Morning Glory, Gloucester, MA, USA

I saw it on the specials menu. No ingredients, no description, just the name “Fish Cake Club” and an $11 price tag next to it, making it pretty much the most expensive item in the restaurant. I only wanted eggs and bacon for brunch this Sunday, but with my family egging me on, a Fish Cake Club was going to be added to the mix.

Our first stop for brunch was Sugar Magnolias, a staple Maine Street breakfast eatery in Gloucester that my uncles and cousins have always preferred going to. Myself, not so much, so when the wait was 45 minutes for a table and the decision was made to go to Morning Glory, I couldn’t have been happier. We grabbed a coffee from Lone Gull (wow – fantastic brew, and absolutely love their loyalty club system) and made our way to a busy Morning Glory, a table waiting just for us.

We dined on the usual breakfast items: fried eggs, sausages, pancakes, omelets, eggs benedict, home fries. All great. However, Ella ordered the fish chowder – which was fantastic – and everyone at the table immediately insisted I have the fish cake club. Who cares if I was full – the allure of the fish cake club was just too strong and with a table of 7 declaring they’d finish what I didn’t, the order was on.

Was it going to be circular? How would they cut the bread? Would the cake hurt the ratio? Would there be a need for a 3rd slice?

Morning Glory’s Fish Cake Club was everything I was expecting it to be: fairly fishy. As I took bites from this club sandwich, I wondered if the bread – especially the 3^rd slice – was even necessary; each mouthful was so crammed with fish cake, that my mouth didn’t have enough saliva to break down the bread that bound this meal together.

Fish, fish flavor, breadyness, and mush – that’s what each bite tasted and felt like. The bacon was the exact same that came in my breakfast order, and while that was a yummy addition, it didn’t take anything away from the fact this was a fish cake club. The tomato and lettuce helped add a bit of diversity to the club, but once again their flavor was way overpowered by the fish cake. As bread blended into fish cake and each bite was a mouth of mush, I decided I was glad I had a full breakfast before this sandwich; I didn’t need anything else, I was stuffed.

I am so happy my family convinced me to order a second meal. While this was my first fish cake club experience, it will definitely not be my last. I could feel the potential pouring out of this creation, and even if it didn’t hit all of the right spots, it was still a treat to try. The Fish Cake Club must be a Gloucester native, however I will look for it again as my travels continue stateside.

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