Mother's Day Brunch - Mead Inn, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.

As a special installment of Brunch on the Road, Kris of Wisconsin Fish Fry chipped in for a review of Mead Inn in Wisconsin Rapids. Been somewhere brunchy out of town? Feel free to submit a review and share your experiences.

Brunch at Wisconsin Rapids' Mead Inn is what you make of it. While the special $20 Mother's Day brunch was big on extras like a smoothie bar, mimosas, shrimp and crab legs cocktail, carving stations and made-to-order omelets, it didn't have brunch mainstays like sausage links, hash browns or any kind of casseroles.

Instead of trying to do a few things well, the Mead’s philosophy is obviously to offer a huge selection and hope that some of it is good enough to make happy brunchers. In addition to the above mentioned special items, the Mead had traditional breakfast foods, a large salad, fruit and cheese plate, “lunchy” meats, fish and vegetables and an ample dessert tray.

Breakfast lowlights included slightly mushy, lukewarm French toast, thin and limp bacon and eggs Benedict with a moldy-tasting muffin. On the positive side, the omelets were delicious (although a little salsa would have been perfection) and the ham slices were thick and tasty.

While some of my dining companions were perplexed by unpeeled shrimp, I thought they were good, if a little small. The salad bar had ample toppings while the fruit plate had plenty of pineapples and strawberries (too often, I’ve noticed that fruit plates are full of cheap and tasteless melons and skimp on the luxury fruits). Our entire table was dismayed to notice a beautiful plate of asparagus with chopped tomatoes on our way out the door.

The lunch items, which included garlic mashed potatoes, tilapia, Turkish potatoes, apple brandy chicken breasts, spring vegetables and carved beef, were less successful. The chicken was dry, the veggies were salty and the beef, while flavorful, wasn’t warm enough.

Dessert, on the other hand, was filled with delicious choices like tiny coconut crème tarts, a moist German chocolate cake and a wonderfully light peanut butter pie.

Brunch at the Mead is all about the choices you make. If you choose what the Mead does well (omelets, smoothies, salad & desserts) you could have a delicious brunch. Choose poorly, however, and you’ll be wishing the Mead put together a smaller and more thoughtful menu.