I wanted a hearty comfort food breakfast after an unexpected cold front barged into town, dropping temperatures. Not wanting to go far, I headed for The Sanctum Coffee & Juice Bar.
Restaurant: The Sanctum Coffee & Juice Bar, Altamonte Springs, Florida near Orlando
Dish: Loaded Toast
Reading: The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
The Sanctum Coffee & Juice Bar is a sister restaurant to The Sanctum Café in Orlando. The Coffee & Juice Bar is smaller and has a smaller food menu but I think the drinks menu is the same.
The Loaded Toast is always in my top three choices when I come here but I’m usually here at lunch and not in the mood for something sweet. This was the perfect time to try it.
You place your order at the register and then sit down to wait for it to be brought to you (almost always unless it’s a coffee drink and they are busy). The server/chef/barista brought it to my table after just a few minutes.
I could have waited longer without complaint. The place smelled pleasantly of toast and coffee. The morning sun shone through the wall of windows. And a few other diners talked pleasantly while a jazzy international sounding music played overhead.
Loaded Toast comes with your choice of sourdough or Ezekiel sprouted bread. I chose sprouted since it seemed heartier. The toast was spread with vegan chocolate hazelnut and topped with banana slices and candied walnuts. Then maple syrup was drizzled on top and everything was sprinkled with coconut curls and hemp hearts.
I ordered the full portion – two whole slices of bread each cut in half. A half size option is also available.
The toast was crunchy and crisp, though thinner than I expected. The sweetness of the vegan chocolate hazelnut spread and maple syrup was almost as sweet as syrup on pancakes. But not quite as sweet. The bread and the nuts added a good counter balance to the sweetness. And the more I ate, the more I thought the bread thickness was just right.
The hemp hearts sprinkled on top were a nice surprise, though I couldn’t really taste them. I actually thought they were sesame seeds. I’ve not seen them before and according to Cooking Light, hemp hearts, or seeds, are nutritious and packed with protein.
This was just an all-around yummy breakfast. Each bite contained a mix of crispiness and creaminess. The little coconut curls were chewy and crunchy. I could taste the coconut, but it wasn’t overpowering or irritating. I actually liked it better in the large curls (julienne?) instead of shredded, which always feels like sawdust in the mouth.
A solo diner can easily feel comfortable here, though if it were crowded then you might like it better sitting at the coffee bar, since every table seats 4-6 people.
My maps app had the opening time for Saturdays wrong – they now open at 7:00 am. I’m glad because I’m sure I’ll be back soon! A reminder to me to visit a restaurant’s website and not rely on the map app.
Ordering foods you can’t make at home is one benefit of eating plant-based at restaurants. So I often try to figure out if I could make a vegan dish at home. Can I make this myself? Yes, the ingredients are all pretty easy to buy and prepare (except maybe the hemp hearts). Though I would probably skip the coconut and seeds. Also, I’d use non-candied nuts and maybe even skip the syrup. (Bonus points for cutting the sugar.)
I want to point out that I was reading The Bookshop on the Corner. But apparently that’s the U.S. title. The author is Scottish and in the UK the title is The Bookshop on the Shore. As I read my book, I came across this wonderful quote: “You’re never alone with a book.” (by Jenny Colgan). I might make that my personal motto.