Reiter's Practical Cape Cod

Orleans: Bird Watcher's General Store, Hot Chocolate Sparrow

After manually watering our plants — the first time this “spring” (well, it’s officially spring) — for 1.5 hours (!) we took a drive to Orleans, Mass. and visited the Bird Watcher’s General Store (see below) and the Hot Chocolate Sparrow.

The Bird Watcher’s General Store is one of my girlfriend’s favorite stores for — surprise! — bird supplies:  Many kinds of bird food (packaged and bulk), feeders, nest boxes, bird baths, books, cards, etc. (see below; two megapixel camera phone photo).

My girlfriend is the expert on birds and she likes the store because the employees/owners are so nice to deal with and are extremely knowledgeable.  She trusts their advice. 

The store also has a nice Web site with many more photos than the two I shot and posted today.  If you’re into birds or have friends that like bird stuff (see below), this is an excellent place for a visit.

There’s another bird store on Cape Cod that she really likes, but I'll save that for another article.

Hot Chocolate Sparrow

My girlfriend went to the Hot Chocolate Sparrow (see below; two megapixel camera phone photo) once before, and liked it, but this was my first visit.  This is an interesting “destination”; in other words, worth a trip, especially if you’re in the area.

The shop makes its own chocolate, which is why I bought a one-pound box of milk chocolate selections.  My girlfriend and I had a few pieces and we think the chocolate is, well, okay.

We should reserve our final judgment until we’ve devoured everything in the box.  But from what we’ve tasted (and to be very fair we’ve only tasted a small sample) we don’t think the chocolate is that special.

Chocolate sampling

It’s certainly classier to give a gift of a box of chocolates from (Hot) Chocolate Sparrow (the store is named Chocolate Sparrow at its Eastham, Mass. location) than, say, Russell Stover chocolates or a Whitman Sampler from your local CVS. 

But from a taste standpoint, for homemade chocolates on the Cape, we prefer the ones at the Stage Stop Candy in Dennisport, Mass.  (Got any more suggestions?)

And even though they’re “mass produced,” we also like Lindt chocolates.  There’s a store in the Cape Cod Mall.

Oh -- my girlfriend reminded me of a chocolate shop that she prefers on the Cape, the Chatham Candy Manor on Chatham's Main Street.

At the Hot Chocolate Sparrow we also bought drinks.  Given the name of the place, I got a large homemade hot chocolate — a “Hot Chocolate Sparrow"(see left; two megapixel camera phone photo), that's “made with our own hot fudge sauce,” as the menu says.  It was, well, plain ol’ hot chocolate.  I had hoped — expected — it would be very chocolatey or have some special rich taste. 

Nope.  I don’t think it tastes any different than mass market hot chocolate.  Maybe I got a bad batch.

Other selections

My girlfriend got a rooibos chai and liked it.

The Hot Chocolate Sparrow has a large selection of coffees and teas (see below) and there’s a good chance you’ll like your selection better than I did.

The store also sells “Richardson’s Family Ice Cream,” frozen yogurt, a large selection of pastries (we got a slice of Boston cream cheesecake that we haven’t eaten yet) and sandwiches.

Good for late snacks

There’s a seating area and the store seems like a very nice place for a sandwich or snack.  It's open relatively late:  9:00 p.m. on weekdays now and 11:00 p.m. on weekends. 

During the summer, it might be open later on weekdays.

Marshland Restaurant and Bakery: Good, moderately priced food in Sandwich

We’ve eaten at the Marshland Restaurant and Bakery (no Web site — boo! Thanks to Dave Doolittle of Sandwich, I learned today, 1/20/08, the Marshland now has a Web site) a few times and we’ve liked it every time (see below; two megapixel camera phone photo).

It’s a diner-type of place with half a dozen tables (and a table for two located, unfortunately, near the bathrooms) and more than a dozen stools at two counters (see below; 1.3 megapixel camera phone photo taken from the bakery).

The menu offers a nice selection including hamburgers and sandwiches, a variety of salads, numerous hot entrees such as prime rib, meatloaf, sirloin steak, grilled chicken, baked scrod and roast turkey. 

I had the grilled turkey reuben and fish and chips and liked them both.

Vegetarian

My girlfriend had a vegetarian taco salad (once with onion rings on top, suggested by the waitress) and liked it both times. 

