[REVIEW] Eggs Benedict / Austin Java / Austin, TX
Austin is blessed with a plethora of fine breakfast emporiums, and as American coffee goes, Austin Java is pretty good. There are a few different locations around the city (including a kiosk at the airport) but our favourite is the Parkway spot; it has a lovely deck out the front where you can enjoy a sunny Eggs Benedict.
Great muffins and a serviceable hollandaise make this worth the stroll out of downtown proper, and if you’re in Austin during SXSW, we can guarantee this is far enough away from the throng of more central breakfast spots.
Their breakfast quesadilla looked pretty special too, and stick to filter coffee. Espresso round these parts isn’t anything to write home about.
★[BREAKFAST] Hawksmoor / Guild Hall / A Sausage Sandwich to Die For
So good I had to write it up twice.
I’d just like to make a quick concession to the Sausage Sandwich with French dip. What is this French dip you ask?
A French dip sandwich, also known as a beef dip, is a hot sandwich consisting of thinly sliced roast beef (or, sometimes, other meats) on a “French roll” or baguette. It is usually served au jus (“with juice”), that is, with beef juice from the cooking process. Beef broth or beef consomme is sometimes substituted.
Source Wikipedia
This is the second French Dip I’ve had in London, the first being from Yianni at the Meatwagon when he was still in Peckham.
What you need to know is that they are great. The Hawksmoor sausage variant is one of the best sandwiches of the year, and just adds to the arsenal that is the Guild Hall breakfast menu. The bread, sausage and gravy are an incredible morning combination.
Another quick mention for the boiled eggs with anchovy soldiers - perfectly soft and the soldiers are perfectly crisp sticks of umami. And also those baked goods are still incredible.
Best breakfast in town.
[REVIEW / ON TOUR] Porky Benedict + Granola Waffle / Cafe 222 / San Diego, CA
It’s a hard knock yolk
In the past, I’ve always been ‘You CANNOT get a bad Eggs Benedict in the states esse’ (Yup, just like that). Well, you can scratch that now, I found a place.
Having found some good reviews of Café 222, we wandered for way longer than our hangovers desired to check it out. We were both in a Benedict mood so I had the pork patty version, whilst my compadre had the standard.
It was a less than overwhelming sight when it arrived. The hollandaise looked like it had separated a bit on both our plates, leaving speckles of melted butter floating around. It tasted like it looked, heavy and buttery. And when I cut into the eggs, the yolks were hard. I was like, this must be a mistake, but my friend cut into his and.. the same. Who cooks the yolks to solid in a fucking Benny?! The griddled potatoes were ok, but not enough of a saving grace for that travesty.
This place had won some gold medallion food award SIX years in a row? Fuck that shit.
Luckily, we also ordered a much-lauded-on-the-interwebs waffle. Our choice was the stuffed granola, and it was great. The chunks of granola intermingled with the waffle batter was a novel touch, and tasty as with heaps of maple syrup poured over. Now *there* was the saving grace we’d been looking for. If I’d’ve just had the Benny, I’d’ve been pissed.
- Rob.
★[ON TOUR / REVIEW] Clinton Street Baking Co. / Eggs Benedict Biscuit Brunch / New York City
When it comes to a benedict, serving it on a buttermilk biscuit is just an enormous no-no.
Hype.
Hype hypey hype.
In a city that breakfasts and brunches with the very best of them, Clinton Street Baking Company is right up there on the must-visit lists. The weekend queues can be legendary. We, however, showed up mid-morning on a Monday. We didn’t have to queue, to the point where merely asking for a table and getting one immediately seemed to piss off the Maitre d’.
So we were in, nestled at the back near the kitchen window, and we were hungry. For me, the eggs benedict is always the quality benchmark, especially in such a celebrated environment. It’s worth noting at this point that Clinton Street are all about the biscuits and gravy throughout the menu. When it comes to a benedict, serving it on a buttermilk biscuit is just an enormous no-no.
Biscuits are effectively scones. Imagine a scone with a slightly overcooked poached egg, some fairly flavourless hollandaise and some inexplicable shavings of red pepper and, er, spring onion. Sorry, scallions.
And then, when you cut into it, the biscuit (scone) immediately disintegrates. Because that’s what they do. It ruins the dish, makes a huge mess and you’re left picking out the inexplicable bits of spring onion from your teeth.
Compared to a muffin or toast-based benedict, this was a huge disappointment. I don’t mind a good biscuit when used in the right context, but here it was being different just for the thematic sake of it. One of the worst dishes on this trip in a place that seemed like it would be a slam dunk.
Oh and the pancakes were fine, but the maple butter was weird. A greasier, claggier version of syrup that had a slight burnt aftertaste. $13 is a bit punchy.
I don’t think we ordered right, but I just can’t suffer through another of their buttermilk biscuits, so won’t be back for another go.
Don’t believe the hype, and leave the queues for everyone else. Katz’s Deli is only round the block.
- Simon.
