Route 99 Diner Benny $7.79

Sunday afternoon was the perfect time to eat my Eggs Benedict this weekend, and I hadn't been out partying the night before so that was a bonus. I decided that Route 99 Diner at 8820 99th street here in Edmonton would be a good spot to go as it was close and I drive past it fairly regularly.

The restaurant was busy, but we were greeted and seated immediately. I had never been to Route 99 before this visit and was impressed with the service. My worst fear was that Eggs Benedict wouldn't be on the menu.. it was. While Route 99 is a somewhat small diner, it is perfect in that it feels like an olde time 50s diner with the walls coated in memorabilia.. perhaps a bit much, but it kept the eyes busy. The table next to us had gotten there just minutes before us and we all ordered in succession. The young lady next to me ordered the same as I did: Eggs Benny, soft poached.

It didn't take long at all for our meals to be brought out. The shocking yellow of the hollandaise sauce is not represented very well in the picture I took. It was almost glowing! Although I'm not new to eggs benny, I'm still trying to determine the factors that separate homemade hollandaise from packaged. I told A that I thought the colour could justify it as real... You've seen how orange some yolks can be, right? Combine that with butter and maybe it's possible to be such a bright yellow?

 

Despite the colour of the sauce, my mouth was watering. As A commented that my eggs were jiggling, I smiled because that is a very good sign that they are soft poached well. So I wasn't surprised that when I cut into the first egg, my plate began to flood with yolk, hooray! The sauce itself was a bit thinner than I prefer and the flavour wasn't as salty and creamy as I normally like, but the soft poached eggs were all I could think about. The English muffin wasn't toasted very much and there wasn't a lot of meat, so if you like a lot of meat on your Benny, you may be a little disappointed. 

I could have used a bit more fat sauce. Once the eggs were gone, I didn't have enough sauce and yolk to eat with my shredded hashbrowns (which I like a bit crispier, but that's personal preference). I ended up putting a bit of ketchup on them... Something I rarely do as I am not a huge fan of ketchup. I asked A if I should ask the girl beside me how hers was, she hadn't finished the whole thing (as I did!) and what I could see that was left peeking out from under her discarded napkin didn't look soft poached at all. Maybe I misheard her as I eavesdropped when she ordered. Or maybe the cook isn't very consistent, I'm not sure. I guess I'll have to eat there again to answer that question... Or you could let me know if your Eggs Benny at Route 99 Diner was poached the way you like it.

 

Conclusion: While I thoroughly enjoyed the Eggs Benny at Route 99 Diner, and A even commented how quiet I was while I was eating it, I don't think I have found the BEST Eggs Benedict EVER... Although I'm sure that won't stop me from eating it in this particular restaurant again.