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Business & Tech

Bashful Banana—Who Says You Can't Eat Healthy on the Boardwalk?

Try it for breakfast, lunch or dinner—just bananas and much more.

When Heidi Edwards says it's just bananas, she's not kidding.

The Famous Banana Whip, signature dish of Edwards' eatery—the Bashful Banana Bakery & Cafe—tastes as creamy and delicious as ice cream. But it's made of bananas ripened to just the right sweetness, individually frozen and put through a special juicer.

See, contrary to popular belief, the Ocean City Boardwalk offers more than fried or sugar-laden foods.

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“It's great for dessert or breakfast,” Edwards said.

Did we mention the dish does not have to taste like just bananas? Add a flavor for 65¢—strawberry, blueberry, peach, pineapple or raspberry. Or a topping—65¢ or three for $1.50—of berries, non-dairy chocolate chips, coconut, walnuts, almonds, peanut butter chips, freshly ground flax seed or the “famous” all-fruit fudge sauce.

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What the heck is all-fruit fudge sauce? We asked the same question and will get back to you later with the answer.

The Upside Down Cereal Bowl ($5.75)—banana whip with Cheerios, strawberries and blueberries—is one of the most popular dishes on the BBB&C's menu.

For the record, BBB&C is much more than bananas. The menu boasts a huge number of choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

It also has been around quite a while. Edwards took over a 15-year-old vegetarian eatery 13 years ago and aimed for healthy, but not strictly vegetarian, fare. BBB&C is down a sort of alley, in the middle of two other eateries, between the Boardwalk and Ocean Colony condominiums.

The cafe has about 30 seats at picnic tables – super pleasant outdoor seating, in sight of the ocean, but away from the Boardwalk hullabaloo—and 12 inside.

Breakfast, available until 11:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. Sundays, features wholegrain pancakes and waffles; muffins, baked here, are high-fiber, low fat, low sugar.

“A lot of our baking is made with fruit juice concentrate rather than sugar,” said Edwards, who develops many of the recipes. “All winter long, I experiment with different recipes. I tinker with it, like I'll remove butter and add apple sauce. You realize that baked goods you make this way really are better, they last longer, they have more natural sweetness.”

A selection of vegan cupcakes ($2.45) includes flavors like death by chocolate, strawberry shortcake, pumpkin walnut, peanut butter, vanilla lemon and banana.

Nicole Rotuski, an Ocean City resident, rode her bike to the cafe on a recent morning for a cup of tea and a banana whip topped with blueberries.
“Fresh fruit on top is way to go, for flavor and texture,” she said. She also took home a zucchini muffin and extolled the virtues of other baked goods to a friend.

“For a chocolate fix, try the duffin” ($1), in the shape of a donut, but more like a muffin, she said. “I think every time I'm here, I sell somebody something.”

There also is a wide selection of egg dishes—including the breakfast eggel ($5.25), two scrambled eggs topped with cheese on a bagel or English muffin; florentine wrap or sandwich ($6.25), eggs, sauteed spinach and melted mozzarella cheese on bagel, English muffin, hoagie roll or wrap; and several kinds of omelets ($7.25), mostly vegetarian.

Of course, breakfast is not complete without a good cup of joe. Green Mountain coffee is served here.

Curtis Fleck of Mechanicsburg, PA, said he always gets the Revv extra-bold coffee. He was having breakfast with wife Sharon and mother-in-law Rose McCleary on a recent morning.

The family said they have made the BBB&C a regular stop in the 20 years they have been vacationing in Ocean City. Curtis always orders the blueberry waffle and whip ($8.95), while his wife ordered the banana walnut French toast ($7.75) and mother-in-law the upside-down cereal bowl and fresh-squeezed orange juice ($4.25), which she said “can't be beat.”

There are enough choices at lunch to make your head spin. Sandwiches and wraps ($7.95), plus veggie, salmon and turkey burgers ($8.25), are joined by salads ($6.95 to $7.95, plus add-ons like chicken, turkey bacon, tuna etc. for additional cost).

But wait, the dinner menu, served from 3 p.m. on, is even more impressive. There's veggie lasagna ($13.95) and paella—Spanish ($15.95), with shrimp, scallops and chicken, or vegetarian ($13.95), with peppers, onions, mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes, chick peas, edamame and more.

New this year is warm spinach salad with scallops ($15.95), which Edwards promises will wow a diner with taste, but not leave them stuffed.

“It's almost an al fresco plate—just enough, not overly done,” she said.

Edwards doesn't keep her recipes secret, by the way. The all-fruit fudge sauce is made with fruit juice concentrate and cocoa powder. If you didn't know better, you would think it was the sugar-filled variety most places serve. Once you have this kind, you'll never go back.

So next time you're thinking about getting ice cream on the Boardwalk, try the BBB&C. Each serving is made to order, so there might be a wait a dessert time. Watch the staff feed bananas through the juicer. You won't believe how creamy and delicious is the finished product.

 

Bashful Banana Bakery & Cafe

WHERE: 946 Boardwalk (located on Ocean Colony Walk)

WHEN: 7 a.m.-10 p.m.

GET IN TOUCH: Call 609-398-9677, bashfulbananacafe.com, Facebook

OTHER STUFF TO KNOW: Credit cards accepted. Take-out.

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