Original Sunrise Cafe menu includes variety of whimsical dishes

I have to say this about the menu at the Original Sunrise Cafe: It's definitely not boring, or lacking in options.

Some of the dishes are whimsical -- for instance The Peter Brady, subtitled "Pork Chops and Applesauce." That one had me puzzled (even though I was a "Brady Bunch" lover with the best of them) until my friend mentioned an episode when Peter walked around saying, "pork chops and applesauce" for some reason she didn't remember. Well, OK then, and the platter did indeed include pork chops and applesauce, plus eggs and citrus-chili sauce.

Some of the dishes are wonderfully flexible, like the make-your-own-omelette option. You could, if you so desired, concoct an omelet from any combination of seven meats, eight vegetables and nine cheeses (and/or egg-whites-only). I'm not sure how that works out mathematically, but the variations could last you awhile.

Some of the dishes are lunchy, like burgers, sandwiches, wraps and salads.

And some sounded like wretched excess, a category that would have to include the Banana Cream Pie Pancakes and french toast made with English-toffee batter. Yikes.

My friend was looking for spicy, and there was no shortage of that. In Benedicts alone, she was torn: The jalapeno bacon (also offered as a substitute with anything on the menu) and pepperjack of the Fiesta Benedict? No, it would be the Bueno Beni ($9.99), with jalapenos themselves, which promised more of a kick.

She did make one major mistake when ordering: Though the menu specified a bagel, when the waitress asked "bagel or toast?" she went with the latter and found it a foundation that was no match for the stuff piled atop. Basted eggs, sausage patties, melted pepperjack cheese, jalapenos and onions and a generous ladle of Hollandaise rendered fiery by salsa verde all contributed to two soggy pieces of toast, but the dish definitely wasn't lacking in flavor, with enough kick that we shed more than a few tears. In a good way, of course. Fried potatoes on the side were quite nice.

We weren't as enamored of Chester's Way ($9.49). Who's Chester? Good question, but the answer doesn't appear to lie within "The Brady Bunch." At any rate, Chester doesn't seem to know good corned-beef hash, which is the star attraction of this platter.

The menu says it's homemade. That's not unusual around town these days, with the people who are making it generally ensuring that it's as different as possible from the wretched stuff in the can, usually by using well-seasoned corned beef and cutting it in large strips or chunks and cooking it with firm potatoes and almost-crisp onions.

Yeah, well, that wasn't the case here. Chester apparently likes his corned-beef hash as similar to the canned stuff as possible, all ground up the same size as the potatoes and onion, without much texture to any of it. There was a lot of it, the eggs were over-easy as ordered, and the toasted sesame bagel was just right, but this was definitely a lost opportunity.

Coffee was hot -- and good, once our server brought us a cup from a fresh pot. Service throughout was fine, thanks to the team approach. The strip-center spot is pleasant, with sunny yellow walls to reflect the light that comes in through lots of windows, and pretty reasonable spacing on tables and booths.

We did notice one quirk: Hamburgers are served only well done, according to the menu, and the basted eggs on the Benedict had yolks that were firmly set. Somebody's definitely concerned about food safety. Or liability.

Maybe Chester is a lawyer.

Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.