By Greg B.  One Sunday I woke up very late.  And I was hungry.  Starving, in fact, and I know I wanted greasy food.  After hanging around the house for a little while, I decided to hop in my car and go get some grub somewhere, anywhere (also, the fact that my roommate was having a baby shower facilitated my need to leave the house….immediately).  So I picked up Gabi, and decided that I’d head down to Columbia to check out Eggspectation.  A few weeks prior, this restaurant had been recommended by a faculty member, and I figured it might be time to check it out!

What is Eggspectation?  Well, if you go to their website, you’ll read a little blurb about them, complete with the word ‘egg’ located in every word humanly possible!  They specialize in serving breakfast all day, and doing a good job at it.  And as I was about to find out, they are true to their word!  Gabi and I walked in, got a table in the back and checked out the menu.  Seeing as how I was hungry beyond all belief, I already knew I’d order way more food than I could possibly consume in one sitting, but I didn’t care.  So, we both got a coffee as soon as the waiter came by, and then within a few seconds, made up our minds.  Gabi would have the smoked salmon eggs Benedict, I would have the western omelette, with a side of grits, and then there was a last minute addition, the Chesapeake Crepe, with lump crab meat in a crepe.

Just as our first cup of coffee was finishing, the waiter came out with our food.  I swear it was no more than 10 minutes, maybe 15 at most from the moment we ordered the food to when we were eating it.  With a refill on our cafe’ and three plates in front of us, we set into the food!  The western omelette was massive.  There must have been at least 3 eggs in it, but coupled with the peppers and onions and (I wish I had written this down, but I was way too focused on eating) possibly chorizo, this was an incredibly filling meal!  With some home fries on the side (just the way I like home fries, almost the consistency of mashed potatoes in the middle, fried crust on the outside) and the side of grits, this was plenty of food for a growing boy of age 25.  And it also tasted great to boot!  The website does not list prices, but it was well priced, in the $10-13 range I believe.  Gabi’s eggs benedict was equally great, with the salmon.  Despite having hollandaise sauce, which tends to be very thick and hearty, the dish remained light in both consistency and mouthfeel, without sacrificing flavor!  The combination of salmon and eggs, all wrapped up into a crepe added a great couple of layers of flavors and texture that were excellent.  Not to mention the portions were very generous!

Then we come to the ‘Chesapeake” crepe.  I don’t know why I ordered it.  Actually, that’s a lie, I do know why.  I wanted to eat crab for breakfast.  I wanted to live the good life of eating something as delicate in flavor and great as crab as my first meal a day… even if it was now 3pm.   At this point in the meal, both Gabi and I were stuffed.  I had completed my omelette and side dishes, Gabi had made a large dent in her salmon, eggs Benedict, and there was still this giant omelette between us on the table, wrapped up, smelling delicious and begging to be eaten.  So, we dug in!  This was actually a fantastic meal, the crepe itself was so flavorful, the vegetables were perfectly cooked so to give the inside a little bit of ‘crunch’ texture, and the cocktail sauce helped with some acidity to cut through the luxury of having crab inside a mixture of three melted cheeses.  This was a great dish, one we didn’t finish right there, but one that I finished a few hours later while at home, starting to watch Sunday evening cartoons (what 20-something male doesn’t eat Sunday dinner as the Simpsons come on?).

Overall, I have to say I had a great experience here at Eggspectation.  The servers were all friendly, and very quick with their service.  The food was produced quick, was excellent and very cost effective.  Everything about this restaurant hit the spot and it will come highly recommended from me as a place, for brunch, lunch or, having looked at the menu even as a great place for dinner, though I feel I will have to return in order to verify this prediction!