Eggs are tricky. The staple of many a breakfast joint, eggs can be rather ordinary. Most of us only know ordinary eggs. Most of us have also met up with the rubbery, overcooked, over manipulated egg, and the underwhelming and depressing affair that is an undercooked egg. Perfectly cooked eggs are usually found at home, where there is no time crunch and a room full of people waiting to be served. This is why I was a little apprehensive, but no less excited to see what dishes Chef Ernie Cornelius would have on his menu at his new place, Sunrise Diner, 1510 S. Main St., in Firestone Park.
I've been enjoying Chef Cornelius' cooking for a few years. He's a great cook, and I've racked up a lot of miles chasing down one of his hamburgers, and if luck allows me I will also order, pilfer, or right steal any sized portion of his beautifully fried chicken. Cornelius can cook. His lunch and dinner dishes always satisfy. There is no doubt, but does his expertise in the kitchen take eggs beyond the ordinary?
Yes.
I waited to visit the Sunrise Diner until I could find someone to go with as I wanted to sample more than one dish. I ordered what one would assume to be the most difficult dish, eggs Benedict and my companion ordered an omelet.
Hollandaise sauce is deliciously bright over poached eggs if it's cooked right. When it's cooked wrong it's either sour or flavorless. It can totally ruin or make the dish. With omelets, there are so many things that can go wrong; if the flavor combinations are off, if the ratio of filler to egg is wrong, or if the chemistry is off, your omelet will be nothing more than scrambled eggs held together by overcooked cheese.
Cornelius served two expertly timed and perfectly cooked egg dishes. I had the California Fresco Benedict. My first bite was almost entirely all spinach, but that was entirely my own fault. My second bite was excellent. The poached egg tasted nothing like the water it was cooked in. It wasn't rubbery or over salted. It's darn near the best set of poached eggs I've had all year. The spinach was cooked enough to offset some of the inherent bitterness, and the english muffin had its own covering of Hollandaise sauce. All the flavors were so well balanced and the whole dish was so good I almost finished it without offering my guest a bite.
The Western Omelet was excellent. It was fluffy without being oily, structurally sound without collapsing under the weight of the ham, onions, and peppers. The vegetables were fresh and flavorful. The smoked cheddar was neither overwhelming nor underrepresented. Both dishes were served with the standard hash browns which were not dripping with oil or butter. I usually don't eat the breakfast potatoes. I made an exception today because they were good.
The restaurant itself is brightly lit and clean. Most of the tables sit four people comfortably. There is two person settings options alongside the walls, and two four person counters flank the cash register. There is lottos off-street parking out back and it's easy to spot from the street. The service was brisk, coffee was served hot and refreshed regularly, and the house-made jam was bright, sweet, and fresh.
The serving sizes were generous without being overwhelming. The food was cooked cleanly and served neatly. Nothing about what I ate made me feel as if I was somehow mistreating my body, and I didn't leave feeling like I should fast for the rest of the day to stave off a coronary blockage. I left well fed and happy to have stopped in. Of course, the next time I stop in I'm definitely going to order the Sunrise Diner Burger, for old time's sake.
