Brunch Review: The Hill Cafe

Last weekend, I was tasked with picking a brunch place for my (now) ex-roommate and myself, so like any good brunch review blogger, I just Googled, "brunch in Richmond," and went from there. The first few, I had been to (like Helen's), so I kept scrolling until I found one that seemed interesting. The Hill Cafe caught my attention, mainly because of a scenic picture it displayed. 

Once I clicked through to their menu, I was impressed by the options and was also surprised to see that it didn't open until 11:30am. My roommate and I settled for it, since it had sandwiches (she likes sandwiches more than standard breakfast foods), was in Church Hill (a neighborhood we don't frequent), and was a place we'd never been.

We aimed to meet there at 11:45am, and I was happy on first arrival because parking in Church Hill doesn't suck. Bonus points for having easy parallel parking right in front of the restaurant. I also noticed that the beautiful image from their search results wasn't quite the scene in reality. Nevertheless, we went in. The restaurant itself is pretty small, with tables limited to mostly 2-tops. And it was dark, surprisingly dark considering it was a bright, sweltering June day. It's almost like they had to try to make it that dark. That could be a good thing if you did end up coming in hungover.

I already knew what I was going to order since I researched that morning. I wanted the Cuban pork roast omelet and a cup of coffee. My roommate went with a crab cake sandwich. When we put our orders in, I couldn't help but notice the almost stilted nature of our server. For a really casual, almost diner feel of a restaurant, she was oddly formal with us. However, she was prompt with the water refills and throughout the meal when I needed hot sauce and ketchup.

The food came out pretty quickly, which was excellent since I was getting viciously hungry from having to wait until at least 11:30am. I ordered an omelet, but got so much more than that. They plated it with potatoes, a biscuit and a giant slice of watermelon. The potatoes were baller. I would suggest substituting those if your plate comes with the shoestring fries (like my roommate's did). 

The omelet was good, but had a bit of room for improvement. I thought the omelet was cooked a little too long, so it was a bit rubberized. The meat was a bit bland and could stand for more seasonings, except for the bites that were clearly primarily fat. And I wish they used pepper jack cheese instead of havarti, as the havarti didn't really add anything to the flavor.

I'm definitely happy we wandered up to Church Hill for the meal, and I would happily go back, as they have a great selection of omelets and egg dishes, plus fast service and prompt responses to my needs. I'd just suggest grabbing some hot sauce if you enjoy your meals packing a bit of a flavor punch.