Located just off of Sepulveda on Washington Place, the Metro Cafe offers comfort food with a swanky edge. A glance at the shiny decor and intriguing menu, and it’s clear that this isn’t your standard diner. That said, the atmosphere is welcoming. And the options are wonderful. Vegetarians and vegans have plenty to choose from too.
We were there for a Saturday breakfast and, while on our last visit we test out the Metro Cafe’s Culver omelette, this time we’re on a health kick and we went for the Seasonal Vegetable Omelette (seasonal veg, olives, green onions and fresh herbs). To increase the healthiness factor, we had it made with egg whites for an extra $1.50, and we switched the potatoes for fruit for a further extra $2. Hey, losing weight ain’t cheap!
“Welcome to sustainable and locally sourced food with a friendly ambiance in Culver City and El Segundo,” they say online, and that quality and warmth is evident when first entering the establishment.
The omelette is such a standard American breakfast dish, but it’s also way too easy to get it wrong. All too often, omelettes are served soggy and bland, and that can be worse still with egg whites. Fortunately, that’s not the case here.
The seasonal vegetables are wonderful to begin with; there’s a lovely combination of mushrooms, squash and peppers and, while it was a little heavy on the olives for this writer’s taste and some were picked out, that’s subjective and others will find the abundance of olives to be a genuine treat.
The egg whites are seasoned nicely–no need to add more salt unless you like your food particularly salty–the chefs know what they’re doing and the whites are anything but bland. You almost don’t miss the yolk (almost). We did add some hot sauce in intervals, just to throw in some bite. We highly recommend that.
The omelette is large too; there’s no way you’ll leave hungry. We had to take our fruit bowl to go, though the melon, strawberries, blueberries and grapes were a nice treat later–fresh and juicy. Overall, the food is of the highest quality, and it’s unlikely you’ll be disappointed.
The Metro Cafe’s lunch and dinner menus look equally tempting, and we’ll certainly be back there in the future to try out more dishes. For now, we can absolutely recommend them for a breakfast/brunch destination.
The Metro Cafe is located at 11188 Washington Place, Culver City. Call 310-559-6821 or visit metrocafela.com.