About

Essential Equipment

Why?

I like breakfast. More specifically, not the Monday to Friday breakfast, I like Saturday and Sunday breakfast. During the working week, breakfast is just one more thing you have to get done, one more thing you feel forced into by your need to earn a living, like getting up when it is dark, using the London underground during rush hour and paying over the odds for average coffee.

On Saturdays and Sundays, it becomes a leisure activity. At the weekend, anything consumed before 12 noon is considered to be part of breakfast.

My fondness for Eggs Benedict is of some years standing and I keep an eye open for cafes or restaurants that serve it. Despite this, I found that my knowledge of good venues was quickly exhausted – so I turned to Google for a little research.

I felt that the internet had surprisingly little to say on the subject of places to go in London (with the notable exception of The London Review of Breakfasts), so I decided to step boldly into the breach and search for London’s best Eggs Benedict.

What is Eggs Benedict?

Eggs Benedict consists of a half of an English muffin, topped with ham, a poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. Any additions to the above is pure fancy and will be looked upon with suspicion. Bacon is often replaced with ham, but to be honest as long as they are of good quality I’m not going to grumble.

What makes a perfect Eggs Benedict?

An Eggs Benedict hinges around how well the eggs have been cooked, even if every other element is perfect, nothing can overcome an overcooked poached egg. So cutting into a poached egg is the moment of truth, the moment upon which the fate of the Eggs Benedict balances – the reason that it holds both promise and abject disappointment.

In order to obtain the perfect poach egg, I’m reliably informed that the eggs have to be super fresh and free range. The muffin should be split and toasted until golden and topped with good quality ham or bacon (personally I like it to be fairly lean).

Finally the hollandaise sauce. Not too much, not too little, smooth, creamy with a rich buttery flavour and a mild tang of lemon.