Steve B.
Yelp
After a poor experience somewhere else recently, I needed a breakfast food redemption and headed to Whistle Stop Sunday morning.
I was NOT disappointed and FULLY redeemed!
My only complaint, and this is minor, of Whistle Stop breakfast is that they have a fairly limited menu compared to most breakfast places. I feel like it used to be larger, but maybe they decided to stick to what they do best, and it pays off!
We got seated right away despite being busy at 10am on a Sunday, and while it was sunny, it was a bit chilly for outdoor seating, but it was nice that it was offered and clean, and lots of people were taking advantage of it.
Our host was very nice and our server was very pleasant and smiling. The expeditor remembered everything except the pancake, but they apologized profusely for the wait on that, which wasn't a big deal.
Onto the food:
I got the meat lovers scramble, with hash browns, sourdough toast and a single pancake for my wife and I to share. I've had a similar order to this at a lot of breakfast places, but Whistle Stop just does it better.
First of all, it came out FAST! Like (to borrow a phrase), freaky fast!
The eggs were scrambled perfectly (I don't like too much moisture in my eggs) with a lot of really top quality meat and cheese! I like salsa on my eggs and I'm still amazed how many breakfast places use jarred salsa instead of making their own fresh. Not WS! They make a great fresh salsa with black beans and corn in it and give you a lot of it! It was fantastic!
The toast was perfectly cooked and buttered.
The pancake was large and fluffy, and tasted pretty good on its own. I always try some without toppings first to see if it holds up and theirs held up very well in taste and texture.
They carry peanut butter too, which is a plus.
**One caveat, do wish they stocked some sugar free syrup. They could buy a few bottle on amazon and keep them in the back for just a few bucks for those customers who want it, but not a deal breaker, by any means.
My wife had the salmon scramble and it was perfectly cooked and the salmon was tasty (not always the case at diner type places).
She also got a side of bacon which was cooked perfectly.
Now onto the BEST part. The hashbrowns.
I don't eat a ton of potatoes but do like hashbrowns with my breakfast, but am, admittedly, a hash brown snob.
There is a right way to cook hash browns, and then the way most places do them.
You can't have the griddle too hot, so that you don't burn the outside before the inside gets cooked, but it has to be hot enough to make the outside (top and bottom) crispy.
This is the second time we've been here in a month and ordered the same thing, and BOTH times the hash browns were perfectly cooked. I mean absolutely perfect. Cooked and warm inside without being soggy, while the outside was perfectly golden brown and crispy without burning. Seriously, whoever is in charge of cooking those or training on cooking those, is a true artist!
So to sum up! Definitely a place to go if you're anywhere near Renton or even willing to drive! And I'm pretty sure they serve breakfast all day (don't quote me on that but I think they do).
I'll be taking my dad there this Friday for our weekly dinner and hoping to get the same thing. If not the full meal, definitely a side of hash browns!