Over Easy - Breakfast in Calgary

Anyone that's lived in Calgary knows that "the" place to go for Breakfast is usually Nellies. Nellies has locations in all the urban areas of the cities and has expanded into the suburbs. I believe I wrote about Nellies a few years back. I like the place but I find it's often very warm inside the restaurant & the tables are extremely close..giving you a sense of claustrophobia.

Recently, FFWD Weekly and The Eye Opener on CBC wrote/talked about Over Easy, the newest place to eat breakfast in Calgary.

I stopped by the place and I was impressed. The decor inside reminded me of Cafe World, a game you play on Facebook. It's got a sort of hipster feel to it that seems to blend post modern indie with disco (if that's possible). Tables back onto the wall but down the centre is a line of funky IKEA like chairs to seat individuals or people in pairs.

The food is very good, I had a "Threesome" which consisted of eggs over easy, bacon & a pancake. The eggs were done well & the bacon was great. It was thicker than what you'd normally expect & not quite so "cooked". The pancake wasn't anything out of the ordinary but I'm sure they actually served real maple syrup but I could be wrong. I ordered a side of toast which was thick whole wheat bread but the butter comes on the side. It's actually real whipped butter. Not sure I understand why they do that, perhaps some people just put jam on their toast. They also include generous sides of fruit that's actually edible. A swath of a pineapple, watermelon and grapefruit..that were actually very edible (and eat them I did).

The portion sizes were pretty decent from what I could see around me, not too large, but not too small. Like all places in Calgary that focus entirely on breakfast figure to spend around 10 bucks a head including a cup of fair trade coffee. This is an upscale breakfast bar so if you're looking for a deal, this isn't the place. It's located on Edmonton Trail around 8th ave (just up the hill). There is a small strip of interesting food places around there that I didn't realize were there and I think I'll be in that area a bit more.

What I didn't like was that it was hot and stuffy inside; I'd guess around 27C. One thing that irks me about too many businesses in this city is they insist on turning up the heat & don't understand the concept of air flow. Hot is one thing, it's the lack of airflow that is most annoying. Alberta needs to grasp the concept of ceiling fans. The other thing I didn't like was that the tables are a bit too close to each other & you can clearly hear your neighbors conversations. This is not a place to go blend into the woodwork with a plate of Eggs Benny & a cup of coffee.

All in all, I'd say it's pretty damn good and I'd go back again. Keep in mind this is a breakfast cafe, so expect to spend 10 bucks a plate. Over Easy doesn't yet have a website but they do have a domain registered and a website is on the way. The URL is http://www.overeasybreakfast.com/