Burgers & Benedicts - Much more than just burgers

The 411

For almost one year I have had my co-worker ask me to review Burgers & Benedicts. Being one of her favourite places, I got to hear one of the best pitches for how good it was. Now, there’s two things in this world I can’t say no to; one is food; and the other is a new place to have brunch (technically they can be considered the same thing but who cares). So one day we got some co-workers together and went out check it out.

At 1st glance

Odds are you have likely passed by this place and never noticed it before. It’s at the Atwater entrance of the Pepsi forum just as you proceed to the AMC, there’s that resto on your right hand side. Before going in I had my reservations that it would be too commercial and chain-like but I put all prejudices aside and tried it out. It also helped that we were a group of nine all coming for a special occasion…eating The layout is pretty straightforward with a host/hostess at the front and seating spread out all over the place. The entrance and washrooms are wheelchair accessible which is a very nice touch that few places have - so hats off to them.

Food

With a group of nine at the table the food options become quite interesting. Also, its a great way to make a dent in their menu which offers a lot of choice. The menu offers some dishes all day long while others are only until 4:00pm and the price range is quite fair with many dishes being at or under $10. The smoothie menu offered 8 tasty options at $4.99 each and for an extra $2.99 you can add a shot of rhum, tequila or vodka. In theory, the extra booze isn’t really worth it, since in my books the only acceptable breakfast booze is a mimosa and beer (yes, it is a breakfast drink).

There are 9 varieties of French toast/waffles/pancakes ranging from $6.99-$10.99 and they even have an interesting bagel style French toast, which, unfortunately, I did not try out but it does seem interesting. One of us had the Fresh fruit mix French toast ($8.99) which was 3 slices of French toast topped with a mound of fresh fruit. The slices were a touch thin for my liking but you do get three of them and the fruit topping is nice; the French toast was sweet and the English cream worked well if you feel like something sweet. I really like the fact that they combine waffles, pancakes and French toast in one section as it makes searching much easier since many styles of cooking for these dishes are interchangeable. They also have another crepe section especially for Breton Crepes

The next section in the menu is called the “Breakfast Feast” which offers a variety of dishes ranging from $7.99 to $14.99 although most of these are priced under $10 since only three out of the thirteen are above $10. Each of the dishes in this section comes with fruit, bread and potatoes. This section is quite varied with classic eggs and bacon dishes as well as steak and eggs, flambé French toast, latke dish, mish mash, eggs and smoked meat to name a few. In fact, we ended up ordering a couple plates from this section. The prices were fair and the portion size was quite generous. The “Rise and Shine” ($9.99) was a classic 2 eggs served with bacon, sausage, ham and baked beans. There are no real complaints on this dish since its a classic eggs dish, the potatoes that came with it were fair and the fruit was tasty and fresh as well the price of $9.99 is a decent price. Next on the list was Micheal’s mish mash ($10.99) which is a 3 egg omelet served with mushroom, onions, peppers, bacon, ham, smoked meat and sausage. The dish was filling and the taste truly delivered. There was the eggs and steak at $13.99 which I did not get a chance to sample, although it is my friend’s favourite dish she orders every time she goes there. I would assume its just a steak with eggs and to be honest, steak and eggs is my brunch weak point - I never order it on the menu so maybe next time I will try that one and broaden my culinary horizons. Another dish ordered was a Mexican Crepe ($13.99) which had chicken, peppers, cheese and onions, with a guacamole spread on top. I was afraid to try this dish since it looked like something I would likely try for dinner but I was very impressed on how it made a welcome addition to the brunch feast. The last dish on this menu section was the pancake and eggs ($8.99) and it was as it read: basically two pancakes, served with 2 eggs and a side of potatoes, sausage and fruit. The pancakes were filling although a touch on the sweet side, kind of like the French toast which a little more sweet than I would like.

Next were my two personal favourite items: the Greek omelet ($11.99) and the Monterey eggs Benedict ($12.99). The Greek omelet was made of sun dried tomatoes, black olives, onions mushrooms and feta cheese. The feta was very pronounced in this dish and by pronounced I mean that in a good way, the portion was large, ingredients were fresh and tasty and it really impressed me. Lastly, the Monterey eggs Benedict was two eggs, smoked salmon, spinach, asparagus, gruyere cheese, and hollandaise sauce. The taste on this dish was a slam dunk, the cheese was nice and pronounced, the spinach and asparagus had the perfect consistency and were not rubbery like at some other places, although my one complaint with this is that it was served on a piece of toast and in my opinion toast bread lacks the consistency to keep the eggs Benedict together in a structurally sound environment, that’s why people use the English muffin and in some instances a bagel, they can handle the strain and gooeyness of the eggs Benedict…

Service

The service was good, they refilled my coffee although there were instances when I really wanted a refill and our guy was nowhere in sight. Our waiter was pleasant though and gave some helpful suggestions to those who were torn between 2 items. I should note that I have had repeated suggestions by one member of the group who name shall not be mentioned (x-tina) to include a “how hot the staff is” section. She felt our waiter was an 8 but by the end of the meal his rating went up a bit. Needless to say this section of hot or not is still under review

Vegetarian

There a good number of vegetarian options as well as health menu items the omelets are mainly vegetarian as well and most dishes that came with a side of meat can be requested to be dropped or swapped. Also, the bagel and yogurt section has over 12 options and of varying prices ($4.99-$12.99). As for vegan options its pretty much fruit plates since many dishes have a dairy aspect in them.

Wrap up

I was happy to try out Burgers and Benedict, I found some very interesting dishes and for quite a reasonable price, my only criticism is that the French toast thickness is not up to snuff and the toast bread on the Benedict needs to get swapped to an English muffin. All this being said if your in the area check it out.

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Price	$$	<$10
Overall		3.5/5
Wheelchair Access		2/3
Parking	Parking meter & lot	Medium difficulty
BUS	15, 57, 150, 358, 369	Get Directions
Metro	Atwater	1 minute

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