Unknown leaves
One of the disadvantages of living in the Central West is that you have to drive at least an hour to get to any decent shops. Parkes has a few, but they aren’t generally open on the weekends and then stock is limited. So to Orange I must go.
Yesterday I went to buy glass jars for the latest fundraiser I’m about to put together for the charity I run. Bath Salts. It means I need LOADS of them.
While I was in town I took Fe for a walk, and of course, sought out Eggs Benedict. This time the place I picked one on the main drag into town, and I had low expectations because it pitched itself as a café, boutique nursery, gift shop. What a wank.
Fe didn’t even think too much. She was more interested in sleeping.
Without a reservation I was shown to ‘the fence’ seats. They were in full sun when we sat down so warm and not in need of the blanket slung over the back of the seat.
I ordered Eggs Benedict with Bacon from the menu that stated the options as:
Eggs Benedict — Poached Eggs, Baby Spinach, Hollandaise on an English Muffin (GFO*) with Bacon OR Smoked Salmon
I also ordered a large latte with fat boy milk.
While I waited for food I wrote my weekly Memorial Moment reflection about who I was missing this week. It’s Muv, it’s always Muv. Especially when I’m eating and drinking at a garden center. When it was just her and I in my early teens, we’d Doris and always end up mooching around among the azaleas and freesias and then ordering cake with coffee for her, soft drink for me. We’d always end up laughing, and almost always end up taking home either an indoor or plant for the back of front garden. Ivy was a favorite of both of our. I still love it and have it growing indoors. I can’t wait until I have my own place so I can grow it outside too.
As I sat reminiscing my coffee arrived. Hot and wet and creamy. Lovely.
Shortly afterward lunch arrived.
This is a place that offers breakfast food as an all day menu from 8am — 2pm which, frankly, at the weekend is just sensible. More places should cut the 11am crap out.
It looked golden.
HOMEMADE HOLLANDAISE!
Woo hoo!
It was tangy and lemon with a delightfully strong bite on the tongue. The bacon was salty that offset the acid. The garnish of unknown leaves added a nuttiness that further dampened the acidic after taste. All this on top of softly toasted muffins and spinach. The eggs where poached perfectly with just a hint of egg-white snot. The tangerine coloured yolk glowed.
It was well-balanced and really hit the spot. But I did stop scoffing my face long enough to take a picture of yolky yumminess.
The garnish proved a difficult find. The first Google search told me it was Water Parsley, which given I had eaten all and then read about that being highly toxic, it clearly wasn’t. Another search said baby parsley…it definitely wasn’t that. I asked the waitress, she didn’t know, so she offered to ask the chef. That was a no go…
“sorry, the head chef has gone on a break.”
More Googling finally revealed Salad Burnet. I like the flavour of it, I don’t think I ever had it before, I know I would like it again.
If I have one complaint about this eggs benedict; is that it was served in a bowl. I’m not a fan of the current trend of serving drinks in Mason jars, or deconstructed. I’m even less of a fan of trying to cut food using a knife and fork when the food is in a bowl.
Would I go back. Yes. And I’d take friends.
Location: Anything Grows
Address: 54 Summer Street, Orange, NSW 2800
Website: www.anythinggrows.com.au
EB Price: $26 (plus weekend loading)
A quick note about the “Boutique Nursery” and “Gift Shop”. The garden center part of the location is tiny. A few racks that took a few moment to traverse. Maybe because it’s the middle of winter, it all looked a little sparse and sad. The gift shop two steps up into a space the size of a single car garage with a center isle and shelves lining the walls. Loaded with high quality and sumptuous products; candles, gardening tools, blankets, scarves, and cards that get beautifully packaged when you leave.
