Milestones

I was encouraged to try Milestones from a friend. They heard from an acquaintance, that although Milestones is a chain, they made their own hollandaise sauce - being the eggs Benedict snob that I am, my friend thought that was very important information to pass along - I agree, that is important!

Regardless of being a chain (and pressing my luck, as every other chain I've tried thus far has since closed it's door in downtown St. John's), I headed to Milestones. I would just like to put a little disclaimer in here for fans of Milestones - I'm sorry if they close after I've reviewed them. That is not my intention, I promise.

I made my way to Milestones around noon, without a reservation, as there were only two of us, and was seated right away. I will mention that Milestones has a lounge and a dining room, my brunch buddy and I chose the dining room, as it was quieter and more comfortable. For those looking to sit in the lounge, I will say that it was significantly louder than the dining room, and had more of a pub atmosphere.

Let me just take a moment to describe how beautiful Milestones is. Now, I've never eaten at a Milestones chain before, so maybe they all look like this, but I really enjoyed the use of wooden archways, chic lighting, and range of seating. You could sit in a booth, table by the big windows, or at the bar, the design was very modern, and pretty elegant. I think the next time I visit Milestones will be in the evening, to really get the full effect of the windows and lighting.

Anyway, I ordered the classic eggs Benedict, although there were multiple options - but you have to be consistent. At Milestones, the eggs Benedict comes with ham, poached egg and hollandaise on an English muffin, and I chose to try their home fries. 

Well, the plating matched the chic decor. I dug in right away, and tried this famous house made hollandaise. I wasn't a fan. It was a bit runny, and although you could see specks of cayenne, all I could taste was lemon. After eating one half of the eggs benny (the eggs were poached perfectly soft, by the way). I really didn't want to try the other half. Maybe I wasn't that hungry, or maybe I just wasn't feeling myself, but I just wasn't digging the texture or lemony taste. I actually asked the server if the hollandaise was yogurt based, as I wasn't getting the same richness that one expects from hollandaise. The server was sure it was not yogurt, and I'm sure she was right, it was the lemon juice, which was not only throwing off the taste, but the consistency. Speaking of taste, those hashbrowns...I'll give Milestones this, it wasn't the same deep fried hashbrowns that you see everywhere. These were more potato wedges than anything, but they had a kick. When you put the spiced potato with the lemony hollandaise, I wasn't feeling it. 

Regardless of decor and service, I was not a fan of Milestones. I have no doubt that the hollandaise was made in house, and because of that, I may try their eggs Benedict again - as everytime you make it, it can be different. But for now, it definitely wasn't one of my favorite eggs benny experiences. 

Milestones is getting ranked closer to the bottom with a 2/5.