The King Eddy

Address: 45 Clarence St, Ottawa
Hours: 7:30am – 1am (Mon – Tue); 7:30am – 12am (Wed); open 24h (Thu – Sun)
Website: https://www.kingeddyburgers.com/

After a fun little staycation at a hotel downtown, my wife and I were on the hunt for breakfast in the Byward Market the following day. I had seen some tasty-looking fried chicken and diner fare on King Eddy’s social media, so we decided to give them a go.

Opened in late 2014, King Eddy is going for a laid-back burger joint and diner vibe, but with more chef-ed up execution.

Their house-ground, smashed burger sounded tempting, but we were feeling more breakfasty. My wife settled on the hefty “Northern fried” chicken and waffles, with country gravy, fries and coleslaw ($18.99). Knowing that I’d get to eat a fair bit of that, I went for the smaller Morning Glory sandwich – a spicy maple and herb sausage patty, fried egg, with cheese and garlic mayo in a toasted biscuit ($6.99), and an added side of home fries ($4.99).

The King Eddy is also licensed, and has a variety of beer, cocktails and even wine, but I chose to keep the calorie train rolling, and got their cookies and cream milkshake ($6.99).

We had arrived just before things really picked up for the Saturday brunch rush, so we didn’t have too long of a wait for our platters of carbs and meat to arrive (sorry, new Canada Food Guide).

Not a piece of greenery in sight XD

My wife’s chicken and waffles plate was an impressive mound of food, with two thighs and a drumstick, a whole Belgian waffle, and a generous portion of fries. The chicken was piping hot out of the fryer, with a thin, crispy batter. It was seasoned enough to have a red tinge, although it wasn’t spicy. The meat itself was fine, although not as moist as some of the competition.

We suspected that there was a mismatch in expediting, as the waffle came out nearly cold. Airy, crisp, and lightly sweet on its own, it still made for a good delivery vessel for hunks of fried chicken drizzled with maple syrup.

The hand-cut fries were wonderfully crisp, and great on their own or for dipping in the country gravy. Traditionally made from meat drippings leftover from frying bacon or sausage, King Eddy’s country gravy was very mushroom-y, just like cream of mushroom soup. That said…it still worked, and we happily dipped our fries in it!

Truly glorious

My Morning Glory was a hell of a breakfast sandwich. The star was the sausage patty, with the spice, maple and herbs all combining for a huge punch of flavour. I love traditional breakfast sausage, but this blows that out of the water. Throw in a fried egg with a runny yolk, melty American cheese, and I was in breakfast heaven. The biscuit containing all this breakfast glory was buttery and lightly toasted for added richness.

I was pleased to see that the home fries were also house made instead of coming from a freezer bag. The small red potatoes were lightly seasoned with some herbs and crisped on the flattop with onions and red peppers. They weren’t quite as browned as I would have liked, but they were still quite good and even better with a coating of cream of mushroom sou-, er, I mean, country gravy.

Last and certainly not least was my cookies and cream milkshake. Made from King Eddy’s own soft serve, it wasn’t quite as thick as a traditional milkshake, but damn was it good. It was like drinking one of the namesake chocolate bars and all of their white chocolate and Oreo goodness!

While not quite there on execution perfection, the King Eddy is an excellent modern diner, and I look forward to trying out their burgers and other diner fare. That is, if I can pry myself away from enjoying another Morning Glory.