E&K's Eggs Ben

We were recently fortunate enough to have an opportunity to sample Eggs Benedict at a new location in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. E&K's place is somewhere that we have visited a number of times over the years, but never eaten Eggs Benedict. This visit, K decided that it was high time.

The dish was presented on a toasted bagel. The bagels were toasted just right, and hit just the right note. The eggs were freshly poached - in actual fact the whole dish was less than 30 seconds from creation to the plate being placed on the table. The whites were just right, not at all underdone or overfirm, and the yolks were comfortably runny while still being cooked. The only negative on the eggs is the colour - the yolks are not as yellow as a good NZ egg. The smoked salmon was thinly sliced, with two pieces providing a great counterpoint to the rest of the meal. The hollandaise was made fresh and was not too thin. Coffee was courtesy of Tim Horton's and freshly brewed.

And so to the scores:

• Eggs - 9/10.
• Bread - 10/10 - fresh bagel, toasted just right.
• Hollandaise - 10/10 - excellent.
• Coffee - 8/10 - not a real latte but for what it was, great.
• Ambience - 8/10 - pleasant environment with grown-up conversation.

Total - 45/50.