By: Matt Stock
This month’s showdown was a big one, as it was time for us to visit a true South End institution, our beloved Palmetto Bay Sunrise Cafe in Palmetto Bay Marina. The scene of many of our first dates, epic brunches, and life-restoring recovery meals, there are few places we’d rather go for some of the best grub and best service in town.
While Sunrise offers more than a few tantalizing sandwich options, where they really knock it out of the park is with their wide array of Benedict offerings. There’s Crab Cake, City Ham, Shrimp and Spinach, Smoked Salmon, Fried Chicken, Fried Bologna, even a vegan option inspired by local musicians, Pretty Darn. With so many tasty options at our disposal, we felt like it was time to switch it up, and so we are pleased to present our first ever Southender BENEDICT Showdown!
In attendance for this momentous occasion were myself and my partners, John and Lindsay Cranford. Following showdown protocol, we asked our servers, Melissa and Maria, for the two most popular options and they answered, without hesitation, the Crab Cake and the location’s namesake, the Sunrise. That’s where things got interesting. My partners were compromised, as John doesn’t eat crab cakes, and Lindsay is eternally devoted to the Crab Cake Benedict as her signature order here going back years. I was the swing vote, and it was time to eat!
In no time at all, we were served two beautifully presented benedicts paired with colorful fresh fruit bowls. The Crab Cake benny featured the Cafe’s signature crab cake over a toasted english muffin, topped with a poached egg and hollandaise, while the Sunrise benny boasted grilled onion, tomato and avocado with poached egg and hollandaise. We enthusiastically dug in to the Sunrise, and unanimously noted that the grilled onion offered a great flavor contrast to the smooth avocado, and gave the dish an overall freshness that could not be denied. On the other hand, there was the homemade crab cake, which was meaty and flavorful, and very short on filler. We agreed that the eggs on both dishes were poached to perfection and the house-made hollandaise, the key to any successful benedict, had a great consistency, and the flavor to match. A tough call for sure, but we just couldn’t resist the call of the sea, and Lindsay and I cast our votes for the winner of this month’s showdown, the Crab Cake Benedict!
