Tuesday morning 9 o’clock, and I’m late.

I’ve got $6 in my wallet and am feeling relatively flush. I’m prepared to spend it all in the same place, but it’s got to be fast and it had better include eggs, bacon and cheese.

The Clock Tower Cafe at City Hall is not my first instinct. But driving by the edifice on Congress Street, I couldn’t resist the urge. When the newspaper was across the street, a few of us made the City Hall cafe a regular destination. It’s a tiny enclave in the basement, little more than a nook and a cranny. But the food is good, and the prices reasonable.

Since our offices moved to One City Center last June, I hadn’t been back. Perhaps conceding to the tug of nostalgia, I yanked my car into a parking spot, plugged a meter with nickels and bought myself 18 minutes. Plenty of time.

The cafeteria was empty but for Milton Hammith, the affable cook. He pointed me to the cooler, where I pulled a premade breakfast sandwich from the bottom shelf. No bacon, but sausage would suit me just fine. That accounted for $2 of my $6.

A 12-ounce New England Coffee with cream cost another $1.

I knew I didn’t need it, but I wanted to see how far I could stretch my dollar. A bowl of Cheerios, which I would normally eat at home before leaving for work, cost 75 cents. I grabbed an orange and banana to go, each 50 cents.

If my math is right, that haul of breakfast food cost all of $4.75. I had money left over, and still plenty of options.

I happened to be in the mood for something heavy, but someone could have eaten healthier. In addition to a selection of fresh-looking fruit, the Clock Tower Cafe offers an appealing assortment of yogurts, nuts, granola and other healthy options.

Hammith heated my breakfast sandwich in the microwave while I downed the cereal and stuffed the fruit into my jacket pockets.

Sandwich in one hand, coffee in the other, I trudged back out over the snowy sidewalk to my car. I still had 13 minutes on the meter.

I unfolded the wax paper and enjoyed my sandwich from the front seat of my car. Served on an English muffin, it included one egg cooked to medium with still just a touch of runny yellow yolk; a spicy, juicy sausage patty; and a just-so slice of melted white American cheese.

It was exactly what I craved. My only regret was not having enough change to buy two.

The Features staff of The Portland Press Herald anonymously samples meals for about $7.