Yolk was definitely one of my favourite places to have breakfast in Chicago. Obviously eggs are the things that they apparently do well with omelettes that look like they have about six eggs in them, skillets full of food and pancakes galore. I went again for the second time on a weekend, where the waiting queue is super busy although they seem to be able to turn over tables pretty quick with such a large floor space.

Everything on their menu looks pretty tempting and I ended up ordering the classic eggs benedict, despite them offering several different variations on the dish. As you can see from the photo below, it’s a huge portion with two eggs benedict, lots of toasted red potatoes and fresh fruit on the side.

The eggs benedict was amazing with the perfectly made hollandaise sauce. I can see why they’ve won awards for this dish and I’d definitely be intrigued to see what their other variations were like. I’d had better potatoes elsewhere but it’s nice to finish the dish with fresh fruit, even if some of them happened to have a bit of hollandaise sauce left on them.

Name: Yolk
Location: 1120 S Michigan Avenue, Chicago, 60605
Website: http://www.yolk-online.com/
Cost: US$18.03 for eggs benedict, orange juice, tax and tip

I was catching up with my friend Tiffany, who I’d finally met in one in Calgary and she suggested meeting at her favourite breakfast spot, Heaven on Seven. It’d passed through all of my blog readings so I was definitely intrigued and especially appreciative for hearing a local’s view of things. As a typical Chicago or American style breakfast joint, Heaven on Seven definitely stands out as very different bringing the deep south up north with all of that soul and atmosphere.

Sunday at their Rush Street location (they have three stores in Illinois) has plenty of atmosphere including a live pianist playing a selection of music. Decorations also abound everywhere and some of it particularly eye catching. For example, we sat down at a table in their main room, located right next to the wall almost lined from floor to ceiling with different types of hot sauces. Apparently they have challenge that if you bring in a bottle of hot sauce they don’t have, you get your meal for free (though don’t quote me on that). I do like the bravado and challenge of that. Having said that, they seem to have hot sauce coming out to no ends with at least fifteen bottles at our table. Here’s a picture of our favourite selection of them:

They have a decent selection of brunch “hair of the dog” drinks that I figured was more of a North American thing. I’m not normally one to have anything but Tiffany did suggest the Bloody Mary was one of the spiciest around. On this very same menu they also had a variant of a Long Island Ice Tea underscored with a note stating “Limit of One”. Apparently most of these were very strong. I can definitely attest the Bloody Mary did it’s job on both the alcoholic and the chilli front with me literally sweating through the rest of my breakfast.

Their menu puts a creole, southern spin on everything. In the end I ordered the creole eggs benedict, a spin on the classic dish using Andouille Sausage, smoked paprika and an american style “biscuit” (more like an English scone) as its base.

Whatever it was, it was really good. The serving was plentiful and I was surprised at how well all of those flavours didn’t overpower the hollandaise. They even had the right proportion of ingredients other than it was really two portions and I probably shouldn’t taken the other to go.

I can definitely recommend this place as somewhere to go for a lazy Sunday brunch. Its Rush Street location has plenty of character that just works.

Name: Heaven on Seven
Found at: (Multiple locations) I ate at the one at 600 N. Michigan Ave (2nd Floor) Chicago, IL 60611
Website: http://www.heavenonseven.com/
Damage: US$44 for two people including two entrees, a Bloody Mary, tax and tip

When trying to find places to head out for brunch, I stumbled across The Bongo Room. They have two locations and fortunately there was one several blocks away from where I was staying at the time, making it a very convenient location for breakfast after a bit of a lazy morning.

It’s easy to walk down South Wabash Avenue and almost miss their 1152 location. It’s on the corner and the door is fairly non de script, leading into, what looks like, a converted concrete room fitted out with ikea-like furniture. What the decorations fail to add in terms of character, the large windows with streaming sunlight and tables full of people help make up.

I perused the menu, ordering a freshly squeezed orange juice and see on the menu that they do espresso based drinks (one of the few!) All excited, I order the latte only to discover quickly it’s something never to order again. It’s manufactured exactly like one of those st@rbuck’s-fashioned milk monstrosities terrorising those who crave a simple, good coffee. I was stunned as the waitress dropped off the glass, literally larger than the one that my “large” orange juice was served in. I gave it a good attempt but I couldn’t bring myself to finish it, despite it costing almost US$5.

One of the things that I read about The Bongo Room is the way they let you order parts of a meal, like the pancakes that normally arrive as a three stack, but just as orderable as an individual one. Glancing at the menu, I forgo the thought of trying several different pancakes as all of them looked like they’d better sit on a dessert menu such as the Bavarian Stack (chocolate, cherry and vanilla creme). I ended up ordering a single lemon ricotta pancake, assured it was the least sweet of those listed. With the waitresses’ help (more on that later) I also ordered the breakfast croissant, filled with a poached egg, some cheese, bacon and served with toasted red potatoes.

The waitress must have been joking with me when she had indicated how large the pancakes were before I placed my order. She’d assured me with a circular gesture that looked no bigger than the size of a fist, the pancakes were small. What arrived was an enormous pancake that easily would have made a meal of its own. Looking at the two places sit side-by-side, I certainly felt pretty greedy for ordering the breakfast croissant as well. I managed to finish about half the croissant, and half the pancake trying and leaving most of the red potatoes behind.

The pancake was light and fluffy, full of coconut and lemon and definitely being sweet enough without the need for more sugar in the form of maple syrup they also brought to the table. What red potatoes I did have were crisp, salty and definitely went well with the rest of the dish although I wouldn’t say the breakfast croissant was anything to jump up and down for.

I’d definitely come back here although it’s a shame they don’t do a dinner service as many of their pancakes would make awesome desserts.

Name:The Bongo Room
Found at:1152 S Wabash Ave, Chicago, USA (another location in Wicker Park)
Website: None that I could find
Cost: US$29 for the pancake, juice, coffee, breakfast croissant, tax and tip