Posts Tagged ‘Breakfast/Brunch’
Brunch at Peels in the East Village
Apparently Hamid carries around hard boiled eggs with him in the morning
SO after multiple failed attempts, Hamid and I finally made it to Peels, one of his favorite spots for brunch. Every time we’ve tried to go there before on the weekend, it ends up being kind of a wait and we give up. But this was a Friday morning and after our workout, we went straight over and were seated right away. The place itself is so cute and I found out later that its owned by the same people who run Freemans, another slightly hidden alley restaurant in the LES (I personally think their dinner trumps their brunch their though!!).
A peek inside
Cute condiments
This would sort of explain the restaurant’s country-style home aesthetic, though this place is a little more roomy with two levels of seating areas. They pretty much serve traditional American and comfort foods, but I tried to be “good” so I ordered their spa eggs (egg white omelette, sautéed spinach, onions, goat cheese). Hamid could afford to eat a little richer since he’s practically always at the gym as a trainer so he got the fried chicken sandwich (not fair, but I was strong).
Spa eggs, $11
Fried chicken sandwich, $12
Brunch at Phebe’s Tavern & Grill – East Village
I’ve been on a working out binge lately (mostly to counteract all the steak I ate in Buenos Aires) and thankfully my friend Hamid, a fitness expert, is helping me by training me once a week. Last week, we met at a gym downtown and after I felt like I did 5,000 squats we rushed out to grab some food. Originally, we wanted to go to Peels but the wait was long as expected (it was a Sunday after all). Since he had another client in less than an hour, we decided to just go with whatever was fastest, and that happened to be Phebe’s Tavern & Grill. Probably not the best of ideas.
Breakfast burrito
The hostess may have just broke up with her boyfriend or something — she was not really in a smiling mood at all. We sat down and quickly ordered scrambled breakfast egg burritos. A football game was on and everyone was all decked out in their Bengals gear (I found out later that Phebe’s is like Bengals mecca in NYC). Their cheering was more like roars that made it quickly clear that if you weren’t going to be watching a game here, you probably shouldn’t eat here.
We asked if they could put a rush in the order, and I don’t know if it’s because we were in a hurry, but it felt like an eternity. All was forgiven (we thought) once our food came out. Our plate was practically overflowing with seasoned homefries, guacamole, salsa, and fruits. While the sides were great, it didn’t take us long to find the eggs to be disappointing.
Eggs
El Vez restaurant in Philadelphia
By Munia Islam
Starving on a Saturday morning with no idea of what to eat is not a fun way to start the day. Recently, in a haste of studying for grad school midterms (ick!), we needed a quick and filling brunch.
Our saving grace? El Vez! With its flashy signs and mix of formal and informal decor, the ecclectic restaurant is a must to visit if you’re ever in Philadelphia. I’ve been there on several occasions–once on my own birthday–but always at night. I did learn from these dinners though that the queso fundido de hongos (truffled wild mushrooms with chihuahua cheese and huitlacoche served with flour tortillas, $12.50) is a must for my appetizer. Luckily, that’s also available for brunch so it’s exactly what I ordered.
Queso fundido de hongos
Brunch at Balaboosta in Nolita
I believe in second chances (ok, maybe that applies mostly to restaurants). The chef has an off day. The waiters are not in the best of moods. Maybe it’s just not the right dish or meal time that exemplifies the restaurant at its best. On that last point, let me just say the first time I went to Balaboosta was for dessert and tea, and it was pretty disappointing. But I did say, and I quote, “the rest of the menu sounded good, so I’m not writing it off just yet. I’ll definitely go back for another meal — just not for the dessert this time.” And that I did.
Brown sugar cubes
So when my friend Samar was in town and we were looking for place near SoHo, I remembered this Mediterranean spot again. The vibe is just as buzzy in the morning and looking over the menu, it was hard to decide between the breakfast pizzas, or something more sweet like the coconut brioche french toast. I wanted something with a little bit of spice to it, so I went with the Shakshuka, Moroccan baked eggs in spicy tomato cazuela, spinach, grilled country bread and added a side of merguez. Samar went with the lamb-egg special of which the name totally escapes me.
Shakshuka
Lamb and eggs
Our food was satisfying and I’m glad I gave it a second chance. It’s probably pretty normal price-wise for the area, but for a meal and coffee here totaled about $50 — a little more than I think what you get portion-wise makes sense. If I’m looking in the area, I’d definitely go back though. We didn’t have to wait long for a seat and the service was great. But if you’re willing to sacrifice a short-wait time, and looking for the same genre of food for brunch at half the price, I’d visit Cafe Mogador in the East Village instead for their brunch specials.
Restaurant Info:
Balaboosta
214 Mulberry St # 1
near Spring Street
New York, NY 10012
212-966-73661
Nolita
REPORT CARD
Meal: Brunch
Occasion: Out of town visitor catch-up session!
Price: $$$
(Out of three stars)
Ambiance: ***
Food: **
Service: ***
Would I go back?: Yes (for brunch)…I still need to try that French toast!
La Duni Latin Kitchen in Dallas, TX
Gah. Sorry about the quiet few days here, but I’ve been in Texas ya’ll! I flew down last weekend for my gorgeous friend Mariam’s wedding (I mean, STUNNING), and haven’t had much time at the comp. It was my very first time down in Texas and besides the wedding festivities, I was excited about the FOOD. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a whole lot of time to explore Dallas by way of calories, but a group of us did manage to get away one day for brunch. My friend Masuma who lives down there recommended a few places, and we ended up going to La Duni Latin Kitchen at the Northpark mall location which was near our hotel.
La Duni
La Duni
Punk Rock brekkie: Bleeding Heart Bakery & Cafe in Chicago
By Summar Ghias
Brunch may just be my favorite pastime. But brunch well past standard brunch timings at a 24-hour café essentially morphs me into a kid in a candy store. You can only imagine my excitement at hearing about the new Bleeding Heart Bakery & Café, a welcome bright spot in Chicago’s otherwise dismal late-night dining scene. The restaurant has an edgy diner vibe with vivid tattoo inspired art on the walls and what the owners dub a “local sustainable punk rock brunch” all day, every day.
After road-tripping to Indiana for a concert (yeah, Lupe!), some friends and I were in need of grub. Not just any kind of grub though. Once we’d confirmed that the food was delicious (because really, the host would have told us if it wasn’t), we set out to order from the brunch menu and eye the well-endowed glass counter from afar in all its munchkin and mini-cake mound glory. After oscillating between sweet and savory, I settled on a wild mushroom polenta eggs benedict with roasted red peppers and what seemed like an exotic twist on the standard condiment: persimmon hollandaise. My friends got the farmer’s veggie skillet, the seasonal fruit pancakes and, wait for it, the fried vanilla bean yeast doughnut breakfast sandwich with eggs and cheese.
My disappointing but tasty looking Wild Mushroom Polenta Benedict.
