Disappointing Brunch

I woke up today looking forward to my yummy brunch at the European, but my first sign of bad luck appeared as I looked out my window. The whole sky was gloomy, but that didn't affect me. I messaged my friends to make sure they were up, so we would not be late for our brunch. I was really looking forward to trying out the Eggs Benedict at the European after reading great reviews from the Breakfast blog and it was also recommended by Mutemonkey.

We arrived at European at 11:00 am, and to my horror, it was closed until 12 pm! I was contemplating on whether to wait for the restaurant to open or find some other cafe instead. Unfortunately, our starving tummies opted for another restaurant close by. We walked down Bourke street and I was tempted to eat Ajisen Ramen, but it only opens at 12 pm too.

After my friend saw my disappointed look, she suggested we go to Hardware lane, as there might be a few nice cafes there. It's only my 2nd time to Hardware lane, so I have absolutely no clue which one to try. We saw a sign for Eggs Benedict at Jeremy's Hardware cafe, and decided to try it out.

The waitress was very friendly and attentive. We looked at the menu for a few seconds and ordered Eggs Benedict and The Big Breakfast. When the dishes arrived, I was slightly disappointed by the appearance of the Eggs Benedict. The eggs were a bit flat and they looked a lot smaller than I'd expected. I think my expectations were too high since the last Eggs Benedict I had was at Benito's. When I cut into the poached eggs, I was quite shocked, as the runny yolks were no where to be seen! It was totally overcooked and hard. The Hollandaise was quite bland too, I couldn't really taste it at all. The only good thing about this Eggs Benedict is probably the sourdough toast instead of the English muffin which added more crunch to it.

My disappointing poached eggs


The Big Breakfast

The Big Breakfast was slightly better though as the mushroom was quite juicy and the sausage was pretty good. The Bacon was quite dry though, but it was saved by the tomato relish that was served together.

The breakfast was filling, but disappointing for me. I understand that it's a lot cheaper than European as it's only $9.50 instead of $15-$16 dollars at European, but at least they could have poached the eggs better. I may come back here for their sandwiches and drinks in the future as the service was great, but definitely not their Eggs Benedict!