Eggs Benedict

Farofa likes Eggs Benedict. That is probably the understatement of the year, actually. It might be more accurate to say that Farofa tracks Eggs Benedict across the city with the intensity of a heat-seeking missile. Below is a sampling of Eggs Benedict dishes that she has consumed in Philly and a couple of ringers from DC & Maui respectively. For any of you who are similarly consumed with dreams of Eggs Benedict heaven try your hand at matching the following Eggs Benedict with the restaurants from which they came (no cheating by looking at flickr!):

1. the continental
2. creperie beau monde
3. jones
4. marathon on the square
5. more than just ice cream
6. morning glory
7. spices cafe
8. silver diner

a. b.

c. d.

e. f.

g. h.


Give up? The answers are
.
.
.
.
.
.
1d, 2e, 3h, 4b, 5a, 6f, 7g (maui), 8c (DC)

And yet - none of the pictured Eggs Benedict have achieved what Farofa considers to be the Platonic ideal of the dish, and some have even been bad! Quel horror! Can anyone out there help us find the best Eggs Benedict in Philadelphia?

P.S. We may be doing the same with guacamole in a soon-to-come episode if this is successful.

The Continental (12/30/06)

Yes, even the frenchiest of French Fries and the crunchiest of Farofas must Starr if they want to munch in Philly. We find our intrepid heroines brunching once again, the day after our Apamate visit, at The Continental (one of many Stephen Starr outposts) for some restoratives to recover from past debauch/prepare ourselves for NYE debauchery yet to come.


(photo credit: Messy & Picky - shamelessly YOINKED! because our outdoor photo turned out crummy)

On arrival, French Fries was in that still-half asleep daze that precludes wise menu-decision making while Farofa had already decided that she wanted to try yet another version of Eggs Benedict, as her former favorite (at More than Just Ice Cream) has been AWOL for too many weeks now. Farofa ordered a plate of Shoestring Fries hoping that her namesake dish of carbs + grease would force a meal decision from French Fries.


Shoestring Fries ($3.50)

The mountain of potatoey goodness woke French Fries up enough to order a Spinach and Feta omelette - just in time because the fish delivery alongside commenced shortly thereafter, and the banging and clanging of the cellar door made quite a dent in the otherwise fun, if olive-bedecked, ambiance. Food was quick to arrive and very generously proportioned (if you hadn't gotten that sense from the Swiss Alp of Spuds above).



Farofa was only a single bite into her Eggs Benedict with Ham ($8.50) when she noticed that despite the fish delivery having completed its business, multiple passerby seemed to be tripping over something just outside the window. We peeked through the blinds and noticed that the fish guy had left one of the edges of the cellar door sticking up a good 2-3 inches from level. We mentioned it to the waiter but no sooner had we done so that a very loud crash came from outside. Looking out the window revealed the prone form of a middle -aged lady... not moving. French Fries hesitated, not wanted to jump in if someone from the restauraunt was already on top of it, but as no-one seemed to be moving, ended up going outside to help up the nice woman. She had had her face turned into quite the bloody mess by her trip & fall over the cellar door, but was otherwise intact. She came inside and the people at the Continental then started moving, getting her ice & whatnot. She didn't want an ambulance called for her but it was clear that she was going to have some nasty scabs for at least the next few weeks.



Emergencies inside the hospital and the work that needs doing in the middle of a non-hospital emergency are Farofa's stock in trade, and so it wasn't the blood or the accident that kept Farofa from enjoying her Spinach and Feta Omelette ($8.00) as much as she might have otherwise. Partly it was the adrenaline surge that resulted in her dropping both pieces of toast. Partly it was guilt about not mentioning the screwed up door earlier. And partly it was that the eggs, both in color and consistency were JUST a wee bit too cafeteria "egg mixture" for farofa, although the spinach was fresh and the feta pillowy and tasty.


Farofa: *** out of 5
French Fries: *** out of 5

Forks Down Verdict: Trendy olive light fixtures don't take away from tasty & affordable brunch food - but bloody accidents caused by carelessness outside do.

The Continental
138 Market St
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 923-6069

Morning Glory (12/2/06)

Farofa and French Fries have wanted to do a foodblog for ages. The Gastronomer, Messy and Picky, PhilaFoodie, even Farofa's mom, all have been food blogging and inspiring us. So when, for a change, we woke up before 11 AM on a weekend, we realized it was the perfect day not only to start the food blog, but also to go to the brunch spot that we've been lusting after for ages, but haven't been to due to fears of the wait (and usually waking up on weekends with growling wait-prohibitive tummies).... the inimitable Morning Glory.



