Manypenny Bistro is a family run place that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner along with offering take out options. It touts itself as serving classics as well as inventive combinations, and indeed it does. Lots of pizza options and burgers for later in the day but we were there for breakfast. In addition to the good sized menu they had daily specials. One room is filled with tables and streaming with sunlight from all the windows in a corner building. The second room has the bar and high-topped tables for dining. The menu sounds inviting and I hope to get back to try some of their dinner options, like whitefish livers which are rare to find and exquisite when done well. At breakfast they also offered special of raspberry fritter French toast which also sounds fun to try. The service was attentive and efficient and the portions were large and good. We were not ordering adventuous options so I look forward to getting back and trying more things. Let me know if you get there first and what you try.
Set-up
Food
The Fisherman’s Platter breakfast comes with 2 eggs your way (over easy), 2 sausage links, 2 bacon slices, hashbrowns (or tossed potatoes) and a choice of toast for which I chose a pancake. The pancake is one option for your toast selection and it’s way too much to order to go with this breakfast I learned, but it’s always fun to try lots of things. The hashbrowns were totally crisped and a bit greasy but I loved them. The eggs were cooked over-easy as ordered and nicely served not sitting on anything hot so they cook more. The sausage links had a bit of spiciness that was nice and the bacon was crisp and smokey. The pancake did not seem to have real maple syrup in the container but did come with a packet of real butter. There was a nice ring on the edge and the flavor was ordinary. It was a medium thickness.
One of our friends ordered the Gyro Omelet and it was filled with gyro meat, sautéed mushrooms, spinach, red onion and feta cheese. It came with a choice of toast for which she chose rye. She said it was fine and huge.
A special that day was the Smothered Hash Browns. They were topped with Italian sausage, mozzarella cheese, onion, and garlic and served with your choice of 2 eggs (over easy) and choice of toast (pancake). The eggs were cooked as ordered, over-easy and separated from the smothered hash browns so they were still runny when you mixed them together. The sausage had much more fennel and thus the Italian flavoring, than the links I had. It was reported to be okay.
That sounds l like a good place. I’m curious about the whitefish livers. Are they close to chicken livers?
They are a lot like chicken livers, only a tad more delicate if cooked right – as is the case with all livers. They tend to be fried with a light coating. I used to get them regularly at another place in town but the last time I did, which was many years ago, they were way over cooked and not tasty at all. I have hope that this place could do a good job. Since they catch a lot of whitefish in Lake Superior this is a good spot to find them. I’ve not found them in many other places.
Did you pick up any smoked fish while you were in Bayfield?
Sorry no. Think there’s a place friends have recommended in Port Wing. I can try and get the name if you want. Might be Everett’s.
For a building that looks like it started out as a house, the interior’s really nice. It looks much more roomy than one would expect from looking at the exterior.
The butter on the table is expected because it’s required by law, but if they’re not serving real maple syrup, preferably from Wisconsin, it’s criminal!
lol! You know Wisc ways. Coming from the south the weirdest thing to me was the custom of setting the tables with coffee cups. Go cheeseheads!