Lunch at Eggs Inc: Scrambling to get it together

“But… it’s cold?!” A woman in a group of well-dressed colleagues at the table next to me has just said out loud what we were all thinking. I feel relief – her exclamation is naïve and free in the same way as when the child in the crowd in Hans Christian Andersen’s classic short tale *The Emperor’s New Clothes* blurts out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all. And with that, I can crack the shell and peel away my own layers of expectations and hopes for finally have been given a fast food spot where the food is both enjoyable *and* healthy.

So let me start by being completely honest. The turkey and 64° egg salad with sweet peas, avocado, broccoli and tomatoes (79 kronor) is not very good. Sure, anyone who would have thought about it one step further might have realised that a fast food place serving an egg at exactly 64 degrees – which is exactly when the textures of both the yolk and the white are optimized – wouldn’t prepare it à la minute. But neither my table neighbours nor I were expecting a cold, rather slimy puddle posing as a “perfect” egg. The halved avocado, quartered tomato (with the stem end still in place), peas, broccoli and diced pieces of turkey were all fine, but on a bed of water and oil-drenched iceberg lettuce, served in a disposable container straight out of the fridge, the flavour is a whole lot of nothing.

In the age of low-carb, Eggs Inc wants to place one of our most nutritious commodities – the egg – at the forefront of fast food evolution. With chef Andreas Hedlund at the helm, the egg crusaders are on the march and hoping to convice a whole nation by opening up 50 Eggs Incs all over Sweden. Having opened this first location, the brand is currently taking applications for franchise investors. But I can’t help but wonder which came first, the chicken (in this case, the intention to offer a viable fast food option) or the egg (the pursuit to cash in big-time on a lucrative market). A successful concept should optimally include both, but at Eggs Inc, the aim to make money seems to have eclipsed pretty much all of the rest.

The tortilla (55 kronor) is a step up. It is served hot out of the oven, prepared in cast-iron skillets and consists of organic eggs, bacon, peppers and broccoli, with a small side salad. It feels like a fresh, healthy and tasty – although slightly spongy – option. At least now the emperor is wearing boxer shorts and a singlet.

Eggs Inc | Regeringsgatan 26 | 08-400 225 81 | eggsinc.se