We went to Pican in Oakland for brunch last weekend. Pican is a fairly new restaurant in downtown oakland, right next to Ozumo on the corner of W. Grand and Broadway. We drive past this place when we go to the Y across the street and it looked good so we went for brunch.
HOLY CRAY to the 5th…. this place is AWESOME. It’s kind of fancy inside but don’t be fooled, you can be as dressy or casual as you want. There were people in jeans (including myself) and people semi-dressed up (after churchers). They were playing Barry White and Aretha Franklin… perfect!
I took one look at the menu and knew instantly what I would order: CHICKEN FRIED BENEDICT. I got a side of bacon too (applewood smoked) and Hav and I split an order of the beignets as a morning appetizer. I’m going to post the photo of the chicken fried benedict first, because I want that image to appear on the homepage…. lol.
NOTE: Bacon was extra… the dish doesn’t come with it, I just put it on the plate to make the plate look fuller. Basically, the dish is called “Chicken Fried Benedict”. It’s fried chicken (boneless) atop an English muffin, with a poached egg on top, covered in hollandaise sauce. They also give you a little side of their house special smokey hot sauce, mmm.
I’m not the hugest benedict person mainly because it’s too wet and mushy, but I decided to try this dish because the idea of juicy fried chicken in the morning sounded perfect. Let me tell you, this dish is AMAZING. Everything about it was awesome – I think the fried chicken really balanced out the soft liquidy/creaminess of the benedict. The hot sauce was also super yummy and it had the perfect ratio of heat to hotness to smokiness. My only suggestion would be to add toast or home fries or something else as a side item because I would’ve liked something to dip in the sauce.
Now check out the beignets:
The beinets were just simply to die for. They are soft and light and have a sweet sugary buttery flavor. The powdered sugar really give them an extra kick. They’re very rich for being so light… soooo good we even took the last one home!
Hav ordered grits with her meal. As much as I love corn, I’ve never really been a huge grits person – but the grits at Pican are seriously so good I would add them to my last meal list. These grits are so buttery and corny – you know what I mean! They have an extra kick of the corn flavor – salty, sweet and buttery corn. I was already stuffed from the chicken benedict and I couldn’t stop myself from eating these grits. I will definitely order a side for myself next time…. and had I known I was going to eat the grits I would’ve taken a photo of the dish without spoonmarks… sorry!
Lastly here’s a photo of my orange juice and latte. What a nice simple presentation!
Pican is A-CLASS… LOVE IT and can’t wait to go back and try something else!
Disco fries all the way baby!
2295 Broadway
(between Grand Ave & 23rd St)
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 834-1000
www.picanrestaurant.com