Lumber Jacks Pancake & Steakhouse Benny

So I thought I would give another pancake house the benefit of the doubt in their ability to serve delicious food that isn't pancakes. So we decided to go to Lumber Jacks Pancake & Steakhouse (5708 75 St NW) to see if I still thought that pancake houses should stick to pancakes.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is a little dark, but cozy and family friendly. The coffee was decent and the service was good. We had about 3 different people help us during our visit, which is fine, but I hope they pool their tips if this is a regular thing, lol. If memory serves, they only offer one type of benny on their menu, so that made my decision very easy.

I had good thoughts and bad thoughts when my benny arrived. I was happy with the amount of fat sauce although its consistency could have been a bit creamier looking as it looked rather thin. The eggs looked kinda sad. Someone in the kitchen here needs to practice how to poach an egg as the yolks had collapsed on themselves leaving deformed eggs rather than nice rounded yolks. The flavour of the sauce was fine, but again, not as creamy as I like it. There was lots for dipping my potatoes, although the potatoes themselves were nothing exciting as far as potatoes go.

Conclusion: Overall, I'm still going to maintain that pancake restaurants should stick to pancakes. This would not be my choice for the BEST eggs benedict EVER... So I will continue my search....

UPDATE: I have since returned to Lumber Jacks to sample something other than their benny. I had potato pancakes which I was fairly pleased with. They are not the usual shredded potato variety of potato pancakes and they have an interesting flavour that I couldn't quite put a finger on. I went with my friend M, who went to Aunty Sue's with A and I, and she had a plate that had pancakes. Surprisingly, for a pancake house they had run of the mill pancakes that tasted suspiciously like Aunt Jemima was involved... Sad because homemade pancakes are not difficult to make. Or maybe the way my family makes homemade pancakes is much different than the rest of the world? Feel free to leave your favourite pancake recipe in the comments below!

Local Public Eatery Benny - $12

I met up in South Common with 2 of my cousins from Fort St. John, who were here for some wedding related shopping. We had arranged through much FB messaging, and possibly a few texts, to meet at Local Public Eatery for brunch. I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to see what they offered here for eggs benny.  

Although the picture is horrible, the food was actually pretty good. The potatoes were actually the best part and we know how I don't usually focus on the potatoes! Our breakfasts all came with a delicious shot of fruit smoothie too. 

The Benny itself was pretty basic and the fat sauce was not my favourite. The eggs were nicely poached and overall my breakfast was worth the price and the trip to the south side. Although I don't think this was the best eggs benny I've had to date, the visit with my cousins was great and I'd love to meet with friends or family for another brunch and another Benny sometimes soon! Who's in? 

1820-99 Street

http://www.localpubliceatery.com/

 Local Public Eatery, South Edmonton Common, Edmonton

https://www.zomato.com/edmonton/local-public-eatery-south-edmonton-common

De Dutch DIY Benny

This week I wanted to take A to De Dutch Pannekoeken House because she had never been and hadn't heard of it. There is only one location in Alberta, here in Edmonton (10030 Jasper Ave). All the other locations are in BC, so if you live anywhere else in Canada, be sure to  find De Dutch during your travels to the west coast!
For me, the whole reason to go to De Dutch is for the pannekoeken. What's so great about this "pannekoeken"? Well, it's the size of your plate (approx 12" or 30cm), is kind of like a thick crepe or a thin pancake, and is neutral for either sweet or savoury add-ins or toppings. Although De Dutch offers 6 different traditional eggs benedict dishes on their menu (which I will try at some point), none are made with the pannekoeken. The pannekoeken that is closest to eggs benny is the Amsterkoek, which is what I ordered. Our server informed us that the Amsterkoek is what people order when they want an eggs benny pannekoeken, so I knew I made the right choice. It is topped with poached eggs, edam cheese, ham, tomato, and comes with a bowl of fat sauce. I requested that the chef just put everything on top, but when it came the sauce was in a bowl and so were the eggs (you can see an imprint from one of the bowls in my cheese in the pic). The bowls were fine, because this way the cooking water from the eggs didn't make my pannekoeken soggy. So I assembled it myself to how I thought it should look.. this was the DIY part... and then took a picture.. sorry I didn't take a "before" picture.

Now, I was ready to cut into it and revel in the goodness that is Benny after a week of involuntary abstinence. Because the pannekoeken is so big, I had to spread the sauce and other toppings out well to get some of everything in each bite... I could have used some extra fat sauce!  I really enjoyed the added flavour of the melted edam cheese in this DIY benny. Maybe this was because I don't eat a lot of cheese and usually benny doesn't come with cheese, atleast not traditionally. I managed to stretch the toppings out enough to atleast have each bite contain most of them, but not always all. Hmmm... what can I say? It was exactly what I was hoping it would be. The sauce was creamy and hollandaise-y. I would be surprised if they don't make it from scratch at this chain, if only because I associate "Dutch" with "Holland-aise". I know, not the best reasoning, but that's how I think! The eggs were cooked soft like I prefer. I think if I were to assemble this again, I would spread the ham slices out a bit more because they were all sort of piled in the middle. I liked the addition of fresh tomato and it went well with the cheese and pannekoeken.

Conclusion: Without having tried the 6 variations of eggs benedict that De Dutch has to offer, I think it would be unfair to compare this DIY benny on the same scale. Overall, I really enjoyed this "eggs benny" and while it satisfied my eggs benny craving and was delicious, I will have to continue the search for the BEST eggs benedict EVER!


http://www.dedutch.com/