A favorite here in Penticton and a yearly trip for us. The Bench is an un-assuming little spot in the middle of a residential area on the road up to the Naramata Bench.

They serve breakfast all day, lunch, take away meals and offer local, artisanal products for sale in their small market.

I’ve always had good food here in the past, and didn’t really pay attention to what I was ordering this year. I wish I had.

Not that it was bad. But I wouldn’t have ordered the Benedict if I had know about the baguette.

The eggs were cooked well, the Capicollo was really nice and the Hollandaise was good. Even the yam potato was pretty tasty. But that big baguette just ruined it for me.

It just sops up all the sauce and runny yolk, spoiling the experience for me.

I’m sure some people enjoy that, but not me.

I’ll be more careful next time I’m here.

Regardless, a really lovely breakfast spot here in Penticton.

6/10

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You know it’s funny, we said to ourselves this morning “make sure we have something to eat before you get on the ferry because the food is terrible.”

And then we didn’t.

So here we are stuck on this boat for an hour and a half again and hungry.

We definitely won’t make the mistake of Eggs Benedict again.

I went to save a seat and Merilynn came back with a breakfast sandwich.

When I first looked at this I thought this was going to be as good as the Eggs Benedict.

Surprisingly though it was actually good. Not great. But good.

The English muffin wasn’t dried out. The egg was cooked fine. That cheese doesn’t look great but it’s not a terrible plastic American cheese slice, it’s more a real Cheddar slice. The potatoes even had some seasoning in them including rosemary. They could have used a lot more seasoning but it was there.

That’s one of the best things I’ve had on the BC ferry. It’s a pretty low bar though.

6/10

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If you haven’t been, I think it’s a neighbourhood version of the White Spot.

Like the White Spot, I usually stick with breakfast when I visit. Harder to screw up. Though not impossible.

And I will avoid the Eggs Benedict. Just out of curiosity we did ask about the hollandaise, and yes, it comes out of a packet.

Honestly I can’t understand why. It’s not a particularly difficult sauce to make and only has three ingredients. To me, this is a sign of a lazy chef.

So I will just have bacon and eggs, with a side of sausage.

Everything was good, with the exception of the sausage. They were a bit overdone and the casing was rather tough. The bacon was crispy and the eggs  were sunny-side up with runny yolks. The toast and hash browns were exactly what you’d expect.

Not too shabby for $18.

Personally I’d never come here for dinner. However those who do are usually pretty happy with it. I’ll stick with breakfast, at any time of day.

7/10

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I like OEB at Brentwood but lineups at this time on a Saturday are probably 2 hours long,. Neither of us is willing to wait that long, even for a breakfast as good as OEB can dish up. After a quick Google search we decided on Eggbomb+ at the City at Lougheed.

Walking in I get a distinctly Asian vibe. It’s very modern inside with lots of bright lights and shiny white surfaces. But it was the Minion figure at the seating area that was a dead giveaway. And then we saw the robot delivering food. Next dead giveaway.

After waiting only 10 minutes to get a table we were presented with the small novel that is their menu.

Fortunately it’s half pictures though so decision making won’t be too bad.

I’m starting today with a Banana Latte.

That was surprisingly good. Too often banana flavoring can be very artificial but in a coffee it didn’t come across that way. And the caramelized banana garnish is a really nice touch.

For breakfast I had Eggs Benedict.

It is served, very untraditionally, on a piece of sourdough bread.

For most of my life I’ve always avoided ordering and eggs benedict if it wasn’t served on the traditional English muffin. I had too many bad experiences.

But recently as more and more non-traditional versions have been popping up I have ventured out and tried them. With varying degrees of success.

I had a surprisingly good Eggs Benedict on cornbread at El Santo.

I had an absolute terrible Eggs Benedict on focaccia bread at Piva.

Today’s version was quite good. Would I rather it be on an English muffin?

Yes.

But as an alternative this wasn’t all that bad.

The eggs were cooked very well, I always ask for a very soft poach now to avoid overcooked eggs.

The Hollandaise was good enough to be indistinguishable between freshly in-house made and a packet powder-based sauce.

The potatoes were crispy and very tasty. Personally I could do without the salad but it was okay.

