Popping a Cork at Corky's?

Corky's Kitchen and Bakery

27522 Antonio Parkway #P-1

Ladera Ranch, CA 92694

Breakfast for dinner options in south Orange county are extremely limited. You have Denny's, and Harbor House in Dana Point. I am sure there are more but I can not think of any at this moment. Anyway, my point is, there is no place to get pancakes and omelettes past 11:30 anywhere down here. So when I heard about Corky's in Ladera Ranch being open 24 hours, seven days a week, and serving up breakfast all day long, it was a no brainer that we had to check it out.

Corky's has three locations, (the other two are in Rancho Cucamonga and Rialto). The menu here consists of American diner food. They serve breakfast and lunch all day long, and dinner entree's are served from 3 to 10. Corky's web site boasts, "That you will not leave hungry!". On this Wednesday night at eight, I gathered up Katie, Carissa, and Richard to see if this would be a true statement.

First up is Katie's food. She got the Tuna Melt with potato salad. She liked the mustardy potato salad , and liked the tanginess of it. The tuna melt was good, but did not distinguish itself from others that she has had.

Carissa also chose to get a sandwich instead of breakfast. This is the Turkey Melt. Turkey, bacon, American cheese on grilled sourdough was what made up this sandwich. Carissa was less than enthused about this sandwich. She thought that it was just mediocre, and that is hard to believe with bacon being one of the ingredients, but I did not try this, so I will have to go with her opinion.

Now on to the breakfast items. This was Richard's choice, the Steak and Eggs, with biscuits and gravy. These biscuits looked great in the picture and tasted great as well. Their gravy is smooth, with little pieces of sausage in it. The biscuits by themselves could be a bit on the dry side, but with the gravy they were very good. Richard enjoyed the steak, and was surprised how tender it was. The eggs, were of course just your basic eggs.

I see that all of Corky's omelettes are made with five eggs, so that is what I am aiming for, but which one?  I ended up with the Corky's Omelette. This behemoth of an egg dish consisted of bacon, ham, sausage, bell pepper, cheese, and if that is not enough, it is smothered in gravy. This mountain of food was very good, and they did not skimp on the insides of the omelette. There were big hunks of all the breakfast meats under the sun on this one. I had a hard time finishing this, and came within a few bites of doing it. I guess I am not ready for Man V Food yet.

Corky's is also known for their baked goods, as well as their breakfasts. We got a Snickerdoodle and a Chocolate Chip Cookie. They came out warm, and the chocolate chip was very good. I could only eat half of it, because I was still stuffed from my omelette. Carissa was not too impressed by her Snickerdoodle. I did not get a chance to try it.

Richard splurged and got the Banana Cream Pie. Simply put, this pie was awesome. The filing tasted like banana pudding, and even the crust was good on this one. I would definitely get this again.

I really enjoyed the breakfast items here. I liked the desserts here, and I liked the huge servings. Katie thought that this place was okay, and Richard and Carissa? How should I put this? They had stomach issues after the meal. Now it should be noted that Richard liked the food as he was eating, and to be truthful, both he and Carissa have had nervous stomachs in the past. So take that as you will.

Out of five wine bottles, (because you use Corks to plug them), five being best to zero being worst, Corky's gets three wine bottles.

For more information on Corky's, click here: http://www.corkyskitchenandbakery.com/