The menu was sort of amusing. We spent a good while picking apart the fonts and the kerning. Yes, there was a kerning discussion. Basically, the spacing between the letters on the menu was inconsistent and sometimes a bit weird. The capitalization was totally off as well; obviously there wasn’t an editor at the printing place where they got the menus from. Another interesting note on the menu is a new spelling of the garlic sausage: kulbassa. That makes kielbasa, kolbasa, koubasa and kulbassa. Which one is correct? Eye (opener) of the beholder.

Unlike the editing on the menu, our breakfasts were all quite pleasing. I got the Eye Opener breakfast, as the Breakfast Special is only served during the week. And yes, it has the extra meats that I so enjoy. The meat breakdown is fairly encouraging. The bacon tasted great, and exactly like bacon should taste: like bacon. The country ham was real and bore the marks of the grill, but unfortunately the sausages were merely butterflied breakfast links. The sausage and the coffee were the only two disagreeable elements of the meal, when all is said and done. Our eggs were the omega3 orange type, all prepared to order; the bread was a pretty good rye; the homemade hashbrowns were actually grilled chopped potatoes with the skin still on which actually tasted like potatoes

It seems funny to say that I was happy to have bacon that tastes like bacon and potatoes that taste like potatoes, but that’s the unfortunate reality of breakfasts in Winnipeg. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen, and we have had some skewed-flavoured foods in the past little while.

We had a party of 10 and just about everybody ordered something different. Everybody was immensely satisfied with their meals, save for the coffee of course. Our breakfasters munched on banana French toast, eggs Benedict, a breakfast burrito and pancakes – all were quite tasty and satisfying. Even though the eggs benny was made form powdered Knorr packaged hollandaise sauce, our benny-scruinteer gave it passing marks.

I asked the waitress for some hot sauce and she said “Sure,” and then served another table and I never saw nor heard anything about it again.

Too bad.

One huge good point is that all the breakfasts came with a bit of fruit. The eggs benny actually had a rather large fruit bowl which was shared amongst everyone at the end. Watermelon and oranges adorned the rest of our meals.

One bit of breakfast culture came up during our meal: when somebody throws a creamer at you, that’s an invitation for banter. There were two flying-creamer incidents that each went without the banter, and thus was completely uninteresting. We would do well to remember our customs, Joel!

If you’re willing to make the extra trek to the perimeter, do it. Just make sure that you get there early or you’ll be waiting outside with the wasps. Not W.A.S.P.s, but actual wasps that regularly plague the city in August. You also don’t want to get caught out in the snow when winter comes, so be prepared!

All in all, it was the stellar breakfast that I have been waiting for for a couple of months. However, next time I will stop at the neighboring Tim Horton’s beforehand and save myself the disappointment of their mop-bucket coffee.

Postscript – We examined our menu pictures after we got home and found it even more confusing than when we were there. Check out the pic on here and see if you can figure it out.

For example: The Breakfast Special is listed as $4.50 during the week, until 11. The Two Egger is $4.25. Both come with coffee extra. I’ve never seen a Special cost more on non-peak hours. This was actually so confusing that I had to call them to ask them about it. The woman who answered gave me a ridiculous explanation and tried to tell me that the Two Egger doesn’t come with meat. This is just not true, on the menu or in practice as I just witnessed. They really need to straighten this out. This was basically the most confusing menu I’ve ever seen, and that’s including the grammatically apocalyptic menus that typically fashion Vietnamese restaurants. Good going, guys.

August 31 2008

The Eye Opener

3132 Main Street

Hours of operation:

Mon - Sat                  7 AM - 2 PM

Sundays & Holidays 9 AM - 2 PM

Breakfast Special - $4.50

Mon - Fri           7 - 11 AM

Weekends & Holidays    $4.25

The Eye Opener restaurant is one that has been haunting us for some time. It came highly recommended by many people, and it was the actual focus of the Winnipeg Free Press article which featured Leif and I. Not only that, but it fit our summer review criteria very well: it’s far from downtown.

Eye Opener (the restaurant name actually does not include the word “The” which makes it sort of awkward to reference) is about 6 inches from the Perimeter Highway on north Main St. It’s just far enough from downtown to be out of the range of the bus, but not too far as to make it an inconvenient bike ride.

We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table because I forgot to make a reservation. Always make a reservation, although I doubt they take them on Sundays just because they’re so busy. It’s not a huge restaurant like Perkins, but not tiny like Ham ‘n Eggs; regardless, it was packed to the gills. It was sort of annoying to wait for a big table for our party while a large booth was occupied by only two people. We got our glare-faces on and people started shuffling out.

The restaurant looks very clean, with stark white walls covered in pictures of celebrities from the 1950’s. Elvis, the 3 Stooges, Abbot & Costello, Jean Harlow, Lucille Ball, etc… No clue why they chose that particular motif, there’s nothing else ‘50’s about the place. One solitary plant sits on the counter by the register, both high off the ground, causing our server to have to stand on her toes to ring us up after eating.

Once we were all sat and settled, our coffees arrived, leaving our mouths agape. Even before they hit the table we could see right through the cups. True, the coffee was served in clear glass cups, but I thought we were getting tea when we saw how translucent it was. Remember the Campsie Test? If you can see through the coffee, it passes the Campsie test. Well, I could have read the newspaper through it. It was flavourless, with just a hint of bitter, like a dirty crayon boiled in water.

April 17 2011

The Eye Opener

3132 Main Street

(West St. Paul, inches south of the Perimeter Hwy)

Breakfast Special - $

Wheelchair accessible.

The first time we went to the Eye Opener, we weren’t wowed. The lineup and the massive hornet population outdoor attacking us while we waited might have tinged our attitudes a bit. This time around, we were very impressed. Our eyes have been opened.

The Eye Opener was small and efficient. We arrived at opening and though they were full at quarter-after, our server never let us go more than a few minutes without a coffee refill, and the coffee was dark and delicious, though not that strong. Wellington coffee, definitely blacker than last time (see pictures below). They have counter service, so pay first and settle in.

Their menu has an extensive selection of pancakes and French toasts. We couldn’t resist getting a plate of their potato pancakes to share amongst us. They were golden and delicious, served with green onions like all the potatoes are. Lots of fruit slices came with the meals, creating a colourful delight. My omelette was expertly folded into a neat package, adorned with tasty hashbrowns (chunked, with skins on, cooked perfectly). Toast options were white, brown, rye or multigrain. The multigrain was fanstastic, thick and dark. The regular pancakes were similarly thick, not so dark, but dense.

The condiments were another fine feature of this restaurant. Not only did they have both Frank’s and Sri Racha hot sauces (our faves) but the jam and marmalade came in their own little caddy that looked like nipples. (See picture, if you dare.)

The food was great, and while the décor was ridiculous, we appreciated it. The booths were gigantic (seating six) and laden with sparkles. We loved the diner-style seats at the counter, and the silly celebrity portraits featuring Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Clint Eastwood and Elizabeth Taylor all hanging out. These people did not hang out with each other, as far as we know. (They might have disliked each other. Leif )

Go to the Eye Opener. Do it.

Awesome Fruit!

Stronger coffee!

Potato pancakes

Awesome Fruit!