Rumpelstiltskin's

'You feed the madness and it feeds on you.' Sorry. Couldn't help throwing in a very fitting quote from Robert Carlyle's character, Rumplestiltskin, on the televison show 'Once Upon A Time.' In some ways, this quote is on par with my addiction to eggs Benedict!

I digress, Rumpelstilskin's is a great place for brunch. It over looks St. John's harbour, it's delicious, and did I mention it's cheap? That's right folks $8.99 will get you eggs benny, hashbrowns, and a coffee! Can you say, 'deal?' I've gone to Rumpelstilskin's a few times for brunch, and a word to the wise, make a reservation, especially if you want a window seat or you're going on a Sunday! 

By the looks of that photo, it doesn't appear you're getting a lot of food - don't be fooled, I was very satisfied with the portion, again, for only $8.99! The hashbrowns were delicious, crispy and not over seasoned. The eggs benny has a slight twist, instead of an English muffin, you receive a croissant with ham, poached egg, and hollandaise. My only criticism: my eggs were not poached soft, they were closer to medium, so I missed that little extra yolk. The hollandaise was yummy and creamy, and you can even see what appears to be cayenne pepper flakes if you look closely. If I had to guess, the hollandaise is made in house. 

So. What do score do I give Rumpelstilskin's? I'm giving them a 4.5/5. If only those eggs were poached soft, they may have gotten a perfect score! I encourage all to make a reservation, and head downtown for brunch. Make sure to order a side of hollandaise for dipping those hashbrowns - it's worth it! 

Classic Café East

On recommendation from a friend, I headed to Classic Café East to get eggs Benedict. I've only been to Classic Café East once, many, many years ago; so I wasn't sure what to expect, only that I knew they had a good view. I had to wait quite a while for a table, but hey, that doesn't matter when you get to have hollandaise, right? Well, after waiting about 15 minutes for a table and ordering coffee, I was in for a shock...there's no eggs Benedict on the menu...it's the Classic Café East's take on eggs Benedict, called Classic Benny. It consisted of an English muffin, with ham, two poached eggs, topped with cheese sauce and bacon bits. At this point, I've already committed to brunch, so I figured I might as well go with it. 

I know what readers must be thinking, 'this blog is supposed to be about eggs Benedict, not some funny version of eggs Benedict.' I know, but I did go there because I was told they had eggs benny on the menu, so really, I'm just saving everyone the future trouble! 

So, back to the Classic Café East's 'eggs benny,' the English muffin, ham, and eggs were good, and the first bite, with the delicious runny yolk wasn't that bad...then the cheese sauce hardened, and it turned everything into a hot mess on the plate. On top of that, I'm pretty sure the hashbrowns came straight from a frozen bag at the grocery store. It had zero seasoning, including salt! They were so bland, I was very thankful for ketchup! It's really sad that I had this experience. Looking around the restaurant, some of the other brunch items looked very good. In hindsight, I should have ordered something else when I saw there was no hollandaise. However, I thought, if I go somewhere and they have bacon instead of ham, or croissants instead of English muffins, would I not review them? New rule: some substitutions are okay, but if it doesn't have hollandaise, it won't be reviewed. 

Classic Café East, I should give you a 0/5, as you weren't really eggs benny, but I feel bad. Your hashbrowns were not good, but your servers were really nice, you were not worth $13.00, but you did do well on the three out of four components that make eggs benny, so I'll give you a 1/5.