The Benedict Chronicles: Maggie's
by Matt Brown
October 3 2011
"...as plate after plate of fluffy poached eggs, cartilaginous peameal, and lakes of sunshiney goo continued to pile up over time, I realized that if I don't start catalogueing these excursions in some formal manner, a great field of human knowledge would be lost. Hence, the Benedict Chronicles..."
For the lazy, chilly days of TIFF 2011, my partner and myself found ourselves temporarily gulagged at a two-bedroom condominium at Yonge and Charles, housesitting a cat with a serious digestive disorder, and doing our level best to keep our spirits up throughout our eleven-day, nine-a.m.-to-three-a.m. festival schedules. Over the course of our time there, I collected a lot of buttons, saw the Edge (the musician) praise the Edge (the radio station), and had an eggs Benedict at Maggie's.
Maggie's is on Charles Street, steps away from our September abode, and on the last truly viable day for patio brunch in Toronto in 2011, the ladyfriend and I stopped in for a mid-TIFF breakfast. They have a few different Benedicts on the menu. With the 7th anniversary of the premiere of Lost zooming straight toward us at that point like an out-of-control passenger plane, I chose the Eggs Benedict Oceanic, which is one of the city's many smoked salmon swapout Benedicts, and thereby a particular favourite of mine. The key innovation with Maggie's Oceanic is that, in addition to the smoked salmon taking the place of the traditional peameal, the dish also replaces the English muffin with a cheddar frittata - which, let me tell you, was the difference between a decent meal and a goddamned flavour explosion.
This is one of the five most satisfying Bennies I've had in years. The smoked salmon swapout can go awry in many cases, with fishy grossness overtaking the salty balance of the Benedict as a whole, but Maggie's harmonized the flavours perfectly. They provided just the right amount of Hollandaise to keep the meal creamy, gooey, and delightful. Add to this, the cheddar frittata gave just enough crunch at the finish of the bite to really command my attention and keep me shoveling the food into my festival-addled mouth. It was instantly addictive and dreamily comforting. This meal took place three weeks ago, and just writing these words, I'm game to run back there for another go.
I'm never a fan of the perfunctory fruit on a Benny plate, but at least the produce in this case was ripe and, for the most part, edible. Garlic fries round out the dish. A solid three and a halfer, I'm going to see what I can do about getting myself marooned at Yonge and Charles again in the future.
Maggie's is located at 20 Charles Street in Toronto, Ontario. The Benedict Chronicles is an ongoing, non-regular series.