The Challengers:

• Fireside Bistro
• Rock Creek Tap and Grill (North)
• La Bodega

It has become a tradition of sorts for us post-university aged folks. We groggily roll awake to a stiff headache and vibrating cell phone. Rubbing the sleep out of our eyes and trying to recall a previous night of hilarious debauchery or social drinkies, we reach for that phone. And bright as a thousand suns the screen is illuminated with those three wonderful words:

“Anyone for brunch?”

Yes, brunch. It’s the best meal of the week – popular both because of its rarity but also its lovely fusion of breakfast and lunch. You can enjoy hashbrowns or hamburgers. Eggs or roast beef. Booze or not booze. And on the top of every brunch menu, shining like a beacon towards your bloodshot eyes sits the holiest of brunch menu items – eggs benedict (or eggs ‘benny’ for those unwashed plebs in the crowd).

So after a long hiatus, I am pleased to present what I believe to be the tastiest pick of the lot.

CHALLENGER #1: FIRESIDE BISTRO

A classic brunch hangout, with a stellar deck and a full selection of beers on tap, Fireside Bistro is a staple on the brunch circuit. After inevitable arguing with friends about where to go and what you want to eat, it always seems that Fireside Bistro is one place that everyone can agree on.

After ordering myself the first of what will be a few pints of Guinness, I decide on the Tuscan Benedict. They ask me how I want my egg poached, which is a lovely consideration, and one that is often not repeated at many other joints around the city. I tell them that I would like it poached medium. Not watery, but most certainly not hard. I desire that perfect level of viscosity that is hard to hit exactly. Oozy.

Beer #2 arrives with my meal. And those eggs look mighty fine.

The first egg was a tad soft. But still certainly within the realm of “could maybe be medium depending on the way you look at it”. The hollandaise was lovely and zingy. Not too salty at all. It had a nice flavour to it. It didn’t knock me out with big flavours… it was a bit more subtle. But overall it was a very nice sauce. The salt came mostly from the proscutto underneath the egg which worked nicely with the dish. The tomato was nice and crispy, not soggy at all. The second egg, having the benefit of resting for a couple of minutes was a perfect medium. It had the ooze which I was able to mop up with my crispy and delicious cubed hashbrowns which accompanied the dish. Overall, it was a very satisfying eggs benedict. Eggs were nicely done, the hollandaise was not overpowering, but rather complimentary to the egg and meat. It was almost like an extension of the yolk. Very nice.

CHALLENGER #2: ROCK CREEK TAP AND GRILL (NORTH)

Another rough morning, another opportunity for some sweet sweet eggs benedict.

We roll into Rock Creek north (by the Galaxy Cinema), and push a bunch of tables together. There are a lot of us, and that always makes me feel uncomfortable. I feel bad for the poor server that ends up needing to tend to a table of 12.

I get the Florence Benedict, since it is fairly similar to the previous meal I had at Fireside Bistro. I figured easy comparison was good. Cue delicious caesar #1.

The dish arrived. It looked pretty good. Unfortunately, the taste didn’t quite match up. The eggs came out rock hard. No oozy-gooeyness, no nothing. Just rock hard madness! Proscutto was fine. The bread was tough. But the real travesty was the hollandaise sauce. To me, it didn’t taste like that salty, zingy nectar that I know and love, but instead of burnt butter. There just wasn’t much to it, and the flavours that it was pushing out just weren’t appealing. Too bad.

Overall, my eating experience certainly did have positives. The staff and attentiveness were top notch. The servers were friendly and didn’t shed a single bead of sweat while serving our large group along with their other tables. The hashbrowns, which were more like baked potatoes (cut very large with the skin still on) were very enjoyable, even though I usually don’t like ‘em that style. And other meals that came to the table looked very good, had nice portion sizes, and got positive reviews from the people enjoying them. My drinks were delicious too. I think it might simply be a case of my meal sitting in the window for far too long, and a bad batch of hollandaise (a notoriously finicky sauce). I’m sure I’ll be back, but maybe just not for the eggs benedict.

CHALLENGER #3: LA BODEGA

Unfortunately, there wasn’t an option for the proscutto benedict at La Bodega, so I tried something a bit different for this one – smoked salmon benedict.

Also, I accidentally deleted my notes on this one, so I’m going by memory. Bear with me!

It, similar to the last benedict came out on slices of baguette. I’m a fan of the traditional English muffin, but it wasn’t bad at all. The eggs were cooked quite nicely – pretty well exactly how I wish for it!

The hollandaise was strange. Certainly not bad in any way! Just unique. For all I know, that could be the traditional French method of making hollandaise sauce. It was fine, but it tasted… cheesy? Its hard to explain (especially without my notes!). It wasn’t salty, which is fantastic because the salmon was taking good care of that. I’m never a fan of the fruit going right next to the saucy eggs… but that’s just me getting really picky. Overall, it was a satisfying, albeit different dish. The atmosphere was cozy, the server was lovely, and the food was nicely prepared. I’m interested to try the traditional ham benedict when I return in the future. Overall, well done.

Three different eggs benedicts, and three very different takes on this classic dish. Each one was unique in its own way, but ultimately, there needs to be a winner. And that winner is:

FIRESIDE BISTRO!

Thanks for reading, mouthstuffers!

Until next thyme! (har har har!)