Compare and Contrast: It's like Breakfast and Lunch all at Once

Sunday Brunch. The old standby in this town is at Silvercreek. Jim Gould's been competing, reasonably well. Which is better? Read on.

Both places do fresh Belgian waffles, omelets to order, and have a carving station that have glazed ham and roast beef, so it's a bit of a wash on that end. Silvercreek does throw prime rib in there as the beef, so there's a bit of an advantage there, but most of that is a wash.

The normal breakfast food is also close. Biscuits and gravy are good at both places. You'll get your usual scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and home fries at both places. Again, it's about a wash. All of it is solid. If I had to make a call, I'd actually go slightly in favor of Gould's for their sausage gravy, but it's pretty much a push. Gould's also has blintzes, which end up being pretty tasty. It's nice to have one or two, but you don't make a meal out of them. Additionally, Gould's does eggs benedict. I have to say that I love poached eggs. The Hollandaise scares me, particularly after you read or listen to Tony Bourdain. But it's still tasty, and I haven't paid the price, yet. This gives a slight advantage to Gould's for the breakfast.

One of the big things for me is fried chicken. At Gould's you get very tiny fried chicken, so it can dry out if it sits around, but they have a slightly sweet, very crispy chicken, whereas Silvercreek goes with the traditional southern fried. I think that if it's fresh, I lean to Gould's. But you have to have something to go with the fried chicken. Both places will have mashed potatoes. Silvercreek goes with gravy. Gould's does the bacon, onion, and cheddar thing. Both are good. But Silvercreek has deviled eggs. Who doesn't love deviled eggs? Slight advantage to Silvercreek.
The place where Silvercreek jumps ahead is with the peel and eat shrimp. Gould's does the normal shrimp that you'd expect to see, just boiled with some spices that's sort of bland. At Silvercreek, you get giant shrimp, that's cooked in a more traditional boil - salt, pepper, spices, and lemon. Really, you could just sit there and eat shrimp until your arteries clogged, and you'd die happy. Big advantage to Silvercreek.

The other warm dishes are where Gould's does better, simply by having more options. Silvercreek will have a couple other things. Maybe some baked mac and cheese (sort of mediocre) and a couple other things. Gould's will typically have some other fish (like tilapia or mahi mahi, or whatever they had extra of), which ends up being pretty decent. They also have a couple pasta options (often tortellini w/ alfredo, which is always tasty). I'd give the advantage to Gould's.

With regard to dessert, both places are alright, but the Gould's desserts remind you of catering desserts - nothing special, but all sweet and pretty decent. Silvercreek has pretty much their usual assortment of desserts out there, so you get some winners. I give a slight advantage to Silvercreek.

Silvercreek has been running brunch for as long as I can remember. They have a great dining room that's got an upscale feel that retains a warm, homey look. The brunch, runs $15.99, which includes coffee, juice, or soda. Jim Gould's has a larger dining area, and is generally a bit louder than Silvercreek, but the larger area results in faster turnover for food, so the food stays fresh. The downside is that the brunch runs $19.95, so it's $4 more than Silvercreek.

Overall, for quality of food, I'd give the slight advantage to Silvercreek. For the variety, that goes clearly to Gould's. But for value, given that it's 25% cheaper than Gould's, Silvercreek is the clear winner. Both places are worth going to, as you'll be definitely wanting a nap after you're done eating at either place. But Silvercreek will run you $10 less for 2 people, after you factor in tax and tip.

-foodgeek