Not Eggs Benny with Emily: The Shop

This Friday, I wanted to send you into the weekend with something different than Emily’s eggs benedict quest on your minds. Especially since this week was marred by a disaster. I don’t want to ruin the ending, but at no point along the line was Emily ever close to actually getting eggs benedict.

Her post does raise an interesting question. Eggs benedict is a thing. From the bottom up it’s an english muffin, canadian bacon, poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce. Sure, there are variations, but some variations become their own thing outright. Take eggs florentine, for example.

Sure, there is now the entire classification of dishes labeled as “eggs benny” much like “martini” became the shorthand for any strong, short cocktail served in a cocktail glass. But how many steps away can it take from the original before it stops providing the same satisfaction?

Or is simply “poached eggs on stuff” close enough. Without any further ado, here’s Emily L. to tell you the story.

Eggs Bennie with Emily minus the Bennies: The Shop in Troy

Going out to brunch doesn’t always turn out how you expect. But sometimes it can turn into something even better than you anticipated.

The boyfriend and I were dog-sitting this past weekend in Troy. We hit up several places on our long Troy restaurant list, including Nighthawks, the Dutch Udder, and Sunhee’s. But we saved The Shop for our Benedict challenge.

Their brunch menu often changes depending on what is in season or their specials of the week. We decided to give it a try. When we got there, we found out they did not have eggs Benedict on the menu currently, so we decided to try to the two dishes closest to an eggs Benedict. The boyfriend ordered the breakfast poutine featuring home fries, cheese curds, sausage gravy, bacon bits, and poached eggs. I decided to get the merguez sausage hash, but they were out of the pork and lamb sausage; instead this dish featured brisket, sweet potato and cauliflower hash, harissa yogurt sauce, and poached eggs. We decided to splurge as well and get the grapefruit and thyme mimosa.

I took one bite of my hash and my eyes started to tear up. The hash was very dry and the sauce was too spicy without much flavor; I found it very hard to chew the overdone brisket. I attempted to cool down the hash with a poached egg, but the egg was overcooked.

The very friendly waitress noticed the look of distress on my face and came over to check in. She very graciously offered to bring me something else and for the first time in my life, I actually sent the dish back to the kitchen and she brought me out their famous Trojan wedge salad with seitan instead.

The wedge salad was phenomenal. Very rarely am I blown away by a salad, but this one featured heavenly marinated seitan, large chunks of local blue cheese, fresh tomatoes, and creamy avocado dressing. It was very filling, but I didn’t walk away feeling overly stuffed. The boyfriend absolutely adored the breakfast poutine, ranking it as his second favorite brunch food in the capital region (behind New World’s Benedict trio).The grapefruit mimosa was fresh and light, featuring cava instead of traditional champagne and a twig of thyme. Delicious and perfect for a muggy Sunday afternoon.

This wasn’t the brunch I expected but it turned out to be something even better. The staff at the Shop were extremely accommodating making sure I got something I did like. The chef came out to check on us as well and we chatted for a bit. The Shop is helping to bring new people out to Troy; they encourage us to visit and patronize other local restaurants, sharing the food love. I will definitely be back to the Shop though perhaps not for the hash.

For those who may be new to seeing a guest post on the FLB, I’ll reiterate what I’ve said before. I love the idea of highlighting new voices. Emily and I don’t always agree. Just because her words are appearing on this blog, that does not mean I am endorsing her opinions or findings.

If you are interested in submitting a guest post, let’s talk. The more voices the better.

And if you don’t want to write a full post, feel free to leave comments. As long as you like. On the blog itself, or on the FUSSYlittleBLOG Facebook page.

While I may have fallen down on responding to comments, I still read and cherish every last one. Even the critical ones. Maybe even especially the critical ones.

Now, I’ve got to get ready for the big OYE tonight. Cheers!