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University and college weekends hold a special place in everyone’s hearts. After a week of working hard or hardly working and a night out with friends, the first day of the weekend is the perfect morning to catch up on long-lost sleep and consume an inordinate amount of protein and carbs to end one stupor and start another.
To relive those days and get our morning kick, we headed to Bennigan’s in Juffair last Friday to sample their famous breakfast menu.
The Bennigan’s in Juffair attracts an interesting assortment of morning folk. From the nearby Naval Support facility’s military personnel to beleaguered weekend warriors, we found a surprisingly lively crowd when we walked in at nine in the morning. A tragically early morning, if you ask me, but by the looks of it, a good time to visit the restaurant.
After being seated by the restaurant’s morning team supervisor Dhan Gurung, we surfed the menu and ordered some of the classics. I went for the All American breakfast (BD6.670) with two eggs (I elected for the poached variety), American style beef sausage, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, grilled tomato, breakfast potatoes, beef bacon rasher and hash browns.
My colleague meanwhile decided to go for the Full Irish (BD6.670) with beef sausages, beef bacon rashers, two eggs (It was a somewhat glum day outside, so he took the sunny side up route), baked beans, plum tomatoes, hash browns and black pudding.
Of course both of our extremely hearty meals came with toast. And just so the other side of the menu did not feel left out, we also ordered plain waffles (BD3.030), and strawberry pancakes (BD3.395), in addition to a stuffed omelette (BD5.455).
While the stuffed omelette was something I had become used to in Canada having learned most of my cooking lessons making it, my colleague was fascinated by the concept of an omelette being crafted around a huge helping of meat, cheese and veggies.
And for beverages, we ordered fresh orange and pineapple juices (BD2.305 each) and a couple of cappuccinos (BD1.820 each).
Now, here’s the real secret of a breakfast place. While eating out for brunch, lunch or dinner usually involves some level of foresight and planning, going out for breakfast is usually because you can’t be bothered to cook at home. So the speed of service is crucial to a successful breakfast joint.
And the crew didn’t disappoint, as our breakfast quickly wafted over to our table. I took my All-American dive, gently cutting open the poached eggs to use the egg yolk as a sauce for my toast and beef sausage, chasing it down with some ketchup-drowned breakfast potatoes and a massive gulp of pineapple juice.
Silence settled comfortably over the table for the next few minutes as my colleague and his wife dug into the Full Irish, which was quite similar to mine, except for the skinned plum tomatoes and baked beans.
Conversations trickled up again when the omelette arrived, living up to its stuffy reputation. Beef sausage and red capsicum with just enough Swiss cheese to hold the entire beast together fascinated my colleague as he poked and prodded, before devouring it.
As we sipped our cappuccino, we also snacked on the waffles and the pancakes, served with butter and maple syrup. For the pancakes, we sampled the strawberry reduction, finding each bite to be delectable and perfect.
Surprisingly, the meal despite being massive, did not feel as heavy as I had come to expect of American style breakfasts. In fact, we felt quite spry for the day and weekend ahead.
Stop by Bennigan’s every morning to get a head start to the day and try out some of their fantastic hearty breakfasts and let us know what you think! Call 17813750 for more information.
