Ann and Fran’s Kitchen

One of my first tasks when we got to the Cape was to scour the Internet in search of good places to eat.  As I was looking through reviews of restaurants online, I kept hearing about Ann and Fran’s.  Even reviews for other restaurants mentioned it, and everyone praised their Lobster Benedict.  Since this combined two of my greatest loves, lobster and Benedict, I knew I had to get it!

We arrived at the restaurant at about 10 in the morning after walking off the previous night’s dinner at Chapin’s.  I can see why this place fills up on weekends; there were only ten tables in the entire place (plus a bar with a few more seats).  Fortunately, we came on a weekday, so less than half the tables were full.  Despite the fact that we were sitting almost on top of our neighbors, the place was pretty quiet.  I ordered the Lobster Benedict, of course, and Dan had the blueberry pancakes.  We sat by the front window and watched the cars go by on the main road while we waited for our meals to come.  Spoiler alert: the food was so good that we decided to go back.

To be fair, Dan’s pancakes were just okay.  He finished them, but he seemed much more excited about my meal.  The Lobster Benedict, on the other hand, was amazing. 

Note: Dan is sad about his breakfast choice

Where should I begin to describe the dish?  Let’s start with the hash browns, which were crispy and hot, perfectly seasoned, and the perfect tool to mop up leftover hollandaise.  Of course, most of the saucy goodness got soaked up by the extra-large thin English muffin, which was drowning in the stuff by the end of the meal. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be called Lobster Benedict if there wasn’t some lobster in the mix, and Ann and Fran’s certainly doesn’t skimp in that department.  They piled the lobster high on top of the muffin, with a little extra claw meat sprinkled on top of the hollandaise just to remind  you what you were eating.  As you might expect, it was good lobster, too, with all of the briny, buttery goodness and none of the frozen, slightly fishy taste you get when you eat it in Denver.  I guess being a couple thousand miles closer to the lobster homeland does make a difference.  Dan’s fork kept crossing over the edge of my plate and sneaking away with some pink deliciousness. 

The lobster was definitely the star of the show, but the eggs certainly didn’t detract from the dish.  They were poached with a very runny yolk that combined with the hollandaise to give the dish a little extra juice.  And of course, the hollandaise was buttery and decadent, with just enough lemon to keep it from being too heavy.  As I mentioned before, it soaked into the English muffin and seasoned the potatoes.

The dish’s one drawback (if you could call it that), was its size.  It was huge!  When I finished the last bite and finally pushed back from the table, I was completely stuffed. Looking back, I don’t know how I finished it (Dan did help a little).   When we went back, we decided to split one, which was a great decision.  I got all the deliciousness but only half the calories!