28 November 2014

Best of Canberra Taste Off - Eggs Benedict

| Canfan
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The call for best Eggs Benedict was a popular one. We had a lot of input for a wealth of Canberra brunch joints. Two gathered multiple nominations. ONA in Fyshwick and Me & Mrs Jones in Kingston. I headed to ONA first with high hopes after their domination of the egg and bacon roll debate. I arrived ready for Eggs Benny with a mug of their frankly fabulous coffee but was met with a menu showing no such thing as Eggs Benedict. They do however do a ‘build your own breakfast’ option with hollandaise as a condiment choice so I went into the ultra trendy (??) world of all things deconstructed and ordered two poached eggs with bacon, spinach and hollandaise and put that sucker together myself.

Eggs Ben 4 Eggs Ben 3

It came out as expected, all in pieces, ready for me to put together as desired. A small pot of hollandaise sat in it’s own little bowl on the plate, thick and creamy with a herby flavor (maybe tarragon?). The eggs were perfectly cooked so that runny orange gooiness oozed all over the toast and bacon (mmmmm). The toast was sourdough which seems to absorb the runny egg and hollandaise whilst retaining its structural integrity long enough to get it from plate to mouth.

The second stop (a few days later) was Me & Mrs Jones in Kingston. This place was raved about in the nominations so I had high hopes. Eggs Benedict comes with the option of smoked salmon, bacon, ham or spinach. I went with bacon as that’s what I had in ONA – to allow for a direct comparison. What first struck me when this came out was the hollandaise. It was thinner than the usual (my usual restaurant experience of hollandaise that is) with bubbles still in parts of it as if straight from whisking to plate. This had the same gorgeous runny eggs and dense toast, but the hollandaise was the real kicker in this. There was a slight sharp edge of lemon. It was quite frankly the best hollandaise I have sampled. Ever.

Eggs Ben 1 Eggs Ben 2

That’s what struck me. In a place like Canberra, where we are loaded with excellent cafés, I would expect the eggs and side of choice to be perfectly cooked every time. It’s the hollandaise that makes an Eggs Benedict truly great. When I think about the Eggs Benedict I have sampled in recent years, the majority of the hollandaise has been thick and creamy and more of a ‘dollop’ on the egg than a sauce. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not a bad thing. But a perfect hollandaise makes all the difference.

In this case, Me & Mrs Jones has the hollandaise down to an art. My compliments to the chef!

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Genie said :

Canfan said :

ONA offer eggs and toast with a condiment (hollandaise) for $10 and I added bacon for $4 (I also had spinach for an extra $4 but wasn’t necessary), so pretty reasonable given most prices around town. Me & Mrs Jones was $16. I didn’t think either were overpriced by Canberra standards, but I do think local dining is expensive generally.

$4 to add Bacon and ANOTHER $4 to add Spinach ???

The handful of wilted baby spinach on your plate would have been about 50cents worth. TOPS! I could not justify paying $4 to add spinach. Wow talk about a mark up.

(For the record yes – I like to get my value for money. I will and have complained to local clubs who charge as much as $4 for sauce served with steak or schnitzels and only provide a tiny morsel. It’s not fun paying $2 for sauce and watching them pour a massive tablespoon over your meal)

you’re an egg

Canfan said :

ONA offer eggs and toast with a condiment (hollandaise) for $10 and I added bacon for $4 (I also had spinach for an extra $4 but wasn’t necessary), so pretty reasonable given most prices around town. Me & Mrs Jones was $16. I didn’t think either were overpriced by Canberra standards, but I do think local dining is expensive generally.

$4 to add Bacon and ANOTHER $4 to add Spinach ???

The handful of wilted baby spinach on your plate would have been about 50cents worth. TOPS! I could not justify paying $4 to add spinach. Wow talk about a mark up.

(For the record yes – I like to get my value for money. I will and have complained to local clubs who charge as much as $4 for sauce served with steak or schnitzels and only provide a tiny morsel. It’s not fun paying $2 for sauce and watching them pour a massive tablespoon over your meal)

ONA offer eggs and toast with a condiment (hollandaise) for $10 and I added bacon for $4 (I also had spinach for an extra $4 but wasn’t necessary), so pretty reasonable given most prices around town. Me & Mrs Jones was $16. I didn’t think either were overpriced by Canberra standards, but I do think local dining is expensive generally.

Madam Cholet8:09 am 07 Oct 14

bronal said :

I notice no one has mentioned price in this thread. I had eggs benedict at the Yarralumla Nursery cafe last Saturday. it was quite enjoyable, although the sauce was too runny for my liking and the ham was cold under the eggs. But at over $20, I thought it was a bit exxy. Am I out of touch, or don’t Rioters care about prices?

I’ve always thought this place had extortionate prices so as nice a spot as it is I avoid it.

I notice no one has mentioned price in this thread. I had eggs benedict at the Yarralumla Nursery cafe last Saturday. it was quite enjoyable, although the sauce was too runny for my liking and the ham was cold under the eggs. But at over $20, I thought it was a bit exxy. Am I out of touch, or don’t Rioters care about prices?

it’s surprising ona had such a high rating to have you include them in the taste-off while not actually having the dish on their menu…

i know tossolini’s did a quite excellent benny, though this was some years back [i don’t get out for breakfast much these days…]

Well I will have to admit here that I have never had Eggs Benedict. Have always been happy enough with bacon and scrambled eggs, ‘n coffee.
But your photos of the meal make it something I will have to try. Thanks.

Holden Caulfield12:23 am 03 Oct 14

Thank you, I know what I’ll be doing one morning during this long weekend, the short stroll to Me & Mrs Jones!

I’ve been having a few breakfasts at Me and Mrs Jones over the past month. Tried their eggs benedict(bacon) for the first time on Wednesday. Agree with the review. Very good. I’m sampling the Salmon benedict next time. [For research]

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