My New Year’s Resolution for 2018: Eat all the Eggs Benedict that I can.
From every possible restaurant, city and state that I can.
Because if there’s one thing I love it’s a good benny for brunch. It’s my go to hangover cure.
To kick things off, the inaugural review features the Butcher Benedict from Eggsclusive Café, a brunch-focused restaurant near my hometown of Rockford, Illinois.
They didn’t make it an easy choice either. The menu is stacked with all sorts of eggs benedict. It really was an impressive range that’s sure to satisfy a variety of appetites.
I settled with the Butcher Benedict due to its classic approach to the dish, which would make a good starting point for this ongoing quest to find the ultimate eggs benedict.
Eggsclusive’s menu describes the Butcher Benedict as:
“Bacon, sausage & ham, melted cheddar cheese & two poached eggs, topped with hollandaise & served on a toasted English muffin.”
And because not all eggs benedicts are created equal, I’ve designed a five point rating system that will help me judge the finer qualities that make up a good benny. The categories are the hollandaise, the meat, the poached eggs, the muffin (or toast), and the side.
Hollandaise: 4/5
The hollandaise was one of the standouts from this dish. It followed the philosophy of ‘keeping it simple, stupid’. The dish follows the definition of traditional hollandaise, and it pays off. By not taking too many liberties, you get a classic hollandaise that really holds this dish together.
Meat: 3/5
If the hollandaise took the simple approach, the meat on this dish did the opposite. Some good benedicts have perfectly seared breakfast ham. Others opts for crispy cuts of bacon. And some others choose a hearty and savory sausage. The Butcher chose all three, creating a breakfast trifecta of meats. It worked, especially when you have hungry stomach to satisfy. But some key points kept it from being perfect, notedly the bacon was cold and the ham was a bit too fatty.
Eggs: 4/5
Poached eggs can make or break the breakfast. But with the Butcher, they nailed it. The eggs were the right amount of runny, seasoned, and delicious.
Muffin: 2/5
Here’s where we started to see things breakdown. The muffin. It very well could be the most overlooked part of the meal. But a good muffin should act as a nice little pillow, allowing the poached eggs to sleep gently atop in their sea of hollandaise, and absorb the gooey golden goodness when the fork cuts in to the egg. But alas, here is where the Butcher came up short. The English muffins were burnt, and one was hard as rock, making it a real pain to cut up and eat.
Side: 3.5/5
For the side, I chose the Eggsclusive potatoes, a classic take on American fries. Cause really, no brunch is complete without greasy, skillet-fried potatoes, right? They made a nice pairing with the eggs benny and overall they were a great savory side.
Overall Rating: 16.5 points (out of 25)
Hey, overall it’s not a bad score. The meats, hollaindaise, and the addition of cheddar cheese made this a quality brunch dish.
But, as someone who truly appreciates the wonderful world of brunch and eggs benedict, I can’t just be handing out five stars left and right. Someday, I’ll find the perfect eggs benedict. But in the meantime, this brunch benedict adventure continues.