Brunch Review: The Camel
Considering The Camel is located in a distant backyard of the first house I lived in in Richmond, I find it rather insane that this was my first time eating here. My ex-roommate and I were in search of a brunch place with cheap mimosa pitcher in Richmond and found out that The Camel fit our criteria. Since neither of us had been, it seemed like the perfect idea.
We wandered in around 11 AM and were happy to find plenty of open seats. We picked two seats at the bar and ordered our pitcher of mimosa. It was a good mimosa, but favored more orange juice than I usually pour myself (although it is probably illegal to make mimosas like I make myself).
The Camel's brunch menu isn't the most extensive menu in the world, which saves me the sheer panic of inevitable FOMO. I was in between the Moroccan baked eggs or the red eye sausage gravy. My ex-roommate went with the sausage gravy dish, so I felt compelled to try the baked eggs so we could try more on the menu.
I was surprised to hear that The Camel has live music at brunch. The band was setting up in the room next door to us as we were waiting. That's one unique selling proposition for brunch.
Our food came out with plenty of mimosa left in the pitcher. I was intrigued to see that mine looked like huevos rancheros, but with more tomatoes than beans. It looked like a fresh version of huevos rancheros and tasted similarly. I liked the fact it was served on spinach as it made me feel healthier, which is necessary since I've called December "bulking season" due to my horrid eating habits.
My roommate's sausage and gravy was fascinating. I took one bite of it and was a bit confused by the taste. Imagine a French toast base with a mild white gravy over it and salty sausage in it. That's what it tasted like to me. I couldn't quite figure it out. Then I had another bite, and another, and then couldn't stop. It was basically an addition, and since her portion size was enormous, she didn't mind that I was devouring her leftovers.
I enjoyed The Camel for brunch. It reminded me a lot of Curbside or Buddy's where it's kind of a comforting dive with really a solid kitchen. Their decorations were really cute too, as they decorated for Christmas -- or "the holidays," if we're being politically correct.