7 AM Breakfast & Lunch is not worth getting up early for

• Name + address: 7 AM Breakfast and Lunch, 2950 Bank St.

• Diet: Meat, vegetarian

• Prices: $11-$17

• Wheelchair accessibility: Yes

• Licensed: No

• Website: www.7ambreakfast.com

7 AM Breakfast & Lunch is the newest of the breakfast franchises to arrive in Ottawa. I was told by the server that the business originated in Oakville, Ontario and that it continues to expand. 

There’s little doubt that post-COVID these early opening eateries fill a void now that so many places, once open for lunch service, now only open for dinner.

I was in the mood for something a little more healthy on this particular morning and opted for a scrambled egg plate with avocado and ham. Of course, I soon put that idea to rest when I ordered a side of sausages which, again, had been finished in the deep fryer. It doesn’t have to be this way!

Looking at my plate I felt confused by the appearance of the “ham” which was cut and cured from a pork loin. Peameal bacon by any other name I guess. I didn’t mind it at all as it was pleasant, it’s just that on the menu there’s an upcharge for peameal bacon and here it was included with the dish.

The potatoes were of the frozen “tater-tot” variety and inoffensive but the avocado took the prize for the strangest thing to pass these lips in years. It was ripe (if that’s the word I want) enough but tasted nothing like avocado and had a strange paraffin waxiness that felt as synthetic as it tasted. 

The scrambled eggs as well didn’t taste like they’d been made with fresh eggs and if they were, they’d been cooked in a microwave. These were unlike any eggs I’d ever eaten: hard and rubbery.

Unlike most breakfast joints, there were no condiments or jams, honey or peanut butter on the table. My toast was delivered dry and I had to ask for jam.

There are many other dishes to explore on their menu, the space was clean and the service was very friendly and attentive. 

7 AM Breakfast & Lunch has some way to go if it’s to survive in its chosen segment. It certainly needs to elevate the quality of its ingredients and it really needs to do something about kitchen execution. Microwaved eggs are not a standard to set.