Monday, April 11, 2005

Muffin Mania - Bakery & Cafe - San Rafael - Marin

Muffin Mania - 2 Bayview Street - San Rafael - CA - 415 485 1027

During the four years I have worked in San Rafael I have driven past Muffin Mania many times. It never occurred to me to stop there, I thought it was just a place that sold muffins. But as they point in the colourful and interesting history, printed on the back of the menu because of their name many people don't realise that they also make delicious lunches.

photograph picture of Muffin Mania in San Rafael

Luckily we have a colleague at work who has been frequenting Muffin Mania for years. His son (now 16) learnt to walk on trips to the little bakery. Knowing about my interest in food, he sent me a menu and on realising it was more than a cake shop, Fred and I decided to try it for lunch.

photograph picture of Muffin Mania in San Rafael and their mushroom salad

The salads, at $7.25 are large and hearty. I chose a roast mushroom salad. The mushrooms didn't look particularly wonderful but they had a deliciously dense yet refined garlic flavour and a meaty texture.

photograph picture of Muffin Mania in San Rafael and their homemade rocky roll

The salads are served with a fresh baked Rocky Roll. I should point out that everything at Muffin Mania is baked on the premises. The bread is heavy, no wonder it's called "Rocky"! It reminded me of homemade bread and although I think it was a little lacking in salt, I loved the crunchy crust and soft,weighty dough inside.

photograph picture of Muffin Mania in San Rafael and their meatball parigiana sandwich

Muffin Mania use homemade bread for their sandwiches too. Fred chose a Meatball Parmigiana at $7.95. It was enormous. As large as a brick. Again, the bread was dense and filling. The meatballs were well seasoned and very tasty.

We loved this little place and will be returning soon. Our colleague told us that the son of the owners went off to cooking school and learnt how to bake. He makes all of the pastries that Muffin Mania sell including Pecan Tarts, Lemon Tarts, and cookies. Fred tried the homemade croissant recently and he was quite impressed. If you want a croissant you have to get there early, I am told they sell out by about 8.30am

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Muffin Mania - Bakery & Cafe - San Rafael - Marin

8:42 PM  

3 Comments:

  • At 12/4/05 09:20, Blogger Stephanie said…

    Ooh; sounds wonderful! I love places like that.

    I remember the Rockridge market stores were similar, particularly the bakery...if we didn't get there before eight on Sundays, there wouldn't be any croissants left! And you've never seen two people less likely to crawl out of bed at such an early hour. Fortunately, we lived maybe five minutes from the stores, so we could push it to the last possible minute!

     

  • At 12/4/05 09:43, Blogger Cerebrum said…

    WOW, that Meatball Parmigiana looks AMAZING! My keyboard is drowning...

     

  • At 3/12/07 09:30, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I have been a fan of Muffin Mania for over a decade. They have great food and a great atmosphere ----Don't let the name fool you! I would recommend it to anyone looking for a delicious morning pastry (Plus their coffee is great) or a hearty lunch!

     

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