Clareview Cora Benny

Saturday morning I got up at an ungodly hour to cheer on A and K in the MEC 5km run. We were there by 8am.. I rarely get up that early for work, let alone for fun. After freezing my butt off waiting for them to finish the race, we decided to go to Cora up in Clareview (4270 137 avenue). As with every trip to Cora I've ever made, we had a bit of a wait. I think it was shorter this time than it was when A and I went to Cora on Calgary Trail.
Once we were seated with our menus, A and I got our usual coffee as did K. We were seated along the wall in line with the entrance and I guess it was windy outside because a picture on the shelf above the table adjacent to ours blew off the shelf and fell on a customer. Luckily it wasn't a heavy framed picture (it probably wouldn't have fallen if it were). We had a little laugh and then a fat golden ribbon came sailing down off the shelf above me. We had to laugh when one of the staff came over and asked if everyone was alright... the ribbon was akin to those used in rhythmic gymnastics and wouldn't have hurt a small child.
We ordered and of course I got a benny. As I had the mushroom brie Ben et Dictine last time we went to a Cora, I decided to try the Asparagus Swiss Ben et Dictine.

As always, the presentation of the food at Cora is colourful and that alone makes it look delicious! The asparagus was cooked to perfection: not too crispy and not too soggy. The eggs could have been a bit more soft poached for my liking, but the yolks weren't hard and that alone satisfies me. I like the fat sauce at Cora. Because everything there is very fresh, I'm sure the hollandaise is made from scratch. If anyone knows any differently, feel free to correct me on this. The addition of cheese to benny is something that I usually like. This time was no exception, even if swiss cheese is not my favourite. Again, I wasn't impressed with the potatoes here. They are quite bland... not crispy and pretty flavourless. The best thing about them is that there is no mistaking that they are real potatoes and they are cooked. I kinda wonder if they boil them and then just pan fry them to heat them up.

Conclusion: We had a nice breakfast experience at this Cora. The staff here was efficient and the food was warm and comforting on this rainy morning. I wouldn't say this particular benny was my favourite so far, not the BEST eggs benedict EVER, but still worth the trip and the wait in line.

http://www.chezcora.com/home

Cora Restaurant Ben et Dictine - $12.55 +tax

My sister is in town visiting for the next couple of weeks. On the weekend, I had to drive her to the Holiday Inn Express down at the south end of the city for a life coaching course that she enrolled in to be certified and for her own personal growth. On my way to drop her off on Sunday morning, I decided that A and I were going to eat our bennys at Cora (2920 Calgary Trail N.W.) this week. Am I ever glad we did!
Despite the line extending out the door, which is inevitable on a Sunday, we were still excited for breakfast and willing to wait in line for it. Once we were seated and coffee ordered we then had to make decisions. Cora's offers 4 different Ben et Dictines, all of which sounded delicious. A decision had to be made and I was torn between two choices. A ordered the smoked salmon Ben et Dictine, so my choice was made: I ordered the Brie and Mushroom Ben et Dictine. It was worth the wait!
(I made sure to take pictures of both of our bennys this time!)

My benny:

A's benny:

I think one of the best things about Cora's is that they use fresh ingredients. No canned mushrooms here! The combination of the brie, mushrooms and fat sauce was a delicious mixture in my mouth. Eggs benedict is a rich dish on a normal day; the added creaminess of the brie and the juicy mushrooms made my morning. The sauce alone was really good, and I assume it was made from scratch as this is the Cora way for all of their food (except the cold cereals, lol). A was nice enough to give me a bite of her breakfast too (which I was hoping would be the case when we ordered) and it was delicious. Smoked salmon benny tends to be a bit saltier than other bennys, but I didn't find Cora's smoked salmon benny too salty in the one bite I had.

Conclusion: I think presentation/first impression of your breakfast helps make it taste that much better and Cora's has the monopoly on breakfast presentation. My mouth was watering before I even had a bite of my benny. While I'm not going to stop my search for the BEST benny EVER here at Cora's, I think I would definitely come back and try one of the other varieties. After all, anyone who has ever eaten at Cora's knows that once you've eaten here you will, more often than not, brave the line at the door to enjoy the food here again and again.

http://www.chezcora.com/home