Fido

Doggedly Good

During a visit to Nashville, I stopped by Fido, a cafe located in the city's Hillsboro Village neighborhood. I didn't take a lot of time to look around the place. From what I observed, the place sort of resembled a bigger version of Downtown Memphis' Bluff City Coffee. The cafe's menu is somewhat similar to Midtown Memphis' Cafe Eclectic and the method of payment and service is the same as Otherlands, another Midtown Memphis coffee shop. With this mix of styles from three of my favorite hometown cafes, I got the feeling that I was going to get a great breakfast.

After looking over the menu, I decided to get something that was new and unique to me. The Smoked Salmon Scramble fit the bill, although I never had the seafood staple for breakfast. The dish consisted of smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, herb cream cheese, capers and red onions. The eggs were perfect, with its fluffy texture and yellow appearance signifying that they were neither undercooked nor overcooked. That worked well with the cream cheese that tied everything together for a thick and creamy medley. The salmon was dominant in terms of taste, with the capers and red onions providing additional flavor. In all, the Smoked Salmon Scramble was delicious and one of the better breakfast dishes that I've had this year.

Fido's entrée comes with hash browns and wheat toast as side items. While the toast was average, the hash browns were fantastic. They were buttery and seasoned with something similar to salt that was milder and more flavorful. By itself, the hash browns were great and even better with the Smoked Salmon Scramble.

For my first visit to Fido, I was very impressed. My breakfast was great and I liked the atmosphere that the cafe provides. Like the coffeehouses that I mentioned earlier, Fido's casual environment is relaxing. It's also conducive for studying (which makes sense given that it's near Vanderbilt and Belmont Universities) or just chilling out over a latte while surfing the Net on Fido's WiFi. And unlike its nearby competitor Pancake Pantry, there isn't a long wait time for seating although Fido's breakfast menu is more limited. For me, I like what Fido provides and look forward to dining there again.

Website: www.bongojava.com/fido-cafe