Coffee Quest #21: Benedict's on Benedict's serving Benedict
I didn't make that up. Benedict's Cafe is on St Benedict's Road and they're famous for their Eggs Benny.
What, we live in a simulation? I guess.
Anyway, St Benedict's street is pretty quiet. There's an old book shop nearby that I recommend checking out, but if you've got allergies like me, take an antihistamine before you go in. They do a good job with preservation but old bookstores and dust/mould go together.
The cafe itself has an almost brutalist exterior, but it's not too bad when you get inside. They advertise dog friendly, and I did see a big boxer waiting outside, looking at me hopefully. Cute. Overall, a nice vibe, but despite their attempt at installing those sound boards on the ceiling (2nd photo), the place has pretty bad acoustics. The coffee machine and kitchen are on the bottom floor but when the machine runs, it's echoing all the way to you.
As usual, coffee's up first.
I got a single origin batch brew. It's smooth and the taste has a slight but welcome sourness. Because it was so light, it's best to let it coat your tongue for a bit. There was very little aftertaste, and it doesn't last much either--you'll get some aromas in your nose but little else.
The other cup is my partner's flat white with oat milk. They use Flight Coffee's Thunderbolt blend. I will say honestly that the extraction was a bit off and became too astringent and the flaws were highlighted by this particular brand of oat milk. My partner was making a lot of weird faces when she sipped. In my experience, it's quite hard to screw up a dark coffee with oat milk, but we didn't finish the cup.
"I'm not jumping at it," she said, "but I don't hate it."
Take from that what you will.
Here's their octopus with agria potatoes, jalapeno seaweed aioli, grilled broccolini, pancetta & hazelnut dressing.
The octopus texture was weird. It felt...slighty overcooked, but I didn't know how to place it. Certainly, it wasn't rubbery or stringy like you get with bad octopus, but it was very soft and flaked apart. I note this down because I've had a lot of octopus (pickled, brined, roasted, boiled) and none of them was ever like this? Usually, I'm expecting a fresher snap and bite. My partner loved the agria potatoes though; very crispy with a soft interior. The broccolini was welcome. She cleaned the plate.
This is their Bacon Eggs Benedict. The thick cut bacon is done well, but it's a pretty hefty slice (like, a lot). In contrast, they gave an absolutely minute amount of basil hollandaise which makes me wonder about the recent surging egg prices. The photo is me trying to present the dish at its best, but there's absolutely no hollandaise on the other side of that egg. The Dusty Apron english muffin was nicely toasted with butter. It was probably the best part.
Here's a cross section of the muffin:
The more you chew, the nicer the aroma and the sweetness. I really enjoyed the bread. Also the pickled pearl onions were fun to chomp on.
Overall, not too bad, but I'm definitely not jumping to come back for the coffee again. Their menu is different enough from the standard which could be why people rate this place highly. For a more cohesive whole, I think they could do better.