top.

I was jealous of his runny egg yolk. I took a bit of the hash mixed with the yolk and it was so perfect. I am getting this next time!

I’m drooling as I type this out. It looks like I’ll be going back soon!

Dinner at Over the Top

Even though we had breakfast pretty early, we ended up skipping lunch because we were so full well until the afternoon. Plus, I wanted to make room for my ultimate Cheat Day goal. Bison burger at Over the Top. I had been looking forward to this since the previous cheat day. That’s right; this matter was of utmost importance that I actually planned it a week in advance.

Food cart pods have been popping up everywhere lately. Huge lots with food carts and covered dining areas are all over the place now. I almost feel like it’s getting out of hand but if this is helping the local economy, then I won’t complain. Besides, this just means there are lots more food for me to discover!

Thought you'd enjoy the name of this sandwich cart.

Over the Top is located at the A la Cart pod on SE 50th and Ivon, a pod I hadn’t seen before. I’m looking forward to visiting this place again soon because I spotted a fondue cart and that got me pretty excited. Even though it was brutally cold outside, one can stay warm in the large tent in the middle. They also offer free wi-fi here.

They told me to wait inside for my burger. What service! That's me gazing hungrily at the food carts.

Enough about the pod, though. I want to talk about the food!!

Over the Top stands apart from the usual burger joint because their theme is wild game, like elk and emu. Emu burgers?! That’s on the top of my to-try list.

I was really craving a savory burger with bacon, so I ordered a bison burger. Their heaters weren’t on that day, so we took the food home.

Crisp, scrumptious apple slaw with bleu cheese.

Bison burger with Nueskes bacon, feta cheese, baby spinach, tomato and pesto veganaise.

O my god. I had come here with high expectations AND THEY. WERE. MET. They don’t ask you how you like your meat cooked BECAUSE THEY DO IT PERFECTLY. I CANNOT STOP TYPING IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE IT IS THAT GOOD SO JOYOUSLY WONDERFULLY GOOD.

Don't you wish your face was RIGHT HERE?!

I can’t wait to go back. I want to try every single kind of meat at this place.

Man, I love Cheat Day.

Related Posts:

• Food Cart Tour: Waffle Window on SE 36th and Hawthorne.
• Food Cart Tour: Ugarit Mediterranean Meals (SW 10th and Alder) and the Big Egg (N. Mississippi)
• No Better Way to Spend a Birthday: Dinner at EaT Oyster Bar and a night at the coast
• Snowboarding the Meadows on New Year’s Day
• Food Cart Tour: Kruo Bangkok (SW 4th and Hall), Sumarai Bento (SW 9/10th and Alder)