I’ve raved about lunches and dinners at Madison’s Grill, but there was still one meal they serve that I hadn’t yet sampled – breakfast. A birthday brunch with the girls provided a good opportunity to finally do so, on a sunny morning in June.
When I initially looked at their breakfast menu online, I just couldn’t believe what they were charging. Just $10 for a customized omelette? $12 for French toast? $14 for Alberta beef hash? What made the low prices even more incredulous is their use of local products – from eggs to bacon to cheese. And in their well-appointed dining room, I would think brunch at Madison’s offers one of the best values in the city.
The only downside was their limited hours (being a hotel after all) – they only serve breakfast until 11am. May and I arrived just after 10, and after settling in with beverages, awaited Annie’s arrival. We called her half an hour later, and it turned out she had our meeting time confused, and asked me to order something for her. Plates were served to May and I not long after, while the kitchen tried to keep Annie’s dish warm in her absence. They ended up having to make her dish again because they deemed it not fit to serve – a testament to how accommodating and understanding Madison’s is as a whole.
In terms of the food – both May and Annie enjoyed their dishes. May had asked for one each of their crab cake and smoked salmon Benedicts ($14; which our server happily combined), while I had ordered Annie a regular eggs Benedict ($12).
Crab cake and smoked salmon Benedict
Eggs Benedict (I love the cups bursting with fruit)
My omelette ($10) included three fillings of my choosing from a list of ten options – Irvings bacon, mushrooms and Sylvan Star Gouda. Though the eggs were prepared quite nicely – fluffy and light – the fillings were distributed inconsistently throughout, with the cheese concentrated on one end and the bacon on the opposite end. Also, this was personal preference, but the mushrooms were chopped a little too finely for my taste. I did like the pan potatoes, however, flavoured with some fresh herbs.
Omelette with bacon, mushrooms and cheese
There are several other dishes I’d like to try off the Madison’s breakfast menu, and with their fantastic service and demonstrated value, I know I’ll back in the future.
Madison’s Grill (in the Union Bank Inn)
10053 Jasper Avenue
(780) 401-2222
Weekday breakfast served 7-10am, weekend breakfast served 8-11am
Only Here for the Food 
Wow! That looks fantastic! We’d been looking for a good breakfast place downtown.
Although the Sunday brunch at Wildflower is excellent, it’s a little expensive to enjoy on a regular basis.
Yeah, I am still surprised at their prices – in a good way, of course!
We tried it this morning and it was fantastic! Not at all busy at 9am.
West Coast Bennies were great and my husband was quite pleased to find an omelette similar to the to die for chevre and bacon omelette served at Lola’s by Chef Tom Douglas in Seattle.
Eva – I do think it’s a bit of a well-kept secret – perhaps people don’t realize that Madison’s is also open for breakfast. Glad you enjoyed it!
I’m moved to Edmonton about 2 months and stumbled upon your blog; I am now an avid reader of yours! I love trying new places in new cities. Since I don’t know many people in the city so I live vicariously through you and blog!
Anyways…
My friend and I recently ventured out to try Madison’s Grill for lunch. To avoid the lunch rush we decided to have lunch around 1pm. We arrived around 1:08pm and were ignored by the hostess for a good 5 minutes (she would walk by us, but pretend we were not there) and finally when seated she informed us to make a quick decision as the kitchen will be shutting down and then she rushed off. I thought the comment was unnecessary and it made us feel extremely unwelcome. I checked on their website the day before regarding dinning hours so I did not think arriving at 1:08pm would prove to be such a challenge. I wanted to leave but my friend convinced me to stay since we made plans. I am happy to say I was pleased with my meal, however, I’m very hesitant to go back because of the rude service. Unfortunately Madison’s Grill left a sour taste in my mouth…
Jade – Ouch, I agree the hostess was unnecessarily rude. I suggest giving the restaurant a call and asking to speak with management.
I’ve had a few incidents around Edmonton and more often than not, management is more than happy to rectify the issue.
Although it doesn’t usually result in an apology from the person who actually should apologize, management usually wants you to return and often will offer a gift card or free meal so that you will come back and they can show you that it’s only a few people like that.
I will admit however that sometimes, the experience is so bad that I never take them up on the offer of a free dining experience (example: high tea at the Fairmont Macdonald. Never did go back for the free tea service and that was about 7 years ago).
Jade – thanks for reading, and welcome to Edmonton! I’m sorry to hear about your lacklustre experience at Madison’s…I’m not sure if you would be willing to go back, but as Eva said, I think most restaurants (and I would hope Madison’s), would want to earn back your business.
Eva – I, too, have similar vows not to return to certain places. Funny how hardlined we can be about poor experiences, eh?
Sharon – I often find it very interesting when someone has a very poor experience and someone has an excellent experience at the same place. You have to wonder how that happens. I would hope that a good restaurant would try to be consistent both about their food as well as their service.
Granted, most of the places I’ve vowed not to return to are usually places where management would not acknowledge that I had a valid concern.
The Fairmont was surprising as I actually spoke with the host, and the restaurant manager, and it was only by writing Fairmont headquarters that I received any sort of acceptable response.
Eva – you’re right, consistency is the mark of a good restaurant. That said, it’s a people business…and sometimes people have bad days.
Great that you had the energy to go up through the Fairmont ranks. I’m not sure most people would do that. I hope they took your complaints seriously though.
Thanks Eva and Sharon for voicing some good advice and letting me share my concerns. I usually don’t complain and I am generally easily pleased, however, this experience just rubbed me the wrong way. I may build up enough courage to call the restaurant and share my experience with management, but I’m usually on shy side. I’ll let you guys know if I pursue any contact.
I look forward to your future posts, it helps a “newbie” like me become acquainted with a new city!
Dear Jade:
I came across your comments and I would like to invite you to contact me personally. The Union Bank Inn and Madison’s Grill prides itself on offering the utmost in service and quality. We always encourage our patrons to provide us with their feedback, good or bad, as it assists us to continue our journey towards excellence in hospitality. I invite you to contact me at your leisure via email or phone. My email address is sales@unionbankinn.com and my direct phone number is 780.401.2214. Thank you Jade for your valuable feedback and I hope to hear from you soon!