Dining review: Congee, curry and the ill-named Sunshine Cafe in Bonita Springs — JLB review

When I saw congee on the menu, my eyes lit up. 

Flipping through the plastic-slip-covered pages of Sunshine Cafe's offerings can be maddening. Do you want waffles or pho? Bagel sandwiches or Laotian style khao jee sandwiches or maybe a massaman curry with sweet potatoes and beef?

But then, the congee, a rice-based porridge topped here with minced pork, slivers of ginger and a perfectly poached egg that spills its runny yolk into the comfortingly simple goodness beneath it. 

Congee is like Asia's take on cream of wheat, and Sunshine Cafe nails it, balancing the faint sweetness of the porridge with the savory toppings and the bright, sinus-clearing crunch of fresh ginger. 

You don't find congee often (or ever) in this town. Nor do you find a place like Sunshine Cafe. 

Its name is confusing. 

It implies waffles and omelets, both of which Sunshine has, sure. But the name tells you nothing about the Vietnamese, Thai, Loatian and Japanese dishes that shine even brighter on this mishmash of a menu. 

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Sunshine Cafe opened in Bonita Springs in January in the small Prado at Spring Creek space that was occupied by Sushi Thai Too until late 2016 when it upgraded to the former Big Al's building next door. Sushi Thai Too's owners held on to this smaller unit, though, reopening it as this more casual, Asian-diner-style restaurant (if there is such a thing). 

Sunshine is one of those places that refuses to focus. And I get why.

This isn't the most adventurous town. It's hard to imagine a Thai breakfast-lunch-early-dinner joint succeeding, let alone a Laos one, or even a Vietnamese one. So Sunshine brought them all together, and then hedged those bets by adding a hearty dose of American stuff, too. 

But that American stuff, at its best (thick burgers, decent pancakes), is just OK. At its chicken-salad-sandwich worst it's bland, boring, blah (all the bad b's). 

It's what I call Sharon-food. 

Let me explain. 

In college I had a friend Sharon. Sharon ate cheese pizza as I tore through fish tacos on spring break in Cancun. She ordered grilled cheese sandwiches at nice steak houses, and ate ice cream on Chinese takeout night. 

Sunshine's American items are meant to please the Sharons, the folks who'd rather go back to Perkins for lunch, but get dragged to some "exotic" restaurant by a food-loving friend like me. 

But for the adventurous, Sunshine is a veritable smorgasbord, where congee is just the beginning. 

I've always believed Asian cultures have breakfast nailed. Over there, the first meal of the day is almost always savory and sippable. Steamy soups to clear groggy heads, spicy-salty meats to kick start the palate. Sunshine has all of it. 

The Thai street omelets, the meaty kai kata, the array of noodle soups that include Japanese-style ramen and Vietnamese-style pho, sure, but also beef noodle soup and roast pork noodle soup and one of the best Cantonese-style roasted duck noodle soups I've ever had. 

The duck floated as tender slices atop a tangle of lightly chewy egg noodles. The broth, a murky mahogany color, proved richly addicting, made even better by a dash of chili flakes from the jar on the table. 

The sunshine noodle soup was far funkier, though just as luscious. Ground pork and peanuts topped this broad bowl, as did two fish balls, white-fish meatballs with a springy, almost bouncy bite. 

But even on the so-called "exotic" menus, things aren't always perfect. 

Khao kha moo is traditionally made with braised pork hocks, but at Sunshine came as stir-fried bits of pork strewn with peppers in a sweet basil sauce. Its khanom pang na moo should have been thick cubes of toast smeared with pork spread and fried to a delicate crunch. But mine tasted more like french toast sprinkled with scrambled eggs and more pork bits (I still ate it, don't get me wrong). 

It's bites like those that make the sticky table top, the instrumental version of the "Frozen" song playing overhead, and the nagging fly that always seems to be around that much more annoying. 

But with a sip of the Thai iced coffee, hinting of cardamom with a cloudy splash of sweetened-condensed milk, or with a bite of the Thai-style doughnuts (served with a mug of warm soy milk that will make you dangerously sleepy), any such annoyances are easy to forget. 

My server has been the same young woman on every visit. She's been efficient and to-the-point, though I've never seen more than two tables occupied here, so it's hard to judge. 

Sunshine Cafe could use some better marketing, or maybe a name that doesn't make it sound like an IHOP. Asian All-Day Breakfast Diner? That doesn't quite ring right. Congee Cafe? That might be too specific. 

Maybe if more people just knew. 

Maybe then Sunshine could dump the bland Sharon-foods that are dragging it down, and focus on all the hard-to-find southeast Asian treats it does so right. 

Jean Le Boeuf is the pseudonym used by a local food lover who dines at restaurants anonymously and without warning, with meals paid for by The News-Press or Naples Daily News. Follow the critic at facebook.com/jeanleboeufswfl or @JeanLeBoeuf on Twitter and Instagram. 

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Sunshine Cafe

25301 U.S. 41 S., Bonita Springs

•Food: ★★☆☆

•Atmosphere: ★☆☆☆

•Service: ★☆☆☆

•Price: $

•Call: 221-3799

•Web: Find it on Facebook

•Hours: 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday, closed Monday

•Noise level: Low 

•Etc.: Beer and wine available, takeout available, no outdoor seating

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Sample menu

Breakfast

• Waffle, $4.95

• Western omelet, $8.95

• Congee, $8.95

Lunch and dinner

• Tuna melt, $8.95

• Bangkok noodle soup, $9.95

• Massaman curry, $10.95

What the symbols mean

JLB explains the star system

★ - Fair

★★ - Good

★★★ - Excellent

★★★★ - Exceptional

$ - Average dinner entree is under $10

$$ - $10-$15

$$$ - $15-$20

$$$$ - $20-$25

$$$$$ - $25 and up