This past Friday, Jenn and I had the pleasure of meeting Vicky (@momwhoruns), blogger for the Urban Mom's blog and foodie. The "Not So Supermom" (but could have fooled us!) was visiting Ottawa for meetings, one with Costco and another with Farm Boy. She, an Ottawa ex-pat who makes her home in Toronto, we tweet quite the bit about the many foodie splendours her city has to offer. Before she arrived, we arranged a tweet-up for breakfast at Jak's Kitchen (479 Bronson Avenue), one of Ottawa's locally-owned restaurants, known for it weekend brunches.

After some pleasant discussion about food, blogging, some of Ottawa's better purveyors of pho, coffee, sushi, and the state of Chinatown post T&T, we tested Jak's reputation for serving our fair city's "best Eggs Benny."

Well, Jak's has a list of Eggs Benedict dishes, one shorter than the Lieutenant's Pump on Elgin (361).

Jak's Kitchen Eggs Benny Menu
The two Eggs Bennies Vicky and I ordered were nonetheless impressive.

Mine, the Don Francisco ($10), comes on black bean cakes with corn sofrito and a red pepper coulis.

Don Franciso Eggs Benny
Accompanying sides included deep fried freshly cut potatoes and a fresh salad, lightly dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette.

Poached eggs on black bean cakes, corn sofrito, and red pepper coulis
The black bean cakes were crusted on a flat top and provided an earthy alternative to English muffins. The corn softrito was made with frozen corn and sweated celery and onion. It provided savoury flavours and some texture. The red pepper coulis provided sweetness and brightness.

Runny Poached Eggs
The eggs were well poached so the whites were set and and the yolks, still runny.

Vicky's, the Michelangelo ($10), comes on rosemary foccacia with capicolo ham and basil cream sauce.

Michelangelo Eggs Benny
Accompanying sides included the fried potatoes and a cup of fresh fruit.

Jenn ordered a Balderson omelette, sans cheese. It comes with sauteed sliced mushrooms, chopped shallots and chopped bacon.

Balderson Omelette
Accompanying sides included a buttery freshly made biscuit and a cup of fresh fruit.

What surprised me were the condiments. The jam tasted like it was made and jarred in-house, naturally fruity sweet, neither metallic nor artificially sweet. There was also a nice hot pepper sauce called "Shania", made by local Chamomile Desjardins.

Shania Hot Sauce

Total: $27.12 (before taxes, including tea and coffee).

Vicky, Jenn and I enjoyed our breakfasts very much. The food was great and so was the company.

Would Jenn and I return to Jak's Kitchen? For brunch, absolutely! Given the specials we saw that day, we want to try its lunch too.

Specials
However, with Jak's Kitchen only having less than 2 dozen seats available, we suggest visiting in small groups.

Business Card

Jak's Kitchen's Business Card

Update: Vicky blogged a quick mention of our encounter on Urban Mom's.

foodiePrints on Urban Moms

Particulars:
Jak's Kitchen
479 Bronson Avenue
(613) 230-2088

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