Friday, we came across one of those unexpected places that you want to tell everyone about…the Oak St Cafe in the Bloom Bus Terminal at 10 Oak St Taunton. I say “in” because you must enter the terminal to find this place. It’s kinda neat “discovering” such a great restaurant where you wouldn’t expect it to be. It’s clean and noisy and had old style Formica on the tables (which had the exact pattern that was on the kitchen table where I grew up) and lots of great sounding specials which means we will most definitely have to go back to try and see if they’re as good as the breakfast we had this morning. (Long sentence!) Diane, our waitress, was prompt and patient with us as we took a long time to decide to get what we usually order. And if you haven’t caught on to our eating habits by now you HAVEN’T BEEN READING OUR BLOG! So, my home fries were lightly spiced and nicely cooked, as was the sausage. And the coffee was good and refilled as frequently as we wished. An added bonus, for me, was that the coffee was served piping hot. I like hot beverages to be hot. Sounds obvious but it seems most places err on the side of litigation and set there hot plates at a lower setting out of fear. Just speculating here. Anyway, this morning was a truly enjoyable experience for us. Definitely 3 1/2 cups from me.
I grew up less than a mile from here, before this became Bloom’s Bus Terminal, and, like Mike, had no idea that there was even a restaurant inside. Mike thinks that the restaurant was the original building and they simply built the terminal around it, but I don’t think so. The word “comfortable” is a great word to describe how I felt at the Oak St. Café. Great atmosphere, lots of chatter but it was very easy to talk to each other. Diane was friendly and was patient with me as I took my time and finally decided on one of the specials, Polish omelet with a hash brown patty, and coffee. Since I didn’t have the home fries, I skewered a few of Mike’s before he does what he does to his “eggs over easy, home fries, sausage, no toast” . ( You really don’t want to see a picture of what he does!) The potatoes were buttery and tasty, not overly spiced. I was very pleased with my omelet, which had kielbasa in nice size pieces, not chopped up. The kielbasa, green peppers, and onions were well distributed throughout and not just in the center. It was pleasant to be given a choice of home fries or hash browns, as well as asking if I wanted American or Cheddar cheese. The coffee was very good, and plentiful. I agree with Mike that we will need to make a second visit here to try something different. ( Mike that means TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT, not just SAY you are going to.) Gotta give Oak St. Café top score of 3 ½ cups.