When I heard that Kinley's Restaurant & Bar had started a Saturday brunch, I was excited. Having previously enjoyed dinner there, I knew the chefs were talented and the food was exceptional.
And then there was the mention of mimosas!
Already serving lunch from 11:30 a.m to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays, Kinley's recently added a brunch menu with a variety of breakfast and nonbreakfast entrees. This isn't the usual all-you-can-eat buffet brunch, though -- it's a separate menu accompanying the lunch lineup. Eggs Benedicts are the stars, with choices of roast beef, crab and vegetarian along with a weekly special. There's also a weekly quiche special.
The brunch menu has other items, ranging from fresh linguine pasta with garlic bread ($12) and bratwurst with sauerkraut and fries ($12) to a coconut crusted rockfish with a green curry lemongrass sauce ($14). They all sounded good when I visited recently with a friend, but none seemed very breakfasty.
The server forgot to mention the eggs Benedict specials, surprising because it wasn't overly busy. Luckily I asked, and I ended up choosing the special -- the BLT Benedict, featuring poached eggs, bacon, tomatoes and romaine lettuce on an English muffin with a side of potatoes ($14). My friend tried the pesto quiche, a combination of sun-dried tomatoes, basil pesto, Parmesan and Swiss cheeses, served with a house salad ($10).
Our mimosas arrived promptly ($7.50 apiece), followed by my BLT Benedict, which was piled high with bacon and tomato. It was beautiful, with a perfect hollandaise sauce -- creamy and slightly lemony -- adorning the poached eggs. The flavor combination was like a traditional BLT, only better. The saltiness and crunch of the bacon along with the fresh tomato and lettuce created a wonderful backdrop to the eggs and hollandaise sauce. The eggs were soft without being gooey. The potatoes were also good, fried and hot with a zesty kick.
My friend's quiche was, in her words, "divine." I stole a few bites and had to agree. The pesto complemented the dish without being overpowering. The crust was light, and the chunks of sun-dried tomato gave the otherwise mellow meal a bit of panache. Even the house salad was a nice touch.
The mimosas were amazing. There's something about the combination of fresh orange juice and champagne that makes the start of Saturday sparkle. We each had one and left fully sated and happy.
I returned with my husband the following Saturday. We arrived at 11:30 a.m. and were seated right away. This time the server mentioned all of the eggs Benedict choices. I chose the crab Benedict, featuring crab cakes, poached eggs and hollandaise ($14). My husband decided on that week's special -- prime rib Benedict ($12), with roasted prime rib, eggs and bearnaise sauce. That week's quiche was mushroom and bacon with caramelized onions ($10) -- tempting, but were couldn't resist the Benedicts.
Our food arrived quickly. The cakes on my Benedict had hearty chunks of crab and a hollandaise that was just as perfect as it was the first time I visited -- creamy with a hint of lemon. The prime rib on my husband's Benedict was tender enough to cut with a fork. The eggs were lightly poached but not underdone, and the richness of the bearnaise sauce stole the show.
I've been told that the best eggs Benedict in town are at F Street Station, so I went there to see how Kinley's compared. F Sreet's Benedicts are served only on Sunday, the menu's lone breakfast item, and priced at $10. Everyone in my party ordered a Benedict. I asked for my eggs medium and not too runny, but they ended up undercooked. The hollandaise was tart, almost bitter, and barely warm. The eggs were served with fried potatoes, which were the best part of the meal, hot and crisp. Overall, we deemed the experience not bad.
Clearly, Kinley's has raised the bar for Benedicts in town, and its Saturday brunch makes for a nice change from the usual Sunday brunch scene. As with dinner, Kinley's has the magic touch, and those seeking a new twist on the traditional brunch will not be disappointed.
• Got a restaurant tip, a new menu, a favorite dish or a chef change? Contact Play editor Josh Niva at jniva@adn.com.
Kinley's Restaurant & Bar: Brunch
Location: 3230 Seward Highway
Hours: Brunch hours: 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Business hours: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday.
Phone: 644-8953
Agree with our reviewer? Want to rave or pan? Write your own review of this restaurant or any other recently reviewed place at play.adn.com/dining.
By Jody Ellis-Knapp
Daily News correspondent