Merilynn had a breakfast sandwich with prawns.

This missed the mark a bit.

The brioche was sliced way too thick. It would be difficult to try and pick this up and eat it.

What she disliked the most was the yogurt inside the sandwich. A plain Greek yogurt would probably have been quite good but they added a flavored yogurt and it ruined the overall flavour balance of the sandwich. But on a positive note the prawns were very well cooked.

So how does EggBomb+ rate in the breakfast world?

Overall pretty good I would say. 

The service was excellent. The food was good. It’s just not my favorite atmosphere.

7/10

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Now normally when I think of Sunday brunch in 2024 I think of an à la carte menu type meal. I thought the Sunday brunch buffet experience had gone the way of the Dodo bird.

Perhaps it’s just me but from what I’ve seen the buffet style meal is considerably less popular these days than it used to be. Even in Vegas where the buffet was King they are all slowly being turned into food courts.

So when we walked in this morning and realized the only option was a buffet we were a little disappointed. Neither Merilynn nor I eat enough or like buffets enough to get value out of it.

If we weren’t meeting somebody this morning we would probably turn around and walk out. Oh well, our bad for not researching it a bit better.

The restaurant itself is quite nice. Just picture yourself in any upper mid grade hotel restaurant that you’ve ever been in and you’ll get the idea.

As for the food, just picture yourself in any upper mid grade hotel restaurant that you’ve ever been in and you’ll get the idea.

An omelette waffle station, a long line of chafing dishes filled with not quite hot enough food, a salad bar, a bread/bun selection going stale by the minute , a large fruit plate, a juice station, and a disproportionate amount of desserts are all on offer.

Here is my first trip’s bounty.

Let’s go from best to worst here.

The fruit was very good. Fresh and ripe. That’s the best watermelon I’ve had this year.

The roast lamb was quite tasty.

The salmon is well cooked but a bit on the bland side. Pass the salt please.

The bacon was crispy but had maybe been sitting there a tad long as it was starting to dry out.

The pork sausage tasted good but there was zero Maillard reaction on the surface so it was either roasted or boiled. That’s just lazy.

And the Eggs Benny was, well honestly what was I thinking? Bland. Overcooked egg. Absolutely terrible. Come on seriously Greg. As a (self proclaimed) Eggs Bennedict expert I should know better. How could it possibly be good after sitting in there for 30 minutes? Or more?

As bad as it was though it still wasn’t the worst thing on my plate.

That distinction went to the meat lasagna. It was bland. The pasta was horribly overcooked. The sauce tasted more similar to a jar of Ragu than freshly made sauce. Don’t bother with the salt this time. It won’t fix it.

After another trip for fruit and a little bit of dessert I stopped at the omelette bar.Forgot to take a picture but it was the best thing I had this morning. Freshly made with my choice of shrimp, red pepper, scallions and cheese. The chef did a nice job and didn’t overcook it. It was a really good size for a buffet too, not too big.

And for my fourth and final plate a little more fresh fruit and a couple more tiny desserts. All the desserts I had were pretty decent but I’m sure weren’t made on site.

After five or six glasses of fresh fruit juice I might have started getting close to the value of the $40 this brunch cost me. Merilynn didn’t get her money’s worth though that’s for sure.

Would I recommend The Wild Fig brunch buffet?

Depends who you are.

If you can eat a lot of food then 40 bucks might be worth it for you. The trick will be to sit there for a while and pound back as much as you can.

But if you’re someone who wants quality over quantity I’d say skip it. The food just isn’t good enough.

6/10

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Unfortunately this visit didn’t go as well.

To start with it was a grey, somewhat miserable day.

The coffee was good. The view not so much. And much too chilly to sit on the great patio today, even with the heaters.

As for breakfast, the chefs (there were 3) weren’t paying much attention this morning.

Absolute minimum amount of Hollandaise. The eggs were overpoached. The bacon just a bit too crispy and the English muffin completely dried out. I’m guessing par toasted and then finished just prior to serving.

All three of them probably had a hand in this abomination.

Merilynn has the granola and yogurt.

The granola was really good, but the yogurt was plain Greek style. A vanilla or honey yogurt would be much better.

