On & Off Kitchen + Bar

As much as Little Beetle blew me away with their outstanding brunch, the fact that I had to drive out to Chilliwack makes it less accessible than many other places in town.  So I looked a bit closer to me in the form of On & Off Kitchen out in Coquitlam.  Located in a strip mall near the corner of Austin and Mariner, this wouldn't be the most obvious spot for brunch.  However, there is indeed a cute lil place that sports a varied menu and an outstanding patio at the back.  I just wished there was a bit more parking available.

Looking over the menu, they do have a section dedicated to croffles.  For those who haven't tried these, they are waffles made from croissant dough.  We decided to get the Croffle Platter B that offered a choice of any 2 coffees from the espresso bar and any 3 croffles.  We went for a Cappuccino and Mocha for our drinks and for our 3 croffles, we had the Caramel Bacon, Strawberries & Cream and Chocolate.  We thought the specialty coffees were good but needed to hotter temperature-wise.  As for the croffles, they had an appealing texture where the outside was crispy while the inside was flaky and buttery.  We much preferred the strawberries and cream because the other 2 had quite a bit of sweet sauces and things on top.  Furthermore, the bacon could've been crispier.

Other than myself, everyone had a Benny.  Viv decided on the Eggs Royale Benny with smoked salmon, spinach, avocado, hollandaise and garlic butter fingerling potatoes.  She asked for the hollandaise to be served on the side.  It was plenty buttery and creamy while nicely seasoned.  Would've personally loved a bit more acidity.  Eggs were poached perfectly soft with a runny centre.  I thought the spinach was the right texture as it was softened just enough without being mushy.  English muffin was toasted well where it wasn't too hard nor too soft.

My daughter ended up with the vegetarian option - Eggs Florentine Benny.  This was comprised of roasted mushroom, wilted spinach, truffle purée and hollandaise.  Much like the previous dish, this was carefully constructed and featured perfectly soft-poached eggs.  Due to the mild ingredients, the addition of truffle purée added some much need flavour.  Of course that complimented the mushrooms as well.  Not a big fan of the fingerling potatoes as they were not crispy and quite dense.

My son had the meatiest version in the Bourbon BBQ Pulled Pork Eggs Benny.  This sported a considerable amount of tender pulled pork with sweet BBQ sauce and wilted spinach.  Naturally, this ate much more heavy than the other 2 Bennys while also exhibiting stronger flavours.  I've always thought that hollandaise and BBQ sauce has never been a great match, but in this instance, there was just enough BBQ sauce for impact without taking over the dish.

For myself, I had to not get a Benny, just for for variety.  Hence, I went for the Prawn & Chorizo Campanelle.  This looked and smelled wonderful but in the end, it was bland.  For some reason, they diced the chorizo into little bits and they had no impact on the dish whatsoever.  There was a complete lack of seasoning and the pasta itself was overdone.  At least the prawns were perfectly cooked.  Overall, we found the Bennys to be pretty solid but the potatoes were not good.  Pasta was meh while the croffles were overdressed with sweetness.  I think this place can be better.  Service is top notch and the dining space is appealing.

The Good:

- Excellent service

- Wonderful spot

- Bennys were good

The Bad:

- Pasta was bland and overcooked

- Croffles were too sweet

- Parking can be difficult