"...as plate after plate of fluffy poached eggs, cartilaginous peameal, and lakes of sunshiney goo continued to pile up over time, I realized that if I don't start catalogueing these excursions in some formal manner, a great field of human knowledge would be lost. Hence, the Benedict Chronicles..."

Sometimes I don't find the bennies; they find me. What's a fellow to do on a brisk Vancouver morning besides gather the co-workers and scour the streets of downtown Vancouver for something - anything - that looks like breakfast? In fact, with the time change in my favour, this really should have been a 5 a.m. benny. Instead it was 9:00 (PST). But I digress.

88 Juice was one of the 3 breakfast establishments recommended by the hotel staff at the Sheraton Wall Centre as being "in the area." We walked in circles for about 20 minutes before we actually found it, so I don't even want to contemplate what would have happened if we'd looked for one of the others. The location itself proved a bit underwhelming, and the menu was limited... I went for an alternate benny, because the regular benny was served with "black forest ham" (American-styles!) instead of peameal. In fact, I don't think there was a peameal option anywhere on the table. Maybe they don't do that shit in BC.

Anyways, mine had tomato where the bacon should be, and that's not a bad idea. It made the meal light and tasty, but not terrifically satisfying from a full-belly perspective. Plus, the side bacon and the home fries just basically sucked. The benny had the look of something made very rarely and therefore not entirely up to spec - every single piece a bit too separate and not enough of a "whole meal." The only thing I can't argue with is the price: $6.95 for the whole deal. That's lunacy, that.

Let's give it an egg and a half.

88 Juice & More is located at 785 Davie St in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Benedict Chronicles is an ongoing, non-regular series.