cajun pork benedict Archives - I am a Honey Bee

When we were visiting Raleigh, North Carolina back in September we enjoyed some really great meals throughout Research Triangle area. There are so many wonderful places to eat that we had a blast. One place in particular had an awesome brunch.

Based upon some reviews and suggestions we went to Top of The Hill in Chapel Hill for brunch. Brunch is one of my favorite meals and obviously, my favorite dish is Eggs Benedict. And Top of The Hill, aka TOPO, did not disappoint!

Typically, we would not order a ‘starter’ of biscuits but Autumn can happily eat them so we ordered them. So, of course, we snagged some pieces of the light and fluffy biscuits too. Although they were buttery I felt it was super important to add some butter on top as well. Plus some jelly. When in Rome?

We also did get a cup of fruit ($3.99) for Autumn as well.

Sweet tea and a sweet baby.

Price ordered the Chicken and Waffles ($9.99). It is becoming the signature dish that he has been ordering lately.

He thought it was really good as the boneless chicken breast was really tender under all that crunch. The coating was on the sweet side, which went well with the belgian waffle. He remarked that he enjoyed how airy the waffle was. Two thumbs up.

Sadly, we arrived at right when they open at 11 and they don’t start serving alcohol until noon so we didn’t get to enjoy some brunch cocktails or their on-site brewed beers. The selection looked great so it was disappointing but you just can’t break state law!

I love Eggs Benedict but I love when restaurants change things up and play on the components of it. Which is exactly what TOPO did when they created the Cajun Pork Benny ($8.99). Their version included 2 cheesy grit cakes, Cajun pulled pork, 2 poached eggs, a beer cheese sauce, which were served on a bed of arugula, and lastly topped off with fresh salsa.

Each element was executed really well. I loved the spice and seasoning in the moist pulled pork. As well, the creamy, thick beer cheese sauce has a really nice spice to it. Of course it was made with theitr own beer. That went really well with the pepper arugula. I typically look forward to homefries but the arugula was nice instead as it added some nice crunch to each bite.

The best part of the Cajun Pork Benedict were the cheesy grit cakes. They were cheesy, creamy, and crunchy. Imagine croquettes but 10x better. The grits were cooked perfectly and they were formed into the cakes and gently fried. Be still my heart. I made sure I had a bit of the cheesy grit cakes with ever bite.

My eggs were bright and runny but just a tad over cooked.You might even say it was barely noticeable, but I do take note. However, I would always choose a slightly over cooked egg than under cooked so it wasn’t such a big deal. Plus there was enough of the cheese sauce to balance out some of the cooked yolk.