When you are traveling or going to a place where you haven’t been to before, it might be challenging to find a really good place to eat. We decided to drive to Long Island, and explore the area. The first task was a brunch spot. With my luck, I found one that looked and sounded pretty good immediately. And with its name “Love Lane Kitchen” it sounded even more enticing (not realizing it sits on a street called “Love Lane” at that moment).
It had a nice light blue exterior, kind of “Cape Cod blue” (to me) which I like, with nice sized outdoor seating. I hear they usually have a wait time of around 30 minutes to an hour on weekends, but since we were there on Friday, we didn’t see any line, yes!
The inside was nice and bright, with clean and simple design. It had one long wooden communal table in the middle, with more table seating on both sides. I liked the contract of the wood furniture against white floor and walls. It made the space looked bigger, and yet more cozy and homey.
They have self-service coffee section by the bar counter, which was interesting. There are three kinds of coffee with milk, cream, sugar, honey, and everything you might need to make the coffee, just the way you like it. With this, you don’t have to wait for a server to come around with refills, you could just get up and go get them yourself whenever you need and want another cup. I think it is a good idea, for as long they don’t get too busy or crowded, then it might be a bit of a challenge to get to the coffee, and then go back to your seat without spilling any (by bumping into people along the way).
I really liked their bar, which popped with dark green and retro-design bar stools. They painted insides of the shelves behind the bar with the same green color, creating the accent wall. It gives extra depth to the space, while making it very stylish. They had some sweets on display on the bar, alongside funny sign that said “Love the beer you’re with.”
There are several wall decoration with all sorts of saying, which I enjoyed reading. Some sweet, some really funny. I also thought the window decoration with large Gerber daisies hanging upside down with colorful watering cans.
This place offers breakfast menu until 2pm, so you can get both lunch and/or breakfast around the lunch time. I like breakfast any time of the day, so this was great! They also have breakfast and lunch specials of the day, which are listed on the chalkboard on the wall. We ordered Pastrami Hash & Eggs ($10) from breakfast menu, and Fried Cod Sandwich ($16) from the lunch special.
I heard their Pastrami Hash & Eggs are pretty good, so I was excited to try this dish. It came with two eggs (I requested sunny-side up), house-made pastrami hash, and toast. However, it was not as good as I wanted it to be. The hash lacked in flavor, I had to add some salt on it, and it was still bland. I didn’t want to make it salty, so I added some black pepper. Still not much improvement on the taste. Then, I realized it came with a side of ketchup. When I added ketchup, it made the taste much better. It might’ve been that I had too high of an expectation for this dish, but I was a bit disappointed. The eggs were cooked perfectly to the way I like, and toast was pretty good.
On the other hand, the Cod Sandwich was real surprise, in both size and flavor. First of all, it was huge. Second, it was so delicious! It was filled with good amount of cod, lightly fried so that it was not greasy. The bread was airy and tasty, and everything worked so well together. It was fresh, packed with great flavor, and the fries were nice also. It was worth every penny!
We got pretty full so we didn’t have any room for dessert… Oh, one thing to mention, they do NOT allow baby strollers (or pets) in the inside, but you can either dine outside in their lovely outdoor seating, or you can place the stroller outside (they seem to have a space for that at their outdoor seating area) and eat inside. I appreciate these rules, it allows all the diners to have the good amount of space in the dining area, as designed, without the strollers getting in anyone’s way.
They have a nice large bathroom in the back of the restaurant, with beach-y decoration and antique furniture. It was clean and spacious. And they also had some publications, advertisement, and information including area guides right by the restroom for visitors.
The service was friendly and food was great, other than the hash. If we go back to Long Island in the future, I would visit here again and try something else. It was a comfortable, relaxing atmosphere and we enjoyed our experience in lovely “LLK.”
Love Lane Kitchen – 240 Love Ln, Mattituck, NY 11952