Monday, May 16, 2011

Busick Court

(Second Review -- July 2011)

Busick Court, located on Court Street in downtown Salem (just off Commercial Street), is a popular eatery serving generous, delicious meals for breakfast and lunch (and brunch on Sunday).


I had been here once before for lunch. I had the cajun chicken salad here a couple of years ago, and I really enjoyed it. The cajun spices gave the chicken a nice flavor, but did not overpower the bird. A side of honey mustard dressing made the meal extra enjoyable. Their homestyle bread is also amazing. It was toasted well and a perfect complex carb accompaniment to all the veggies and protein on my plate.

Specials on 5/16/11
But today (May 16), it was all about breakfast. I took a good friend out to lunch to celebrate her graduation from law school, and I felt it was a great gesture to pay for her meal. She got the chicken taco salad, an excellent choice (really, I don't think there are any bad choices here....):

Chicken Taco Salad
Now THAT is a taco salad. That was a pretty large salad, complete with the sour cream, salsa, and mound of tortilla chips. She told me afterward that the salad was awesome. I'm sure that will cover her next 2-3 meals as well.

As for me, I wanted to try a breakfast with the restaurant's name affixed to it. Why? Because it must be good if the dish takes the name of the place -- at least I would hope so. Meet the "Busick" omelet -- and it comes with a side of hollandaise sauce and with one buttermilk pancake (other options were: (1) potatoes and toast or (2) one biscuit and gravy):


Busick omelet (chicken inside); side of hollandaise sauce
A very big pancake...damn
The Busick is a three-egg omelet with cheese, spinach, onions, mushrooms, and a choice of meat (I went with chicken). The pancake is just massive. It may not be the size of Mac 24/7 or Stepping Stone Cafe, but man it's still huge! I was expecting some smaller side pancake with the meal, but nope, Busick Court goes over the top with a glorious pancake of awesomeness.

The omelet was excellent, probably one of the better omelets I've had. The eggs were perfectly cooked. The cheese, veggies, and meat formed a nice juicy, gooey middle. The hollandaise was an exquisite, warm sauce that complemented the omelet. It also did not overpower any of the omelet's flavors. Because I wanted some heat, I put some hot sauce and chipotle tabasco on my omelet afterward. I wanted to save half for later, but man, I just couldn't stop eating that omelet. It was delicious all the way to the last bite.

The pancake was much easier to stop halfway through -- because I was already full from that omelet. Again, a perfectly cooked pancake. Golden brown on the outside and still fluffy in the middle. I tried the pancake with some apple butter, and that was just heaven on a plate. The fruitiness and spices from the apple butter really made each bite blissful. See? You don't need maple syrup to enjoy a pancake. (Yes, Busick Court provided syrup, I just didn't use it)

And the price for my meal? 8.50 -- and my order was a HALF order folks. I'm so happy I didn't get the full order. Or maybe I should have so I could have taken more of this great meal home and eaten it later. Bottom line: Busick Court has amazing food at bargain prices. You can't beat that.

I did have a couple of nitpicking criticisms. First, the service was a tad slow. Sure, the place was busy for lunch, but I feel the servers could have checked up on us just a little faster. I will say the food was worth the wait. But second, I detected some smoked salmon accidentally put into my omelet; it's not part of what's traditionally in the Busick. I still ate it (because smoked salmon is delicious). But what if the person ordering the Busick did not like smoked salmon? That would definitely take away from the customer experience. Again, these are just minor errors, in my book.

Overall, I have to say Busick Court knocked one completely out of the park. Circle the bases once, twice, heck, circle it a hundred times. You have at least two more customers for a very long time.

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