Brenda's French Soul Food

652 Polk St (between Eddy & Turk)
(415) 345-8100
www.frenchsoulfood.com

I needed to pick N's brain, so in order to entice him into meeting with me (and of course to hang out,) I offered to buy him brunch. We decided that something down and dirty would work just fine so met at Brenda's in the Loin.

Brenda's is tiny, so we did have to wait quite a bit to be seated though the wait was certainly fruitful. We're both sharers so decided to start with beignets (or French doughnuts,) but for those that think that once you've had one beignet, you've had them all, you'd be dead wrong. Brenda's offers beignets in a variety of flavors including Plain, Filled with molten Ghirardelli chocolate, Granny Smith Apple, and Crawfish - there's even a variety platter for those that can't decide. The variety route was the one I wanted to take, but once we saw one brought to another table, we determined it was way too big so went with the Granny Smith Apple ones served with honey cinammon butter instead. Yum but still enormous!

I was full after the run-in with the beignets, but nevertheless, we decided to share two of the day's specials: Shrimp and Grits and the Eggs Benedict with crawfish. I insisted that one of the dishes we ordered have cheese on it, and our server assured me that the Shrimp and Grits definitely met that requirement. Boy did it. They don't mess around with the cheese at Brenda's. The dish was a layer of grits topped with a legit layer of cheese - and by layer, i mean pizza status...it was intense! This succulent slop was topped with large, seasoned gulf shrimp which added some spice to the savory goodness. The benedict was the fattiest version of my fave breakfast dish I have ever experienced, but it was awesome. The bread on the benedict was a buttermilk biscuit, topped with a fried piece of fish, an egg poached to perfection and cajun-flavored hollandaise.

The food is fresh and unique, the portions are gargantuan, prices are dirt cheap, and Brenda's is certainly a caloric splurge. Go, but expect to get yourself some serious heartburn.

The Verdict: Worth It