Carolina Benedict @ Alice's Arbor
Alice's Arbor is much more than it appears from the outside. The large roomy interior goes much farther back than you would suspect, and the high ceilings make it feel super spacious. We got there an hour after opening and it was pretty crowded, but because of the space, there was no. wait. The feel is very Southern, country style cooking, and the Carolina Benedict was the perfect showcase of this cuisine. Here's how it rated.
Base: Buttermilk biscuits. Normally, this is my favorite benedict base and I didn't think it was possible to mess this up. However, as I'm sure you can see (or not) from the photo, these were the tiniest biscuits to ever grace a benedict plate. They were about the size of a half dollar, and one was definitely overcooked on the bottom. Not burnt, but I had to basically stab it apart instead of cut it gently. It was disappointing.
Score: 3
Non-Egg Protein: Pulled pork. Remember when it was called a Carolina benedict? This is an essential part of why. The flavor was spot on and the amount of meat was great, even if it completely hid the biscuits from sight. But the meat plus yolk was just a wonderful mixture. Would recommend.
Score: 5
Eggs: Really great. As soon as the wairess set down the plate, I could tell these would be great. They were both jiggly and looked like they were ready to burst open and let their yolk flow free. And that they did, unexpectedly both times. The first cut into the first egg sent yolk spilling everywhere, and I barely even touched the second one and I got a second pool of yolky goodness. If anything, they were a little too small, and one was a tad under while the other was a tad over, but the yolks of both made for a plentiful lake of meat and potato dipping goodness.
Score: 8
Surprise yolk explosion! No time for a gif, but it would have been great.
Yeah, I know it's hard to tell what's even happening here. But I barely touched it and it erupted everywhere, so this is the best I could do. Still pretty great.
Sauce: Spicy hollandaise. The spice on this was just great. Not too hot that it because difficult to eat, but hot enough to make things interesting. The consistency and amount of sauce was also the right level for this benedict. Between this sauce, the yolk, and the meat juices, there was just a great messy mix for covering the meat and potatoes. It was great.
Score: 5
Sides: Potatoes. These had some sort of spice that we couldn't identify, and I initially thought they were sweet potatoes. The cook on them also felt very southern, giving the impression that these were cooked in a giant batch so some had a small layer of char while others had none. Overall, pretty good, maybe a little mushy but it made them perfect for saucing up with the benedict leftovers.
Score: 4
Bonus: Another prix fixe, this time for $19. It included an entree (probably at least half the menu qualified), a coffee, tea or OJ (which is unusual for an included drink), AND a bloody mary or mimosa. I got so excited about the OJ being included that I didn't think about the OJ and mimosa OJ overload, but the mimosa had hardly any OJ in it so I think it worked out. It's also just a cool place so we're looking forward to trying it for brunch again (getting the traditional benedict for me) and dinner.
Score: 2
Total Score: 27/30
