Our Reward for Finishing the Race, Poached in Irvine

 Poached Neighborhood Kitchen

17595 Harvard Ave Unit A 

Irvine, CA 92614

Katie and I have a new endeavor that we have taken on. We are doing a 5k race monthly for the next twelve months. It actually sounds a lot more impressive than it actually is. We are not necessarily running the 3.1 miles, instead, I'd categorize our style at these races as more of a casual stroll than a run, but the main thing is that we are getting out and being active. Even if that means we have been soundly beaten by people nearly double our age, at least we get a participation medal to display on our wall at home. 

All these races have allowed us to try some breakfast spots that we'd typically not get to because Katie sleeps until 10am on most Sundays. Our first race was at Irvine Valley College on the Fourth of July. The race was over at 9am, and we were predictably ready to add to our caloric intake after the taxing three miles we had just endured. This allowed us to try a notoriously busy breakfast spot a few miles away from our race, Poached Neighborhood Kitchen. 

Poached opened right in the middle of the pandemic, in August 2020. This is their second location, with the first one launching in Downey in the spring of 2017. They make everything from scratch here and hand-pick their suppliers to know where their ingredients come from. They use organic produce when available and meat free of GMOs and nitrates. 

We have driven by Poached a couple of times in the past, but the long line of people scared us off from even getting out of the car. There was a short line this time, so we gave it a shot. While in line, they get your name and how many are in your party. Once a table is available, you order at the counter and are directed to your table. I wish Stacks Pancake House would employ this system because it's awkward to hover around waiting for a table to open up. 

Poached is open for service seven days a week from 7am to 2pm. Their menu is predictably breakfast focused, but there are six options for people that are averse to breakfast foods. I'm sure there are a few of you out there. The rest of the menu is dedicated to the day's first meal. Their menu is divided into breakfast classics, benedicts, scrambles and omelets, hand-held breakfasts, griddle favorites, and a couple of bowl options for lighter eaters. Only one item on their menu is over $16, and that's the steak and eggs, which will set you back $25. A little rich for my blood, but let's see what we did end up trying at Poached. 

Katie must have been exhausted from the walk we just had because she selected the first thing on the Poached menu, the Morning Scramble ($15). Okay, maybe it was just a coincidence, but she did suck down two iced teas and water while waiting ten minutes for our food to arrive. Anyways, back to her scramble. With this three-egg scramble, you get to choose your protein, she went with bacon, and it's finished with cheddar cheese and comes with hashbrowns and toast. She liked the straightforwardness of this scramble. It was lighter than most, not relying on much bacon and cheese to overwhelm the eggs. Her hashbrowns were a little undercooked as they were limp in some forkfuls. The toast was sturdy and better once she asked for a little extra butter.  

I'm always one to pair sweet and savory together for breakfast, and this Churro Waffle ($13) satisfied the first part of that requirement, or did it? These two waffles came with a house-made caramel sauce, cinnamon butter, and a trio of sugars; powdered, cinnamon, and turbinado. As you can see from the shot above, they used the caramel sauce sparingly, especially since there was another waffle under the top. They also must have forgotten the sugars because this was devoid of any sweetness besides a few flecks of visible powdered sugar. It's a shame because the waffle here was really well-made and promising. The churro feel of this was definitely missing. 

As much as the waffle disappointed me, this Korean Short Rib Benedict ($16) almost made up for it. The English muffin is the base and then layered with pulled short rib, a perfectly poached egg, hollandaise, and a sprinkle of paprika. I liked the slight twist of using the gochujang, a red chili paste, with the short rib. It made this a little different from the other benedicts out there. The hollandaise sauce was well done, and the runny yolk in the poached egg tied everything together wonderfully. Even my hash browns were more well done than the ones that Katie had. 

A little mixed bag for us on this visit to Poached Neighborhood Kitchen. The waffle failed to impress, Katie's scramble was fine, and my benedict was the best thing we tried here. Even though things were all over the board here, I'm intrigued to revisit and try their chilaquiles, chile verde benedict, and some seasonal menu items. The dining room tables are pretty close together, but the atmosphere at Poached is rather fun and high energy. Even though you don't have a dedicated server, we found the food runners willing to help with anything we may have needed. It's easy to see why there's a long line most weekend mornings. Now, onto the next race for us. 

Out of five Olympic medals (because now that Katie and I have taken up 5k races, an Olympic medal has never been more within our reach), five being best to zero being worst, Poached Neighborhood Kitchen gets 3 Olympic medals. 

For more information about Poached Neighborhood Kitchen, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.poachedkitchen.com/