Breakfast is the most important meal of the day; therefore, it is equally important for a breakfast restaurant to provide you with a great start to your day. That was exactly what I was looking for when my girlfriend Christy, my dad John and I walked into my favorite local breakfast eatery in Denver... Jelly. It was a Friday morning around 11 a.m. so I wasn't expecting to be seated within ten minutes, and would you have it, we were! I was so happy to be seated so quickly after arriving as I was quite hungry and severely wanted a cup of coffee. I hadn't gotten my caffeine fix yet that morning.
After a few minutes we were greeted by our server who didn't offer his name. Christy ordered an elf size (16 oz.) iced Bhakti chai ($3.55), John ordered an elf size cappuccino ($3.35), and I ordered an elf size cafe au lait non-fat ($2.95). I have been to Jelly a number of times but my companions had never eaten there before. I was very excited to introduce them to the delicious food I had come to known. Naturally I had to start us all off with a small, made to order batch of their donut bites ($2.79). There are four donuts to a small order, with eight choices of flavors to choose from. We decided on jelly filled, cinnamon sugar, maple bacon, and chocolate anglaise.
Our drinks arrived so we raised our glasses up to celebrate what was sure to be a fantastic day; as I brought the coffee to my lips I caught an intense aroma of what I thought was Christy's chai, however it turned out to be my drink. I absolutely cannot stand chai and as the pungent flavor seared down into the depths of my taste buds, I searched frantically to cleanse my palate of this foul invader. I gulped down my water and sat patiently waiting to inform my server there had been a mistake. Finally the donuts came out and since our server never even gave us a glance, let alone a fly-by, I kindly asked the gentleman delivering our donuts if he could help me get my cafe au lait. He obliged and returned within a couple minutes with my much better tasting coffee.
I divided the donuts up so we could each have a bite of all four; we started with the cinnamon sugar, it had a fine balance of cinnamon and sugar in proportion to the delicate warmth and flavor of the donut itself. Next we tried the maple bacon and again the same gentle warmth and comfort of the donut shined through, this time with a burst of bacon flavor. I did not catch even a hint of the maple flavor listed as a companion to the bacon. Now we went for the star of their cast, the jelly donut. Jelly, of course makes their jelly in house, and I have to say it is fantastic, especially since I am not a big fan of jelly on my food. The donut itself displayed the same flavor and texture as the others, but this one boasts a mouth-watering, succulent flavor of strawberry. It was absolutely delightful! Last but not least, we tried the chocolate anglaise donut. The consistency of flavor in all the donuts was exactly what I expected of them, but of course each one had a different profile to show off. The chocolate anglaise was creamy, chocolaty, and delicate; it didn't overwhelm the gentle flavor of the donut itself and was quite good. We all agreed that the jelly donut was the best.
I stacked up our small plates and the bowl from the donuts and set them aside while we waited for our breakfast. It was fairly loud inside the restaurant as every table chatted away and no music could be heard. The decor is very retro as they have old cereal boxes in display cases on the walls, along with vintage figurines of Snap, Crackle, and Pop, the Rice Krispies elfin cartoon characters. The chandeliers above their breakfast bar had lights coming up out of a cup and saucer set with teaspoons hanging from them. The colors inside are light yellows, oranges, blues, and pinks which were very warm and welcoming. Our food still had not come out and we were definitely ready for it. Our server finally came by and informed us it would be out in two minutes.
After a few minutes, he came back with Christy's order of Southern Biscuits & Gravy ($6.79) with two scrambled eggs ($2) and my dad's order of Pork Belly Hash ($10.29). My mix and match any three Breakfast Sliders ($8.79) was not in hand and did not come out for a couple minutes after the other dishes had arrived. Once it came, we all dug in. I started with the rustic potatoes that came with my sliders, as they are one of my favorite items that Jelly serves. The potatoes are nicely seasoned cooked with carrots, topped with chives and a dollop of sour cream (doesn't specify this on the menu). As I ate my potatoes I looked over my sliders so I could figure out which one was the Savory slider (mini goat cheese frittata with bacon and spinach walnut pesto), the Country slider (mini bacon and onion frittata with aged cheddar), and the Rustic slider (mini sausage frittata with red pepper pesto and Swiss), all of which are on a toasted bun.
I noticed the goat cheese on my Savory slider and picked it up. Most of the goat cheese had fallen off the slider and was somehow underneath my sandwich. I used my fork to spread it back on and took my first bite. The goat cheese dominated the other flavors but you could still taste the egg and toasted bun, however I didn't taste any of the bacon, spinach and walnut pesto; but it was exactly what I was looking for. I then tried the Rustic slider as I expected it to have the most flavor between the sausage and red pepper pesto. I took a bite and was very disappointed to find the frittata was cold and the only flavor shining through was the slightly over toasted bun. A couple bites had the flavor of the sausage, but it was mostly cold egg. I decided to eat more potatoes and then try my last slider. The Country slider was terribly disappointing as well, the frittata on this slider was ice cold and it was all I could taste even with bacon, onion, and aged cheddar in the mix. I had just one other bite and didn't finish the rest, I was sorely disappointed and no longer in the mood to eat.
I asked Christy how she liked her Southern Biscuits & Gravy and she said it was ok. Unfortunately the dish became cold very quickly and gravy isn't quite as enjoyable as when it is piping hot. I took a forkful and the biscuit was nice and fluffy, yet cold with even colder gravy. I then asked my dad how his Pork Belly Hash was and he said it was good, but that he wouldn't order it again. There wasn't a whole lot of pork and what was in the dish was mostly fat. Of course pork belly is a fatty cut but there is still enough meat to be had and his dish did not really have any. He had ordered his eggs that come with the dish over easy and they came out cooked over hard. I was very disappointed as this was the worst visit I had experienced at Jelly and it did not make a great impression on my companions. I will go back to Jelly and hope that this was just a bay for them. I rate this visit as 1 of 4 stars.
Jelly Cafe
600 E. 13th Ave 303-831-6301
Cash, MC, Visa, American Express
Sun-Sat 7am-3pm
Street Parking
No Reservations
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