Category Archive
The following is a list of all entries from the Brunch category.
But It Looked So Good…
courtesy of sarabeth.com
Popular locations don’t always mean they’re the best locations. Hype overcomes people at times, and takes over their good judgement. What makes it even worse is that you wait in line for something that ends up being mediocre. I could have been home sleeping still. Brunch is hard for me because of the timing. And because it’s football season, I was nicely asked if we could meet for brunch at noon, which is the early side for me on a Sunday considering I have to give myself time to shower, primp and travel there. But I dragged myself out of bed because I got myself excited all week to have my favorite brunch dish, salmon eggs benedict. Today, I’m going to have it at Sarabeth’s. So it’s a beautiful day and the wait isn’t bad at all for brunch in New York City, about twenty minutes. I start off with a picked bloody mary which tasted wonderful. I say that because I’m usually not a fan of them, but the horseradish and worcestershire sauce weren’t overpowering at all, and it wasn’t too thick, but rather felt like a normal drink. My date started with a lobster bisque with black truffle toast. It tasted decent, however, right off the bat, it looked like it needed more cream, with it did, and I didn’t see any lobster chunks in it at all. Visually it wasn’t appealing at all, the butter or fat, separating from the rest of the sauce. The black truffle toast barely had any truffle flavor in it. It made me yearn for one of the best lobster bisque I had, sadly, I won’t be getting that anytime soon, as it was in Hawaii. I moved on to their poppy seed toast, which was OK, and more a vehicle for my butter than anything else. (I’m a huge fan of butter.) My dish came and looked gorgeous. But just because something is sprinkled with pretty red bell peppers doesn’t make it a good dish. Because I get salmon eggs benedict at almost every brunch, after taking my first bite, I knew that this wouldn’t be a memorable one. The side salad was decent, but doesn’t that say something when my side salad is better than the main dish? The one savior to the dish is that, by itself, the homemade english muffin was delicious, it tasted like a buttery biscuit. My date’s chicken caesar salad? I have no desire to write anything about it. But, because the coffee was good and the bloody mary were good, we ordered another round of that. How the hell did my bloody mary taste different? The seasonings in it were very overpowering and I was debating pouring water into it, but felt that it might be rude. I was dying to try their porridge with wheatberries, cream, butter and brown sugar, but because of the wait, I missed the noon deadline for the porridge. Cry, cry. Sarabeth just doesn’t seem to know how to do savory, I think that IF I go back, I’ll only try their sweet dishes or baked goods.
Various locations, so please check out their website at sarabeth.com.
5.5 out of 10
-Juice
French for Brunch … Oui.
Brunch is a fabulous idea. You get the best of choices on your menu, because its not quite breakfast and not quite lunch. Be it the fact that you can order pancakes at 2:00 in the afternoon or have it acceptable to drink before noon… all about Brunch. Want a notch better than that? In Union Square, at a French restaurant called Danal (formerly a Village establishment) you can have Brunch any day of the week. Brilliant bonus points. It’s not just for weekends and it doesn’t disappoint.
Danal: Upstairs (http://www.danalnyc.com)
The restaurant is 2 levels, yet the atmosphere still manages to be warm and inviting. The decor is eclectic in that artsy way where you can have tables and chairs not match and it works. The service is attentive, and their menu…listed in a picture frame (see my eclectic comment above). Lots of great things to say about this place.
Danal: Chocolate Chip Pancakes
They do their drinks right. Coffee is served in a french press, you pour at your discretion. They serve you tea in a pot, loose-leaf, complete with a strainer the way it was meant to be. There is none of that cup of hot water and a tea bag business that irks me about 90% of the resturaunts out there.
Danal: Poached Eggs
As for the food, they’ve got a lot of “to try” items on this menu. This includes the poached eggs with chicken apple sausage served on an english muffin and hollandaise sauce, and the chocolate chip pancakes. However, the takeaway recommend here: Croissant French Toast with sauteed apples, raisins, and walnuts.
Danal: Croissant French Toast
You read that right. You can have french toast made out of croissants! Honestly, eating it makes you wonder why this isn’t the norm because the texture is kind of a no brainer. Lovely consistency – not overly doused in that egg/vanilla batter that can weigh down the traditional french toast, and sweet enough that you don’t have to pour a gallon of maple syrup on your plate. And I’m admitting it… better than the chocolate chip pancakes.
Please note there are no reservations accepted for brunch. Trust me though, worth the idea of a wait.
-Jules
8 out of 10 stars.
59 5th Ave
(between 12th St & 13th St)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 982-6930
Please Feed Me 