Harefield Road in my neighborhood has a good deal on brunch. $12 for entree and bloody mary or mimosa. Todd and I have been going a lot. There’s usually a wait. So we usually get drunk at the bar.
Harefield Road – 769 Metropolitan Ave (between Humboldt St & Graham Ave) Brooklyn, NY 11211
I went over to Le Barricou for brunch this past weekend. Ordered the Duck Confit Hash ($15). Some pretty tasty stuff. Best hash browns –fluffy soft potatoes with a crispy exterior. Like a cross between home fries and hash browns.
The Bloody Mary was thick and super spicy …but good.
Le Barricou – 533 Grand St (btwn Union Ave & Lorimer St) Brooklyn, NY 11211
This time we went to Fives Leaves in Greenpoint early, around 10am. We thought we could beat the brunch rush. Nope. Still crowded. I think it was around a 20 minute wait. We stuck with it.
Pretty good brunch. I got the Moroccan Scramble – merguez sausage, scrambled eggs with spiced chickpeas, crushed avocado & grilled sourdough ($12). I enjoyed it.
Five Leaves – 18 Bedford Ave (@ Nassau Ave & Lorimer St) Brooklyn, NY 11222
We were out to get brunch in Greenpoint, but an hour wait at Five Leaves. It’s usually hard to find a nice brunch place that’s not crowded. But we walked over to Manhattan Inn and we weren’t sure if they were open because no one was there. I figured brunch would be pretty good since I’ve been there for good cocktails at night. And yeah, it was pretty awesome.
Nice quiet place with a piano player for our entertainment.
Todd got the Burger. I got the Biscuits & Gravy and Eggs , with a side of Hash Browns and a Bloody Mary. Really good.
It eventually filled up with more customers, but still plenty of tables. I don’t understand why it wasn’t more full. Good food, spacious, easy to get a table, piano entertainment, air conditioned. But I guess if it was packed and had a wait, I might not have felt the same. Here’s to easy brunch.
Manhattan Inn - 632 Manhattan Ave (btwn Nassau & Bedford Ave) Brooklyn, NY 11222
We met up for brunch in the East Village because we were going to see Shonali perform with the Moon comedy/variety show at Howl Festival 2013 (Thompson Square Park). I picked one of the more popular places, but the wait was so long. So we went to Odessa which was pretty empty. We realized that none of us have been there in like eight years …late at night, drunk and ordering pierogies.
There are two Odessa’s next door to each other. The bright diner and the dark bar (which also serves food). I kind of wanted to go into the dark bar, but it was early in the day. We went into the bright diner.
I got the Eggs Benedict brunch special that came with a Bloody Mary $11.50. I think it’s pretty much the same price if you ordered it separately. The English Muffins were hard and hard to cut. I ate everything on top, then somehow managed to chew the bread.
Mia and Todd got Chicken Avocado Salads in huge bowls. I probably should have gotten that.
The waiter was funny and a character. But I didn’t get how he added up the bill, especially when he said Mia’s salad was a special price for her …unless he was joking.
Even though the place kind of sucks, I do have the urge to go back soon. I’ve had good drunk memories there in my late twenties. Plus you can get a table during brunch real easily.
Odessa – 119 Ave A (btwn St Marks & 7th St) New York, NY 10009
I went out to MOMA PS1 in Long Island City yesterday to check out the Andy Kaufman Effect. I was pretty hungover from the night before. So I walked into Sage General Store to get some food and avoid the strong cold winds outside.
The french toast looked really good on everyone else’s table. But I decided to low-carb it with the Rotisserie Chicken Blue Plate Special ($14). It didn’t help that the half chicken came with Mac & Cheese though. The waiter asked if I wanted Bacon Mac. I said Baked-in Mac? He was like Bacon Mac? I was like what do you mean Baked-in? It was almost an Abbott and Costello routine. A hungover version.
The Chicken was cooked really well. Crispy outside. Moist and tender inside. Only thing though, it wasn’t salty enough. I asked for salt which I don’t know if it was rude or not. It’s basically saying your food is flavorless. Well it wasn’t on the table.
The Mac & Cheese was really good. With a pinch of salt on that too, really good. Oh yeah, it was bacon in there.
Chai Tea Latte and a full stomach made me feel better. I think Chai Tea Latte is my new jam.
Sage General Store - 24-20 Jackson Ave. Long Island City, NY 11101
The Andy Kaufman Effect was pretty cool at MOMA PS1. They had panels and special guests and even Tony Clifton showed. up. I’ve been really into Andy Kaufman these past couple of months. Watching a ton of his stuff online and watching Man on the Moon again. It’s of great coincidence there’s so much Andy Kaufman stuff going on now in NY.