While it is a nice spot the horrible attempt at making Eggs Benny today might make this visit to Keenan’s our last.

4/10

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But breakfast first.

Our last experience here wasn’t great but going to give it one more try.

First thing to note; the weird looking eggs.

In my opinion this is the wrong way to cook Sunny side up eggs. Lower temp with a cover. No color on these eggs and you can see the yolks starting to cook up the sides.

These sould be cooked quick and hot.

The bacon was crisp but cold.

The potatoes too mushy and under seasoned.

The fruit was good though.

So ya not a great visit again this time.

One more thing.

Does anyone know if the female servers are not permitted to wear bras while they work? It’s either a rule or they only hire hippies.

That’s still not enough get me to come back though.

4/10

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It’s a great atmosphere with very good service and very good food.

The duck confit hash.

The duck was so tender. The potatoes were awesome. That’s aot coming from me, one who isn’t the biggest fan of spuds. And that egg was a nice touch. The blackberry sauce cranked it up a notch.

Eggs Benedict

Again a really nice Benny

Eggs poached soft and those great crispy potatoes.

French toast.

This is something I would never get in a restaurant I would just do it myself. However it was very nice.perhaps a bit too much icing sugar, but still tasted very good.

Lobster scramble crepes.

Beautiful flavor here but as usual this type of dish it was very rich. I always find it hard to finish and you like this to be honest.

And they had the car out from under the cover this time.

What a great looking ride.

Everything about The Story Cafe so far has been excellent. If you’re in Richmond or don’t mind a little bit of a drive go check it out

9/10

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From my understanding the restaurant has been pretty much left untouched since 1976.

It’s been used as a setting for multiple films, including the movie Casino and Showgirls. Casino is a great movie. Showgirls? Ya don’t think so.

Definitely has an interesting vibe.

As for the food?

Standard American fare.

Nothing was jumping out at me from the lunch menu so I just went with bacon and eggs.

It was a decent bacon and eggs. Just a little expensive, like everything else in this town.

It was quite interesting to see the cocktail waitresses walking around in their fancy dresses though. I didn’t make it into the far side Lounge section of the restaurant but it looks kind of neat. Something to check out during the evening next time I’m in town.

If you’re into nostalgia then it would definitely be worth your time to come visit.

8/10

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The standards have always been very high and the location is perfect situated directly across from the Bellagio fountains.

So it was with great expectations that I went for breakfast here this morning.

For some reason while most of Vegas slept, it was 7:15 am after all, there was already a wait to sit on the patio. Not once in the many times I’ve been here has this happened. And it’s a rather large patio. John isn’t patient enoughto wait so we had to sit inside. That’s disappointment #1. I didn’t have to wait too long for disappointment #2.

As my friend did not want to wait 30 minutes to sit on the patio we reluctantly agreed to sit inside.

As we walked to our table we couldn’t help but notice many tables on the patio unoccupied. I would guess the patio was only half full.

Though whatever, the view isn’t the end of the world.

I’m here for the outstanding Eggs Benedict. They even make the English muffins in house.

I usually start with the fruit plate. It’s always loaded with lots of berries and other fresh fruits which are accompanied by a little vanilla yogurt and brown sugar to sprinkle on top.

As usual it was excellent.

But then breakfast fell right off the rails. Actually it crashed into a brick wall.

The very first thing I noticed was the Hollandaise. That’s pretty much the absolute minimum you could get away with.

My eggs were overdone. Not badly, but enough to put me off a little.

The worst though was the English muffin.

I found it extremely different to cut through. The reason quickly became apparent.

That’s more than just a little burnt.

I was very disappointed to see that on my plate.

What chef is letting that leave the kitchen? Especially in a restaurant with such usual high standards.  I’d maybe expect that at I.H.O.P. Certainly not here.

I did go against my usual practice and showed this to the manager. I normally wouldn’t. But I like this restaurant too much to let this go unnoticed.

To his credit the manager did offer me a free fruit plate to try to rectify the situation. I sure hope he addressed the situation with the kitchen though.

Regardless, the sheen is off Mon Ami Gabi. And there are no shortage of high quality restaurants in Vegas.

Time to branch out and find a different one for breakfast.

6/10

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