We arrived on a sunny but cold Saturday at 11:40 or so and expected a major wait - it seems that the pleasant note on the menu that suggests that diners be mindful of the people waiting and leave promptly actually works, as our wait was a mere half hour despite the significant number of people ahead of us. The patio has two gas-burning pole-heaters that helped keep it actually pretty cozy despite the below-freezing temp. We had decided before going that we wanted both sweet and savory munchies this morning, and Farofa wanted to try her favorite morning beverage, a big mug of hot chocolate, whereas FrenchFries wanted tea (having already decaffeinated herself with a Coke Zero before leaving the house).



After looking through the menu, there were actually two sweet things we wanted to try - the chocolate cherry bread and the 'Monkey French Toast'. The latter had been recommended multiple times by everyone FrenchFries had talked to about Morning Glory. As for the savory, the Frittata special with feta, kalamata olives, and artichoke hearts caught both our eyes, olive freaks that we are. The waiters were pretty busy but took our order promptly, and much to FrenchFries' joy, the restaurant was actually warm (FrenchFries loves Philly's many BYOBs but hates how COLD most of them are).



Our Chocolate Cherry Bread ($3.50) arrived first, and unfortunately there is no picture of it, primarily because we got outside of the three pieces of it with an embarrassing amount of speed. The chocolate cherry bread had a nice crust and big soft pieces of real cherries and semi-sweet chocolate throughout. The table was pretty crowded with Farofa's hot chocolate, FrenchFries' tea, pots of jam and butter, sweetener/sugar, salt/pepper, milk and our water glasses, but when the food arrived we were more than happy to make room.



Farofa took on the challenge of the Monkey French Toast ($7.50) - it was thick pieces of challah french toast drenched in caramel sauce with chunks of mango and banana between each slice and a huge dollop of fresh whipped cream beside it, all sprinkled with powdered sugar. It was very sweet, but the mango was not as prominent as Farofa had hoped, as the dish was more banana heavy. Still, Farofa is hard to satisfy on the mango front, coming from Brazil, where delicious mangoes as big as your head are common. She did note that the caramel sauce was perfect, not cloying at all, and you could still taste the other flavors. Farofa neglected the whipped cream because she doesn't like it, but on the bites FrenchFries stole, it was also perfectly balanced on the sweet-but-not-cloying precipice.



FrenchFries is generally hesitant of egg dishes for breakfast - like Gail Simmons, she loves eggs, and can't stand to eat them when they are cooked to a rubbery mess as they often are at busy breakfast places (Marathon on the Square, I'm looking at you). But the frittatas trotting past looked fluffy and lovely, and it is always hard to resist the lure of the purple & juicy kalamata. That was the wisest choice FrenchFries has made in a while, because the Frittata Special ($8.50) was PERFECT. The kalamata/artichoke heart/feta combo was the ideal combo of salty/savory greek flavor and there were also some soft greens mixed in (which the menu said were arugula but tasted more like baby spinach to us). The egg around each whole olive was stained a faint lavender and tasted heavenly, and the artichoke hearts were a far cry from the greasy oil-packed ones that plague our local grocery store. It came with a hearty serving of tasty, not-too-dry roasted red rosemary potatoes and a small cup of cinnamon baked apples as well as rye toast. FrenchFries had asked for the rye toast instead of the standard biscuit so that she could slather on the strawberry-rhubarb jam from the pot on the table, which was one of the tastiest jams she can remember ever tasting.

Everything was so good that FrenchFries didn't even need hot sauce and ketchup like she sometimes does to get outside a dry potato/rubbery egg combo, but if she had needed some, the Cholula hot sauce and homemade vinegar-ey ketchup would have made it no hardship.



Some diners around us seemed less blissfully happy with their choices - it may end up being the kind of restaurant where your happy tummy factor depends a lot on your order. Farofa and FrenchFries both think they are pretty happy with the idea of having to go back a bunch more times to test this hypothesis.

Farofa: ***1/2 out of 5 - FrenchFries: **** out of 5

Forks Down Verdict: Worth the hype and the wait for a tasty food-coma brunch.

Morning Glory
735 S. 10th St @ Fitzwater St
Philadelphia, PA 19147-2741
(215) 413-3999
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Tue-Fri: 7:00-4:00pm and 6:00-10:00pm
Sat-Sun: 8:00am-3:00pm