Sunday Brunch at Benitz Bistro, Ottawa

What I love about my friend P is that she is as big of a pig as I am. She took me out for Sunday brunch at Benitz Bistro, and we had a great time eating and chatting.

I had no clue Benitz served brunch until we stumbled upon it on their website. I'm sure glad I discovered it because we had a very nice meal here.

Benitz Bistro is a small, elegant French bistro that is owned by Chef Derek Benitz. He also happens to own b/Side Wine and Small Plates, situated right next door to Benitz Bistro. The interior of Benitz Bistro is decorated with a clean black & white theme. It has an upscale feel without being too stuffy.

Interior of Benitz Bistro

When P and I ordered our food, the waiter did a double take. "Are you sure?", he asked. We had ordered 3 full breakfasts + 1 soup to split between the two of us. I was himming and hawing at all the food we ordered, so the waiter suggested that he bring us one breakfast each as the first course, and then bring out the third breakfast as a second course if we were still hungry. P would not have it that way, and told him to bring out everything at once. I chuckled at her assertiveness, and thought privately that there was no way we would finish all that food.

Well, to my surprise (and the waiter's), we did finish all our food. Here's what we had:
We both started with a warm cup of cappuccino.

Cappuccino

The soup of the day was a tomato, mung bean, and chilli soup served with a dollop of lobster terrine. The soup was spicy, and the mung beans added some texture to the soup. It was definitely a great way to wake up on a lazy Sunday morning.

Tomato, Mung Bean, and Chilli Soup

The soup was served with two wonderful slices of grilled Art-Is-In Bakery bread.

Art-Is-In Bakery Bread

Next was the eggs Benitz: a pair of poached eggs on a grilled baguette with pea meal bacon, and hollondaise sauce. This was served with fresh fruit and hash.

Eggs Benitz

The eggs were cooked very nicely. Just look at those perfect sacs of yolk screaming for someone to pierce them open.

Poached Eggs

Benitz' spicy Cajun-style hash is awesome. The spices in the hash paired nicely with the sweet caramelized onions. The hash was baked in the oven, which created a nice crispy top layer.

Next was the Andalusian frittata, which loosely translates to a Spanish style frittata. This week, it was a caramelized onion & white cheddar frittata. The onions were nice but I wished for more of a cheddar taste. I found the cheese a little too subtle.

Caramelized onion and White Cheddar Frittata

Last was the french toast: Art-is-in bakery baguette with cinnamon, Chantilly cream, maple syrup, and candied nut & dried fruit compote. This was a nice simple way to end our meal, and we treated this plate as our dessert.

P and I had a wonderful brunch experience, and I'm definitely coming back. The prices are very reasonable and average $12 a plate.

At the end of our meal, the waiter told us that the only thing that could have done better than us was a dishwasher :-)

Benitz Bistro
327 Somerset Street West
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-567-8100