Craft Beer Market

Went to Craft Beer Market for brunch today by recommendation of my brunch date. It was pretty quiet which is great for me since I don't like waiting. We grabbed a table near the window with a view of the water.

My friend said she had the bennies and they were good, so I decided to go for the Avocado and Cheddar Bennie.

The bennies were served on a biscuit instead of English muffins. In theory, that sounds good- but when I think of biscuits, I look forward the the crispy exterior and the soft interior that melts butter as soon as you spread some on it. The hollandaise sauce made the biscuit rather soggy and the biscuit wasn't hot enough. So it wasn't quite what I was expecting.

The hollandaise sauce was different but I liked it. It was kind of more tart than normal, and less rich. The hash browns were well seasoned, but a little soft. I was craving some texture after the soft biscuit and soft egg. It just needed some crunch overall.

Overall solid brunch. Good service while it's quiet - can't say what it'd be like if I went back when it's busy. I'd probably go back on another quiet day and didn't feel like cooking.

Yolks

Had breakfast at yolks today. I waited a long time to be able to visit on a weekday when it's not so busy. No wait at all.

Three of us had the Benedict. And B had the chicken and waffles.

My aunt had the single egg on portobello and English muffin, with the aged cheddar sauce. She really enjoyed it and said it was very flavourful.

I decided to have the bacon and topped with goat cheese. I thought the hollandaise sauce was too tart for my taste. But I couldn't be sure if it was the sauce or the cheese. I think I will need to try it without the cheese. The egg was cooked perfectly. But the bacon and the muffin were a little over cooked in my opinion and were very tough and hard to cut and chew.

My cousin decided to have the egg on bacon and lemon truffle hash browns. When I first saw it, I thought, I wish I ordered the hash browns. But then I tasted a piece and it was very bland and normal tasting. I couldn't even smell or taste the truffle. My cousin said it was rather mild - until she got to the bottom of the plate where the truffle had collected in a pool. I think perhaps they did not toss it well.

B ordered the chicken and waffles. It's really amazing how something can be both sweet and savory at the same time. The chicken was nice and crispy yet juicy. The waffles and a nice crunch on the outside yet soft in the middle. The gravy was well seasoned and very good.

I always try a Benedict when I first visit a breakfast place as a standard test. The eggs were cooked perfectly but the hollandaise was not good enough. I enjoyed my time there and the service was great, but I don't know if I'd go back on a weekend because I don't think it would be worth the line up. Definitely worth a try on a weekday.

The Tipper

Now that we're in the neighborhood, we decided to try out the brunch places around here. Urbanspoon had high ratings for The Tipper, so we decided to make the visit - turns out we'd been here before. We don't remember much about it aside from the good potatoes - and they're still good!

First off, the service is friendly enough, and the place is charming. We sat ourselves and were greeted within 3 minutes. After we ordered, we were promptly brought a variety of hot sauces for our meal. That was a nice touch.

The only down side to the service, wasn't exactly the servers themselves but the lack of coffee spoons for coffee. What am I supposed to stir my coffee with? My finger? Also, our cutlery kept slipping into the plate - there are some cutlery that have lips at the end of the handle so it doesn't do that, or maybe a different type of plate. But it was annoying to have to keep wiping hollandaise sauce off our knife handle.

We both ordered benedicts. I had the TAB (tomato, avocado salsa, and bacon) Benny. The eggs were cooked to a perfect medium, nice and runny. I like the addition of the avocado salsa, which cut through the creaminess of the hollandaise sauce with a bit of tartness. The bacon was nice and crispy despite being smothered in sauce. You will notice in the picture that they're not served on English muffins but on bread, which is nice because it gives you more starch to work with and soak up the sauce.

B had the pull pork Benny, recommended by the server who had it for breakfast. I think it's a great sign for a restaurant when the employees are also willing to eat there - I certainly never did at the restaurants I used to work at - except Crave (I miss your omelets, Wayne).

The pulled pork Benny was well done. The sauce was smoky, sweet and tangy, but not too sweet. Some places, like Joe's, often have overwhelmingly sweet sauces for their pulled pork bennies, but this was perfectly balanced. The pork was nice and tender. It was a good recommendation.

Urbanspoon users were right, this is a great spot for breakfast. We will definitely recommend and return.

Now, we just need to try out the place on a Friday night and see what the bar atmosphere is like.