Not so eggceptional

Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.

Jim had a lot of recording sessions at the radio station one day, so we decided it would be a good idea to have a big breakfast. While trying to decide where to go, we remembered driving down Algonquin Road and seeing signs for a new brunch restaurant. Great. We thought we could fill up our tummies and also write an article on it. We jumped into the mini-mobile and headed off to Eggceptional Café in Algonquin.

We are pretty sure this location is the former home of BuddyZ’s Pizzeria. The restaurant has been completely redone, and the inside coincidentally, greatly resembles another local brunch restaurant that serves “syrup”-y breakfasts. The white and gray tone décor must be a hot new trend.

The restaurant for a weekday morning at 10 a.m. was pretty empty. After we were seated, we waited patiently for our waiter and looked at the menu to decide what we were going to have. Jim decided on the Lumberjack Cinnamon Roll French Toast ($12.99). This was two pieces of home style cinnamon French toast, with two eggs, two slices of bacon, two sausage links, sliced ham, and hash browns or seasoned cubed potatoes. He chose the hash browns for his side. I looked at him and said, “seriously, you think you can eat all of that”? He replied, “challenge accepted”!

Nancy wanted to be different and decided on the Stuffed Waffle ($10.99) which was served with two eggs, your choice of bacon or sausage, and a stuffed waffle with strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. She chose bacon for her side.

Our waiter finally appeared wearing a “Flappy’s Pancake House” apron (huh?). He took our order even though we had to explain to him what our entrees included. He turned and started walking away. After waiting so long, we didn’t want him disappearing again, so we called him back to take our drink order. Jim needed his coffee fix in the morning. In all fairness, we found out that it was his first day on the job so we cut him some slack. Unfortunately, it took 15 minutes to just get our drinks.

A couple of minutes after that, our food arrived. Boy that cook is quick!!! Unfortunately, Nancy’s stuffed waffle was not stuffed. What arrived were two waffle halves stacked on top of each other with a few pieces of fruit on top and a dollop of whip cream.

Jim’s plate looked pretty good. We started eating and we noticed a common trait with both of our entrees. At best, everything was just lukewarm. We also noticed everything seemed to us to be very dried out. We are not making any accusations, but it resembled something that was made in advance and warmed up. That is just our opinion. Even the container of syrup was warmer than our food. Jim lost the challenge; he didn’t finish his food.

Maybe we’re too fussy, but it would have been nice to have the waiter top off our drinks during the meal. We decided enough was enough and we wanted our check. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find our waiter. We got up and put on our jackets when our waiter spotted us. After another long wait and many consultations with other wait staff, our waiter finally gave us our bill of $31.06.

FYI: This restaurant is handicap accessible.

Jim’s take: I had high hopes, but my bubble was burst. No doggie bag for me.

Nancy’s take: My mother always told me, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at: thediningduo@gmail.com

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