Market Street Grill

Leggs Benedict has been getting antsy. We needed to eat some good Hollandaise sauce, and we needed it fast. Racewalkers are not good at sitting around waiting!

Yesterday (April 20) was the Salt Lake Half Marathon, and half of Leggs Benedict (Tammy) was competing while the other half (Kelly) spectated. It was pouring rain, and by the time we walked to Kelly's car, drove to my house for a change of clothes, and drove to the restaurant, it was 10:30am. Translation: we were both starving, and Kelly was drooling over the possibility of a fantastic Hollandaise sauce.

 I won't make you wait any longer for the verdict: the Hollandaise sauce at Market Street Grill (48W Market St. #250, 801-322-4668) was incredible. It was just what we've been searching for, and even more. Creamy with a refreshing lemon taste up front, it wasn't overly buttery. It was smooth and had the perfect consistency and ended with a little surprise that the red flecks in the sauce hinted at - a bit of a spicy kick! Not too strong, mind you, but the cayenne and Tabasco (we asked and they told us) that flavored the sauce gave it just the right finish. Wow!

Now we know it's all about the sauce, but as we saw last week, a soggy muffin can ruin everything very quickly. So how about the rest of the dish? Well, it was about as good as it gets. The muffin was toasted to perfection and held up well in the dish, not soggy but rather the consummate foundation for the entree. The bacon was sliced to the ideal thickness and it and the eggs were cooked exactly right. Smothered in the fabulous Hollandaise sauce, this dish had it all.

Best of all, since Market Street Grill specializes in seafood, this dish comes in several varieties that tempted Kelly's taste buds. She ordered the regular Eggs Benedict this time for comparison purposes, but she is extremely eager to try the seafood versions, especially the crab cake Eggs Benedict. They also offer Eggs Benedict with salmon, trout, and snow crab. This is enough to make my mouth water, and I don't even like poached eggs!

I have never seen Kelly eat this fast. Ever. It was impressive. She literally inhaled the entire dish, and sopped up every last bit of Hollandaise sauce with the Market Street potatoes. Oh, and at $7.99 it was the least expensive one we've tried yet. We can't wait to go back.

Our rating: 10/10 leggs! 

Here's the breakfast menu if you are interested.

The Blue Plate Diner

Our hopes were quite high for the Blue Plate Diner. I (Tammy) had been there before with a group from work, and everyone had really enjoyed their entrees. Kelly had read some fabulous reviews online in addition to seeing it on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on TV.

We loved everything about the Blue Plate Diner, except for the Eggs Benedict. Tammy's entree was great, the home fries were super, the coffee was tasty and hot, and the service was prompt and friendly. But alas! In this blog, it's all about the food, especially the sauce. And therein lies the problem.

The sauce was creamy and of the correct consistency, but it was a lot like the sauce at Eggs in the City: too buttery, and not enough lemon. We might be wondering if it is possible to please us, were it not for the fact that I made some Hollandaise sauce myself a few weeks ago for Easter, and we both thought that it was delicious and lemony. We know the perfect sauce is out there somewhere. we just have to keep looking.

To make matters worse, though the eggs were cooked perfectly and the Canadian bacon was sliced just right, the English muffin was soggy. OK, not just soggy. Sopping wet and reminiscent of a bruised peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Kelly loves Eggs Benedict, yet she could not finish this one, because it just wasn't that good.

We give this one a measly 5/10 leggs.

Sigh. We are disappointed, but the right one is out there. We know it is somewhere in our city! If you know a good place for us to try, please let us know. Meanwhile, this Saturday we're going to Market Street downtown and hoping for better luck there.

The Blue Plate Diner
2041 S 21st E  Salt Lake City, UT 84108
(801) 463-1151

Eggs in the City

Now for what you've been waiting for...drum roll...our first review!

We have been excited about this restaurant visit all week, and we know that you, our soon-to-be-loyal readers, have been as well. I mean, you've probably spent your whole week drooling in anticipation, right?

Kelly and I both wanted to visit Eggs in the City. I'd driven by it numerous times and it looked intriguing, while she'd found out about it via the wonders of Google.

Our reviews are all about the food. No worrying about lace doilies, fine linen, attentive service, or kitschy decor. We like to eat, and we (well, Kelly!) want good Eggs Benedict (Tammy will be content with a taste of fabulous Hollandaise sauce).

You don't have all day to read, nor I to write, so let's get straight to the point.

It's all about the sauce, remember?

The Hollandaise sauce had a lovely and perfectly creamy consistency. It looked perfect, with tiny specks of parsley and a sunny yellow color. But would it pass the taste test? Sadly, no. It was far too buttery for both of us, and the hint of lemon juice was disappointingly miniscule. We missed the tangy fresh lemon flavor that is required of a great Hollandaise sauce.

The rest of the dish was, quite simply, amazing. The eggs were cooked wonderfully, poached nice and firm but with the yolks runny. The Canadian bacon was sliced to the ideal thickness and seared on the grill but not tough or overcooked. Toasted just the right amount, the English muffin tasted homemade and very buttery (perhaps that was a bit much with the buttery sauce?). To top it all off, the optional slices of avocado were a lovely feature, bringing the dish almost to perfection. Except for the sauce.

Kelly raved about this dish, saying "I'd definitely eat this again!". We wanted to give it a better rating, because everything was just right except the sauce. Unfortunately, it's all about the sauce. Too buttery. Not enough lemon.

Our rating: 8 out of 10 leggs
I wanted to put a cool graphic here of 10 legs with 8 shaded in, but I was too clueless, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Eggs in the City
1675 E 1300 S  Salt Lake City, UT 84105
(801) 581-0809

Our mission

What on earth are we to do with the enormous quantity of calories we generate racewalking? Eat Eggs Benedict, of course! Lovers of Hollandaise sauce unite, and join us on our pilgrimage to find the best Eggs Benedict in Salt Lake City.

Wikipedia has an entry on Eggs Benedict, replete with the origin of the dish, some photos, and variations it. But we are not going to concern ourselves with anything that complicated. We just like to eat.

You're probably wondering "Who is this 'we'?". As you've probably noticed from the picture, we are both racewalkers of the female persuasion. Kelly (on the left) is the Eggs Benedict lover. Tammy (on the right) is the writer.

True confession time. I (Tammy) do not like eggs! However, I do love Hollandaise sauce and I love to eat. And let's face it - Eggs Benedict is all about the sauce. Let me say that again. It's all about the sauce. So, the fact that I don't like eggs doesn't matter. I get to taste and rate the sauce. Kelly gets to eat the Eggs Benedict, savoring every morsel, and rate the entire dish. Together, we are unstoppable (unless we get a DQ from the head judge within 100m of the finish line). Oh, sorry - that was a racewalking joke.

Back to Eggs Benedict. We have a few ground rules: 1) No chain restaurants, because we're a couple of feel-good, knee-jerk liberals that way. 2) Atmosphere is nothing and food is everything. We don't care if you have some hoity-toity white linen and champagne flute ambiance. Just give us your best Eggs Benedict and no one gets DQ'd hurt. We're not against a nice environment for dining, but that doesn't figure in our ratings. 3) It's all about the sauce. Oh, did I say that already? Yeah, it's all about the sauce. Don't screw that up, and we'll be off to a good start.