First, the MOMA event yesterday. Second, the On Creating Reality, by Andy Kaufman exhibit at Maccarone (Jan 12 – Feb 23, 2013). And last but not least, Andy Kaufman’s 99cent Tour at Participant Inc (Feb 12-24, 2013).
There’s a new restaurant where the short-lived Alien Cafe used to be right off the Grand St L stop –Pedro’s II Dumbo …but in East Williamsburg. Dang, this is that Mexican restaurant in Dumbo that sticks out like it’s the only restaurant in the area, at least back in the day from my memory of walking around Dumbo off the York stop.
I remember eating here in Dumbo with an old girlfriend and her friends. A live DVD of Shakira was playing on the TV and my girlfriend was making fun of her. I don’t know why, but I got really upset. I remember talking to my friend later that night about how I feel like breaking up with her because of that. I didn’t realize Shakira was such a touchy subject in my life. I actually don’t know much about her. But now you know not to bad-mouth Shakira in front of me.
Anyway, I stopped into this new Pedro’s in Williamsburg for brunch. I wanted some Mexican breakfast. I saw the sign outside for the Huevos Rancheros with Mimosa for $11 and ordered that. It’s actually about the same price any time of the day for that combo. If I knew that, I’d probably try a burrito or tortas, since that sounded heartier for the price.
No regrets though. Although, the Huevos Ranchos looked a little skimpy on the plate. I couldn’t tell there was a corn tortilla underneath that fried egg. But mixed all together with the beans and the hot sauce in the small Corona bottle, it tasted pretty good. I enjoyed it. Mimosa was tasty!
I’d come back again. Probably for the Happy Hour $3 beer (4-8pm). The waitress was nice. They had college basketball on TV. No Shakira.
Pedro’s II – 812 Grand St (btwn Bushwick Ave & Humboldt) Brooklyn, NY 11211
I got this flyer in the mail and was like whoa! I kinda want to do all three.
I remembered Yoshie told me about this place opening up a few months back. I remembered watching this video and saw no real reason to go, unless I was trying to be ironic. But I do like the idea of a super fancy Vegas-style sushi restaurant plopping right down in Williamsburg.
We met up to try this Unlimited Bloody Mary/Mimosa/Bellini brunch special $20. Sounds like a really good deal. I’m assuming business didn’t start off as well as they hoped and so they’re having these specials to get the neighborhood kids in.
The restaurant is really awesome, again in a flashy Vegas-way. I love it. It seems so out of place in the neighborhood …maybe not so much these days I suppose. Maybe Disney is going to open a theme park in Williamsburg. I would love that, but I’m from Orlando.
It wasn’t crowded when we first sat down, but did fill up in the two hours we were there. Mostly tourists and families it seemed like …a place where you’d take your parents to if they came and visited you in NY. It felt like a fancy Denny’s.
We got to pick an appetizer for our brunch and I thought they were great. The Crab Bisque and Yellowtail Jalapeno were tasty. Unfortunately, the entrees were just meh. We had the Ribeye Steak & Eggs and Scottish Salmon. Nothing impressive. Kinda reminded me of Denny’s again. But I guess in this deal, it’s probably not going to be an amazing cut of meat …considering that I had three or four Bloody Marys. It basically made the meal free or really cheap if I was counting the drinks.
The first drinks came fast, but those later rounds not so much. I couldn’t tell if the waiter was just swamped or if they intentionally slow it down when you start to drink too much.
I still like Fushimi. It’s really cool. Even though the food isn’t really good, I want to say it’s the coolest place in Williamsburg. Everyone else is trying to be dirty or rustic. This place is the opposite and very bold about it. Look at the entrance way to the restrooms!
I want to check out Sexy Ladies’ Night.
Fushimi Williamsburg - 475 Driggs Ave (@ N 10th) Brooklyn, NY 11211
Walking around Williamsburg drunk in the middle of day is interesting. We were much willing to get foot and back rubs at those sketchy looking Chinese places in the neighborhood. We first went to the Back & Foot Rub place on the corner of Metropolitan and Graham. I’ve never seen anyone go in there and it looks dark and you can’t see what’s going on in there …and why is there 61 minutes? What is the extra minute for?
They couldn’t take us all at the same time, so Todd and I ditched Elissa there and we walked around the corner on Graham to another foot rub place -Â Mei Ying Qi Gong Tui Na. We got 15mins for $15. I was laughing the whole time because all I can hear is slapping from the other room …also because I’m ticklish.
Mei Ying Qi Gong Tui Na - 366 Graham Ave (@ Conselyea) Brooklyn, NY 11211