[Eats&Treats] Anomali’s Eggs Benedict

I can’t remember the first time I started obsessing about Eggs Benedict. It might have been an episode of Hell’s Kitchen or something. I vaguely remember Gordon Ramsay. Perhaps it was MasterChef. Point is, I was fascinated by the way Chef Ramsay describe how a “proper” eggs benedict should be. Texture of muffin, consistency of classic hollandaise sauce, and of course, the pièce de résistance , the perfectly poached eggs.

So began my journey toward finding great Eggs Benedict. To my chagrin, restaurants that serve Eggs Benedict are typically on the higher end of the price point. *sigh* So I haven’t been able to try out as many as I would like. My first few tries are disappointing to say the least.

One day husband and I decided to reward ourselves for heavens-know-what and go breakfast-dating. As usual, we drove toward Kemang area. On a whim I decided to stop at Anomali Coffee. While parking, I consulted the ever-trusty Zomato to scout menus. If you read my post about Mockingbird restaurant you’d recall that I always have difficulty deciding what to eat so consulting ahead will help. In short, I found that they have Eggs Benedict so I knew what I would order!

We both ordered some fancy-named iced coffee to go with my Eggs Benedict. Husband already had hearty bubur ayam for breakfast so no meal for him. I had to wait for over 30 minutes for the eggs to arrive! Lucky for the restaurant I’m a patient person and rarely complain about these things. After waiting and even changing seats, it finally came. The looks didn’t disappoint.

How about the taste, though? I’m no food expert but this taste pretty good. Again, not a classic Eggs Benedict since there was no muffin. They used croissant instead, which I like. Eggs were not poached. I don’t know how they did it but the yolk was not blanketed by the whites. The yolk should be mostly runny. It wasn’t. 😦  The sauce tasted nice but as you can see from the photo, the sauce was not creamy and smooth like a Hollandaise is expected to be. It was grainy. Fortunately the smoked salmon was delicious. It was not a bad dish, really. I just felt like it wasn’t a “proper” one the way it is described on every cooking show. I’m still looking for that classic Eggs Benedict.

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Acquired Taste

As long as I can remember, I have always been a picky eater. I remember when my mother made fried egg (telor ceplok), I would only eat the whites. And they have to be crispy, at least on the outside. No soggy egg whites for me. Growing up, I remained picky when it came to food. Even in my mid twenties I would order plain cheeseburgers at McDonald’s. I hated (well, still actually) pickles and didn’t care much for the onions, ketchup and mustard. Burgers with lettuces, tomatoes and onions? Forget it. I’d picked out all of the extras and eat just the bun, meat and cheese (if any).
When I go to restaurants, I usually order menu items that are “safe”. Chicken, beef, pasta, that sort of things. I wasn’t really adventurous. In fact, I remember almost always ordering a burger whenever possible. I didn’t eat the vegs on it obviously.
Nowadays, I’m glad to say that my palate have developed a bit. I used to hate tomatoes. Whenever they appear to garnish a dish like nasi goreng or fish and chips, I treated them as decorations. I never eat them. Now (in the 29th year of my life) I actually don’t hate them. I love the tangy-sweet taste of tomatoes giving contrast to my favorite rich coconut-milky soto betawi,or how their fresh watery flesh give balance to the oily nasi goreng. Only now do I understand the importance of balance in food (kasian amat ya gue). I even ate a slice as snack once.
Other things I used to hate are onions. I didn’t like fried shallots that usually accompany lots of traditional Indonesian dishes such as nasi uduk or mie goreng. Now I find that they are tolerable. Fried shallots are ok actually. I still don’t like raw onions though. I picked them out of my burgers. Quite a hassle so “no onions” is a phrase I always say. But funnily enough, I LOVE onion rings. Always have. Oh, and caramelized onions. They’re sweet so I do like it.
There are lots of things that I used to hate but I quite like now. Bell peppers and mushrooms for instance. I love grilled bell peppers and deep fried battered mushrooms. Having them on my pizza is no longer a problem. I find that some things do take some getting used to. Having an open mind when trying out new food is also necessary. I don’t eat sushi until well into my twenties. Now I crave for sushi at least once a month. I used to order my steak well done. Gradually I learn to appreciate the tenderness of meat when not cooked until done. It was medium-well for a while and now I don’t take anything more than medium. When I was pregnant I actually chose not to eat steaks because I couldn’t have them cooked medium. I’d rather wait.
In my opinion, “acquired taste” can also be applied to other things, such as books, music, films or even people! Sometimes I find that this person that used to be intolerable to be around with, turned out to be okay. I just need to familiarize myself with him or simply ignore him. Suddenly he’s not such a pain anymore :p Some people are just not likable on the get-go, you need to get to know them first. As Indonesians say, “nanti juga ketemu selahnya“. You’ll find something in them. Be patient.

Colorful Bell Peppers!

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