After a wild Saturday night (and Sunday morning) celebrating my birthday in the great city of Milwaukee, I needed a hangover brunch.
Boy did I ever. So after a sharing a bottle of champagne with my friends, I headed over to the only place available on Mother’s Day and got myself a benny.
Note to myself and anyone else: unlimited mimosas on a Sunday are not a good idea. It never ends well. But I do want to shout out to the staff at Oak Barrel, they were 100%.
The eggs benny, however…
Hollandaise: 1/5
The hollandaise. A critical part of the eggs benny. It should be the flood of golden goo sauce that ties everything together. Alas, it was no more a sea of sauce than a mere puddle. A tablespoon sparingly dripped on over the top. I can’t even remember what it tasted like because there was so little.
Eggs: 3/5
Hey. poached eggs are hard to make. And they did a solid job. They weren’t as runny as I would have liked, but they also were seasoned and didn’t have that gross, fresh from a boiled pot of water taste.
Meat: 4/5
This was a greasy, fatty cut of pork belly – not your everyday breakfast ham. For some, it might be too much, but for a birthday hangover, it was just right.
Muffin: 4/5
The muffin is the tricky part of the eggs benny. It should never be the star of the show. It should be subtle, a support pillow that soaks up the greasy meat, egg yolk, and hollandaise. This was just that. It wasn’t over or undercooked. No, it was a near perfect support pillow, and well buttered too.
Side: 5/5
The sides! Holy moly man. Not only do you get fried hash brown balls (a hangover’s dream) but you also get, not one, but two! Two sausage links! I gotta give ’em a five just on that alone.
Overall: 17
A solid 17 puts the Oak Barrell Benny in the middle of the running. But you know what? It’s not all about the food. If you are hungover, looking for A+ service, and want to regret a Sunday spent downing bottomless mimosas, then this is the place for you.