Dinner and Dessert in JC

Today G and I had a late lunch at The Merchant in JC. I really like this place - it's an old renovated bank and they still have the giant vault, which is really neat (you can see it over on the right on the homepage). We both had the veggie burger and french fries. The veggie burger is homemade, not some frozen patty from the grocery store. It's a bit hard to eat however, as it's pretty mushy and usually comes sliding out the back and sides of the bun right after the first bite. So we just take the top bun off and eat it with a fork and knife. I had mine with a Heiferweisen (sp?) and G had a Manger's hard cider. I always forget that Heferweisen comes in those giant glasses and I always feel like a retard sitting there with a giant tank of beer in front of me. We were starving and cleaned our plates a bit too quickly. And there was a "private party" on the upstairs level, which was not too private as there were screaming kids running all over the restaurant being totally obnoxious.

We then headed over to Beachwood Cafe for coffee and dessert. We shared a huge slab of tiarmisu, which is my new favorite dessert, and boy was it delicious. I also had a decaf esspresso, which was equally delicious, but I am paying the price with full-on caffeine jitters that are making me feel horrible! They said it was decaf, but I'm not sure. I feel like I read some expose somwhere about how half the time people order decaf when they are out it's really caffeinated. But I am really sensitive to caffeine, and the waitress did say that they almost gave me caffeinated and had to go back and make a decaf. I need to just skip the coffee when I'm out...but I love it so! Nothing beats a nice, strong espresso after a big meal, with a thin, beautiful dark brown layer of foam on top.