Brunch at Your Father’s Moustache

I recently had a visitor from Calgary – Lu, a soon-to-be Haligonian who will assuredly be my brunch partner in times to come. Lu wanted eggs benny and it was cold out, so we ended up going somewhere close by which in this case was Your Father’s Moustache.

It’s a popular spot, I told her. Standard pub food, really, but they do serve eggs Benedict.

… Perhaps they shouldn’t.

Lou ordered the Fish Cakes Benedict ($15.75).

“What kind of sauce is this?”, Lou asked the server.

“Hollandaise”, was the reply.

“Ooookay then”. Lou had no further questions, as the answer was suspect.

Nothing about this sauce resembled Hollandaise. Lou thought maybe it was cheese-based or flour & cream based, but there was no evidence of egg or lemon. This sauce more closely resembled Mornay sauce, but I honestly couldn’t tell you what it was.

The fish cakes were okay – a little crumbly, with the noticeable presence of salt cod. The eggs were cooked exactly to specifications.

Lou was discouraged that “sandwich meat” (i.e. Black Forest Ham) was used rather than a thick baked ham. She compared this meal unfavourably to Humpty’s in Calgary, which I can tell you is not a good thing.

I ordered the Moustache Skillet ($13.95): Scrambled eggs with apple breakfast sausage, bacon, onions, cheese, home fries and hollandaise.

Skillets are hard to screw up because all of the ingredients are basically chucked together into a greasy harmony. I thought the menu specified scrambled eggs, but I was given the option of poached, scrambled or fried. Bacon, cheese and breakfast sausage were generously applied and tasty. The “Hollandaise” sauce was somewhere towards the bottom, providing a creaminess as I dug in.

The hashbrowns, though standard, were crispy and flavourful. I enjoyed this meal and would recommend it if you found yourself at the Moustache for brunch.

However, I can’t recommend the Moustache for brunch. It would be another thing if the food was cheap, but YFM seems to charge premium prices for average food. I think I’ll stick to Tom’s Little Havana for my neighbourhood eggs benny.