Every Thursday, my best friend and I have a scheduled business meeting.  Conveniently, it is planned to coincide with breakfast or lunch at a local dining establishment.  As there have been many of these meetings and we don’t want to travel too far on a workday, we have visited many of the restaurants with which we are familiar.

This week it was my turn to choose the locale for our meeting.  To accommodate the needs of my schedule, we had planned on a brunch meeting.  Having dined at all of the breakfast places that I like, I tried an online search of “Manchester NH breakfast places” and found Jewell & the Beanstalk.  After reading a couple good reviews and checking out their online menu, it seemed like a great place to try.

Arriving at the restaurant around 10:30, the restaurant had a few parties seated.  We were greeted immediately and told to choose whatever table we liked.  We chose a booth and were given menus within moments of sitting.  The daily specials, displayed on a large whiteboard, were brought over and propped on a nearby table.

The waitress offered to take our drink orders while we studied our choices.  My friend ordered a soda, which the waitress delivered, giving her a bottle and a cup of ice.  I ordered a coffee and was directed to the self-serve coffee and tea station.  While some people may like to be served while at a restaurant, it was nice to know I would never have to flag down a server in order to get a refill.

When I went to the coffee/tea station I was impressed with the selection of coffees.  There were at least 5 different types.  Needing some caffeine and food at that point I didn’t linger to check the tea selection, but I can’t imagine them lacking in that area.

Returning to the table with a mug of organic French Vanilla coffee, it was time to tackle the menu.  Jewell & the Beanstalk’s menu had a tremendous breakfast offering:  pancakes, french toast, breakfast scrambles, omelettes, quiche, breakfast sandwiches, and more.  The specials board had at least ten items to add to our choosing process.  To further complicate my decision was that many of the dishes had very fun ingredients like havarti, lemongrass, and cilantro.

After much contemplation, my friend and I made our choices and placed our orders.  After a brief period of conversation our dishes arrived.  Her dish arrived before mine, but it wasn’t long enough to be problematic.  She chose the cranberry nut pancakes that were served with a side of cheesy scrambled eggs.  She found the pancakes to be light and not overly sweet.  My choice was a spinach, sausage, onion, and havarti scramble.  It was well cooked with a great amount of flavor.  It came with rosemary potatoes, which were lightly seasoned and tender.  For bread, I had the choice of 3 different breads, english muffins, or fruit scones or muffins.  I opted for the sourdough toast, which was buttered lightly.  After requesting jelly, I was given a dish of peach jelly that was delicious.

The one drawback we found was parking the day after a snowstorm, as all parking is on the side of the street.  However, even with a good amount of snow lingering, we were able to find a nearby spot.

We were pleased immensely by our new find.  Knowing that lunch is served at Jewell & the Beanstalk, I plan on trying that very soon!