The best breakfast in the world?

The best breakfast in the world! You come across such or similar superlatives again and again in American restaurants. Wanting to test American gigantomania, we veered from the Lighthouse Café's promises Sanibel Island be attracted. The claim to serving the best breakfast in the world is prominently displayed here – directly under the restaurant name on the doorstep. At half past eight in the morning we are in front of the gates of the rather inconspicuous café not far from the causeway that connects Sanibel Island with the mainland at Fort Myers. The parking lot in front of the café is overcrowded and quite a lot of people are sitting and standing around in front of the restaurant. “Do they all want to have breakfast there too?” I ask myself.

The best breakfast in the world!

We don't let that stop us and enter the breakfast restaurant, which doesn't look much larger inside than it does from the outside. At the counter I say that we would like a table for two. The man gives me a friendly look and says, "It will take about twenty minutes," and sends us out the door again. So I was right. People in front of the restaurant are actually waiting to have breakfast there. "Okay," I think to myself. "Maybe that's a sign that they really do have the best breakfast in the world here?" That's often the case when there are queues in front of an American restaurant. So we sit down on one of the benches under the veranda and watch the restaurant guests coming and going. And more and more seem to come.

This is what a typical American breakfast looks like

Long lines in front of the restaurant

Slowly the people who have been waiting longer than we are disappearing and are being replaced by new ones waiting - a constant stream of breakfast guests. The Lighthouse Café apparently has no difficulty in finding customers. And finally it's our turn. We are called out loud: "Monika Fjusch" is heard from the loudspeaker above the door. Our surname Fuchs causes problems for all English speakers in the world, and most of the time we are simply renamed. But with a little imagination, we can guess that we are meant by that.

Service that doesn't go with it at all

We're shown to a tiny table for two in the corner of the side room in the Lighthouse Café - just enough to fit our bags and squeeze into the table. A menu is slammed onto the table and the question hurled at us: "Tea or coffee?" A little intimidated, we choose tea and coffee, one for each of us, and also ask for a glass of orange juice. And then we study the menu for the best breakfast in the world.

Petar's omelette - the best breakfast in the world?

Large selection of dishes - is the best breakfast in the world coming?

It has it all. There are dishes that I have never heard of before: Turkey Benedict (poached eggs with turkey), Granola Nut Whole Wheat Hot cakes (hot brown flour pancakes with granola and nuts), Malted Hot Cakes (pancakes made with malted flour), a Hungry Fisherman (a shrimp, crab and clam omelet with an Alfredo sauce), Ocean Frittata (shrimp, clam and crab with broccoli and fresh mushrooms under artichoke hearts and an alfredo sauce) or a Red Sauce Frittata (smoked sausage steamed with peppers, fresh mushrooms and sweet onions with a homemade marinara sauce and topped with provolone cheese). Well, they are inventive, we have to admit that. We are looking forward to the best breakfast in the world.

"Well," I think. "We're at the ocean, so I'm going to order a Hungry Fisherman." Petar chooses an omelet with mushrooms and cheese. In the meantime, we drink our thin coffee and the watery orange juice that have now landed on our table. What we get is:

The "hungry fisherman" - the best breakfast in the world?

The best breakfast in the world disappointed

Two carelessly put together breakfast plates, on which the ingredients can only be determined with difficulty. And that's exactly how it tastes - overcooked, soggy under a liter of "sauce", hardly seasoned and with dried fried potatoes. I imagine the best breakfast in the world differently.

Therefore, let it be said, American gigantomania is almost always to be treated with caution. But in tourist spots like Sanibel Island, it's still possible to attract enough customers to keep the business buzzing. Because I can not imagine that the people who live on the island, go breakfast here.