If you’re like me and consider breakfast for lunch (or, let’s be honest, even dinner) to be a welcome act of culinary rebellion, Kopper Kettle Café in Topsham is aces.

Located somewhat inconspicuously on a side street connecting Main Street with the Topsham Fair Mall, the diner-style eatery is simple (in a good way) and instantly charming upon entry.

On a recent rainy weekday at 12:30 p.m., there were five other parties seated at one of the dozen wooden booths and tables, which are supplemented by seats at a long counter that backs up into the kitchen.

There is a wooden shelf where plates are passed from the kitchen to servers and a little bell that staff members ding when food is ready to be served felt positively Pavlovian.

An employee told me I could sit anywhere, so I chose an empty booth that could have fit four people. If the restaurant were busier, I likely would have sat at the counter, since I was alone, but instead I enjoyed the elbow room.

The server arrived in less than a minute and said, “Thanks for coming in,” as she placed a menu on the table.

The menu was expansive, with a variety of traditional, comfort food style sandwiches and salads, not to mention the breakfast options, which are served all day. I peeked at the lunch options, but it was just for show. There was no chance I wasn’t getting a breakfast dish.

There were several traditional hearty plates, including eggs benedict served four different ways. The “Irish” version included corned beef hash and poached eggs on an English muffin, topped with Hollandaise ($11.99).

There also were several skillet dishes that consisted of various combinations of scrambled eggs, meat and vegetable served directly on a hot skillet. The Florentine skillet ($13.99) came with sausage, baby spinach and tomatoes and was topped with cheddar jack cheese.

Full disclosure: I don’t like eggs straight up, whether they are scrambled, fried, poached or raw.

But I love eggs when they are mixed with cheese and salty cured meats, and sometimes vegetables, so with that in mind, I gravitated to the omelet section of the menu.

Tempted as I was to get the Barnyard (which included three types of meats and five vegetables), I kept things simple and went with a standard three cheese option ($7.99) and added bacon ($1.99). I also requested a side of hash browns ($2.29)

The server took the menu away, and before I had much time to survey the rest of the restaurant (cute, not tacky holiday decorations, a chalkboard at one end that listed specials), she returned with my plate. I must not have heard the bell.

The omelet covered much of the oval plate, with the hash browns accounting for the rest. Four half slices of warm, lightly buttered wheat toast were piled on one side.

The hash browns were crispy and fried but not too greasy. The omelet was stuffed with crumbles of crisp bacon and cheese (cheddar jack, Swiss and American) and piping hot. Everything tasted fresh and made to order, which seemed remarkable given how little time I waited. Even the toast hit the spot.

I almost didn’t finish the omelet, and probably didn’t need the hash browns, although they were a delightful complement. The meal stuck to my ribs all day, and by the time dinner rolled around, I still felt full and ate light.

Before my check came, an older gentleman who had seen me taking notes in between bites, came up to my booth. Unprompted, he said, “This is the best restaurant in the state.” It was a wholly subjective statement, but in that moment, I was loathe to disagree.

Kopper Kettle Café, which has been around since the late 1980s, felt like the kind of place people go to because they know about it, not because they happened to drive or walk by. Most Maine towns have places like this, and as a resident of nearby Brunswick, I’m glad it’s a place I know about now.

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