Upper Crust - dissapointed

Clearly, I have a hankering for brunch places lately. That and every Saturday seems to land me at a different brunch spot! Early March found me at my previous fave & go-to brunch place - Upper Crust. I say previous fave because this last brunch certainly left something to be desired. Now, don't get me wrong. I do like Upper Crust, in fact, my workplace even catered from them for a social. AND, ever since I moved to Edmonton 3 years ago, I've considered Upper Crust amongst my list of brunch places. I like Upper Crust for many reasons: It's in the University area, easy to walk to, and generally it's a central brunch place for most of my friends. However, having gone there for brunch twice in the past 3 months and not receiving the stellar service I remembered, has left me wondering if I should return.

I should point out though, that they do deserve credit for honouring their agreement when my friend called earlier in the week to book a table for a Saturday brunch. Apparently, they do not take reservations for Saturdays, but they were gracious in keeping their promise and a table for 10 was set aside for us. Once we sat down, our drink orders were taken and promptly arrived. I ordered a coffee and was thankful to see it refilled as we waited for the rest of the ladies. Coffee & milk were on the table and easily accessible for all who ordered the dark elixir. However, once everyone had arrived and ordered, the brunch took a considerable amount of time to arrive. We ordered at 11:30am, and brunch did not come until at least 12:15pm. The restaurant did not appear to be filled, but our server was kept busy attending to her tables (perhaps they were short staffed?). Having been to Upper Crust several times throughout the years I often order the Eggs Benedict. I had heard good things about their french toast so I decided to try it out. Plus, the description mentioned fresh jams & preserves and fresh fruit garnish (typically a skewer of fruit from previous eatings). So, you can imagine my slight disappointment when this arrived: 

Sadly, no skewers of fruit were to be found on mine nor on any of my friend's plates. Only 3 lonely pieces of toast with minimal egg, a small piece of pineapple and one strawberry halved stared back at me. Notice also the empty coffee cup. I would have asked for a refill, but the waitress was too busy tracking down my friend's Eggs Beni another server had accidentally taken it. Needless to say, by the end of the meal we were all slightly disappointed with the long wait times, smaller portion sizes, and lack of fruit.  Not to say that fruit is incredibly important to me, but they used to have an actual skewer of fruit, complete with different varieties of fruit.

So the next time you have a craving for brunch on a Saturday, it may be best to head somewhere else. Perhaps the NYBC, Culinas, or any of the original fare restaurants.