Some Brunch Consumption at Tupelo Junction Cafe

 Tupelo Junction Cafe

508 North 29th Street

Newport Beach, CA 92663

Breakfast just tastes better at the beach. Maybe it's the ocean air or the breeze from the water, but it makes everything taste better. The vacation vibe I get when I visit Newport Beach could also contribute to this. My feelings for this seaside paradise are deep-rooted, from when I was a kid and we'd rent a beach house for a week to when I lived here in my 20s. As I have long passed my twenties, Newport is one of our favorite places to get some steps in and grab breakfast. 

After walking between the Balboa and Newport Pier, we were ready to refuel with a good breakfast. Newport has many breakfast spots: Shorebird, The Galley, Wilma's Patio, The Lighthouse, and Cappy's. These are all good places, but of course, I'm always on the hunt for a restaurant we haven't been to yet. A quick Yelp search brought us to Tupelo Junction Cafe. 

Tupelo Junction started in Santa Barbara but moved south to its present home a few blocks east of Newport Boulevard in 2017. It's off by itself, but that hasn't deterred tourists and locals from seeking it out and giving rave reviews on Yelp. They have also been mentioned as being the best all-day cafe in Newport by the OC Register, back when they had a restaurant critic. They've also won raves for their Bloody Mary, which some claim is the best in OC. 

It was just before noon on a cloudy Sunday when we arrived at Tupelo Junction. There were a great many people here enjoying their Sunday Funday, but we were seated right away on their back patio. Their menu is so packed with brunch items that there was no room for double spacing, which made it a little challenging to read, but I powered through. I counted 16 brunch items and four shared plate options. Entrees range between $19 to $32. Opposite the listed food, they also have a large selection of cocktails for those who want to imbibe. 

As is my custom when eating breakfast out, I like to pair my savory meal with something sweet. As soon as I looked at the first item on the menu, these Cinnamon Apple Beignets ($14), I knew this would be my sweet portion of the meal. There were three of them per order, and they were bigger than most beignets I have encountered. They were also more dense on the inside, and the outside was very crunchy. The apple and cinnamon could have been more prominent, and I would have liked more of the caramel, creme anglaise, and powdered sugar to be applied with a much heavier hand. These were not awful, but I've had better beignets. 

Katie was famished after our mile walk and zeroed in on this Smoked Bacon Scramble ($21) to get her refueled. This scramble comprised two eggs, caramelized onion, diced tomato, spinach, gouda, and bacon. She liked the freshness of the ingredients, but she felt the star of the show for her was the biscuit and house-made jam. She would not stop raving about how good both were, which allowed me to snag some bites of her scramble and the potatoes, which I found nicely done. After this meal, she exclaimed that she couldn't wait for a return visit to Tupelo Junction. 

I had a much harder time picking something to eat here, as I had too many options that I wanted to try. I was intrigued by the benedict, scramble, chicken with waffles, and a couple of their lunch selections. I finally went with the Crab Cake Hash ($28). The crab cake was made with Dungeness crab and did not include a lot of filler. The fresh crab was topped with a perfectly poached egg, an avocado salsa with big pieces of avocado included, and a beurre blanc sauce that was very buttery and tied everything together. This was lighter than I expected, but it still had a lot of flavor and was very satisfying. I used some of Katie's jam that she did not use with the grilled toast.   

We were pleased with our visit to Tupelo Junction Cafe, a hidden gem that quite a few people know about, and now you do as well. I liked everything we had and would only ask for more caramel sauce with the beignets to make them more enjoyable. The ambiance was nice and relaxed, and not a boozy brunch spot. Our server was friendly and polite, and the variety of the menu will keep people returning to try more things. It's worth a visit if you find yourself in Newport soaking up the sea breezes and wanting a good place for brunch. 

Out of five buffalo (because the city of Tupelo, Mississippi, is not only the birthplace of Elvis Presley but also the home of Tupelo Buffalo Park, which has over 200 animals, including a herd of buffalo that roam the park's 200 acres), five being best and zero being worst, Tupelo Junction Cafe gets 3.5 buffalos. 

Tupelo Junction Cafe does not have a functioning website, so follow this link to their Yelp page for more information about them, https://www.yelp.com/biz/tupelo-junction-cafe-newport-beach