Speaking of vegetarian, in addition to salads there is a vegetable stir fry, hummus wrap and Middle East wrap.

There’s also a kid’s menu, that we didn’t sample!  In addition, there’s an extensive breakfast menu but we’ve never gotten up early enough to partake of it.

Pricing

Marshland is very moderately priced.  Hamburgers and sandwiches are about $5 - $6.50, and there are less expensive items. 

Entrees range from about $6 to $12 and can be a dollar or two cheaper for lunch.

Warning:  Marshland does not accept credit cards.  I don’t know if it accepts personal checks.

Try the bakery

A bakery is attached to the restaurant and the selections are really tasty.  I’m a big fan of the chocolate chip muffins but they sell out early. 

(Indeed, good muffins sell out early in many Cape Cod restaurants known for muffins, such as Jack’s Outback restaurant in Yarmouth Port, Mass.). 

While I’m on the subject of restaurants and Sandwich, another good moderately priced choice is Sandwich’s Sandwiches (see left).  There’s not much seating space but there’s a nice selection of sandwiches, soups and salads.

Varieties

The Marshland bakery offers a variety of muffins, cookies and inexpensive baked goods.

If you’re looking for a moderately priced restaurant that offers a nice selection of food for everyone plus bakery treats, try the Marshland. 

It’s not gourmet, it’s just good food.

British Beer Company: Good food and a tasty $5 beer sampler

I’m not a big drinker and neither is my girlfriend.  Two drinks — plus or minus one (more likely “minus”) — is what I typically consume when I’m at a party or reception.  But I do like the beer sampler — $5 for five draft beers (see below; poor camera phone photo) — at the British Beer Company in Hyannis, Mass.

We’ve been to the restaurant four times and I’ve had the sampler each time.  My favorite, by far, is Fuller’s London Porter.  It’s relatively thick and creamy with a taste of coffee and perhaps even a hint of chocolate.  I like it a lot.  Good for winter.

(I used to like Guinness, too, but I didn’t have it for a while and the one in the British Beer Company tasted thin and watery.  Two waitresses said the beer in the United States is now produced in Canada and that’s the reason for the less hearty brew.  Hmmm.  I  visit the U.K. every year or two to speak at wireless data conferences and will have to check out whether the Guinness is better “across the pond.”)

British Beer food

I like the restaurant’s fish (haddock) n’ chips that is battered in another Fuller’s beer, Fuller’s London Pride (that is fine on the fish but the Porter still rules!).  The fish is tasty and not overly fried.  I also like the shepherd’s pie that includes beef and lamb; very filling.

I’ve had the smoked turkey reuben.  It’s fine, but I don’t think it’s as good as the other two dishes.  I’m not sure what would help it; perhaps more turkey and crisper bread.  Entrees range from under $10 to about $15, plus or minus a few dollars.

My girlfriend is a vegetarian so she eats the Caesar salad and likes it.  (Our favorite Caesar salad, bar none, is in Le Champlain restaurant in Le Chateau Frontenac — a beautiful hotel, especially festive during Christmas — in Quebec City.  The Caesar dressing is made from scratch and it’s delicious.)

Appetizers: So-So

As for the British Beer Company’s appetizers, I’m not that much of a fan of what we’ve had.  The baked focaccia and baked brie weren’t bad.  The potato skins were bland and not crisp.  The chips with dips — French fries and sweet potato fries with dipping sauces — were okay, but nothing special.

We’ve never tried the desserts because we’ve always been too full.  One British dessert we’d absolutely love to try — but virtually unheard of in U.S. restaurants — is sticky toffee pudding.

Overall, we like the British Beer Company and we’ll be there again.  We usually go for dinner before 5:00 p.m. on a weekend to avoid any crowds, although the winter in Cape Cod isn’t busy, obviously.

Wireless Internet access

The British Beer Company also offers free wireless Internet -- WiFi -- at its restaurant in Hyannis and at all its other locations.

I haven't tried it yet.  My girlfriend would kill me if I spend time on the Internet while in a restaurant!  I spend too much time hunched over keyboards -- desktop PCs, laptops, cellular phones -- as it is.

However, purely in the interest of you weblog readers, I'm going to try to remember to take one of my laptops and/or an IPAQ PDA with WiFi access to the British Beer Company just to test.