When thinking about brunch in Ann Arbor, people first usually think of Sava’s, Café Zola or Angelo’s. However, people should not overlook The Broken Egg. Located a little further from campus than many students feel like walking, this quaint breakfast place is worth the trek.
Photo by Kelly Ho
I first tried The Broken Egg this summer and was overwhelmed by all of the great choices. From its title, you would assume the best things to order here are savory egg dishes such as omelettes or scrambles.
Photo by Kelly Ho
While those are good, the more impressive dishes are its sweet (and still egg-based) dishes—they are always coming up with creative ways to serve pancakes and French toast. In addition to regular pancake options, such as the classic chocolate chip, The Broken Egg was also serving pumpkin pancakes and cinnamon roll pancakes on our visit. We tried the latter, and they were just as drool-worthy as they sound.
Photo by Kelly Ho
Beyond these options, though, The Broken Egg is stepping up its menu even further by bringing a NYC favorite to Ann Arbor: the cronut.
For those of you unfamiliar with the cronut craze, a cronut is a hybrid between a croissant and a donut, invented by Dominique Ansel in NYC. Although I have not tried the real thing, my photographer and native-New Yorker, Kelly Ho, has.
Having tasted both, she said that the outside of The Broken Egg’s version has a slightly less crispy exterior and slightly less flaky interior, but it’s still very good. She also said that the one she tried was a dark chocolate-champagne flavor, which, Broken Egg, if you are listening: please bring this flavor to us.
Photo by Kelly Ho
From the perspective of someone who has not tasted the original, this version was heavenly with its buttery croissant layers and warm, oozing filling. In the summer, I tried it with the crème anglaise filling (a fancy term for delicious vanilla cream custard), and this time, I tried the caramel with vanilla mousse filling. Let me tell you: you cannot go wrong with either one. The Broken Egg also offers a raspberry melba filling if you want to go for that “jelly-filled donut” feeling.
One final note about eating brunch at The Broken Egg: if you can’t make the choice between sweet and savory—get both. You don’t want to miss out on either one, and to be honest, no one is judging you except for the friend that you shouldn’t have invited along on your brunch trip in the first place.