OEB Breakfast Company - 824 Edmonton Trail NE
My research in advance of our trip to Calgary lead me to this place, the reviews convinced me to check it out further and the menu had me hooked! As with every brunch menu, I go immediately to the Eggs Benedicts and look for variety and unique options and versions. Here they have six different types of bennies including the ones you would usually find as well as Dungeness crab and pork belly with truffles. All come with a brown butter hollandaise sauce which sounds delicious as do the potatoes double fried in duck fat.
Given my focus on the bennies, the first few times I looked at the menu I totally skipped over "The Boxes" section - until I checked out the photos. Then I knew I was hooked. These actually strike me very much likes bennies with different toppings and also include the brown butter hollandaise sauce. They are served in a box like a Chinese to go container and have many tasty versions.
First, the ambiance of the place is great. It is a funky little space with a great feel. The servers are all happy, fast and efficient. It only holds 50 guests at a time and the line ups are long. They do use the Nowait App which is great but we couldn't get on it so when we arrived we were told it was a 75 minute wait. We actually waited more than 90 minutes but we were able to leave and the app was great in telling you how many people were still in front of us.
Now onto the food! I was very excited to see that they had a box with foie gras, truffles, brown butter hollandaise, poached eggs, cheese curds and potatoes double fried in duck fat. Perfect! What could be better than that for me? Our very nice server wanted me to know in advance that the market price for that dish today was $26.99. Who cares I thought? I would have probably paid anything for that dish. So how was it? Did it disappoint? It was excellent but probably not the best breakfast I've ever had - and that's what I was expecting. Don't get me wrong. It was delicious. Those farm fresh eggs that they use with the rich, orange, creamy yolks were just amazing!! The truffles were sublime. I could smell them before they even reached the table and they were the best part of the dish. I really had a hard time tasting the brown butter hollandaise so I ordered an extra side (I was charged $2.99 in addition to my high priced breakfast!) The blend of egg, truffles and hollandaise was just magical though. I was in a dream. What about the foie gras you say? Well, unfortunately this was the worst piece of foie gras I have ever tasted. It was disappointing but I didn't want to leave it cuz that's what I paid the $26 for but I wouldn't order it again. I asked a gal at the counter if I could add those truffles to any dish and she said yes for $5. Now that's an amazing deal and well worth the additional up charge. As for the potatoes, they were good. They didn't blow my mind like I thought they would but they were good.
My husband had the Gold Digga box with pork belly and those amazing truffles. He loved his as well.
They also have Lobster and Shrimp Crepes with Brown Butter Hollandaise and caviar on the menu that I would love to try in the future. Scott told us that they hope to open up more locations in Calgary this year and even one location in Edmonton in the next year and a half or so. We will definitely return and I highly recommend this great restaurant to everyone - but get on the app to line up before you leave home!
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