Breakfast
My husband and I are coming to NYC in late January and are looking for some great breakfast places. Anything really - brunches, mexican, traditional, upscale. We will be there from Thurs until Monday.
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Haven't seen anyone mention Northern Spy Food Co. in this thread yet. I am new to CH and not native to New York, but I am also traveling to the area soon, and after much internet sleuthing North Spy Food Co. has made it to my list as a place to try for breakfast/brunch.
Anyone have input as to it being a worthy entry? The menu looks great!
http://www.northernspyfoodco.com/menu...
Northern Spy Food Co.
511 East 12th St, New York, NY 10009›3 Replies -
Another good place is Landmarc, in the Time Warner center. I especially like their eggs en meurette, which I haven't seen anywhere else. Poached eggs, bread, toast, wine, bacon and onions; a really outstanding dish. And, on weekdays anyway, there's never been a wait that I've seen.
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Landmarc
10 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019 -
My two favorite breakfast places are Clinton St. Baking Co. and Shopsin's. I almost never wait 'cause my "breakfast" time is a lot later than most people - I go on early afternoon on a weekday - but I don't think wait is that bad even during conventional breakfast time as long as it's a weekday. You really can't go wrong with pancakes at either places, and I'm still working through all the egg dishes at Shopsin's.
Breslin indeed does a pretty good English breakfast plate. I also liked my recent brunch at Locanda Verde, though I wasn't as enamored with their pastries (too greasy.) For something not-so-gourmet and casual, try Cafe Mogador in EV for brunch. Lots of locals, good people watching, solid food.
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Shopsin's General Store
120 Essex St, New York, NY 10002Cafe Mogador
101 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10003Locanda Verde
377 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10013Clinton Street Baking Co.
4 Clinton St, New York, NY 10002The Breslin
20 W 29th St, New York, NY 10001 -
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I'll second Minetta Tavern, Clinton Street Baking Co., and Prune.
There's no wait for weekend brunch at Minetta Tavern and I endorse the shirred egg dish. Added bonus is the availability of a few dinner dishes, especially the Black Label burger.
CSBC, well, it's homey and good. The pancakes may be the highlight, but egg dishes are almost always good, too. The Fried Eggs with truffle, if available, is one of my prefered dish.
As for Prune, well, just be there 25 minutes before open and you'll get a table. You can always buy decent coffeee at the coffee shop near the corner of 1st Ave nue while you wait for Prune to open.
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Minetta Tavern
113 MacDougal St, New York, NY 10012Clinton Street Baking Co.
4 Clinton St, New York, NY 10002 -
My top five breakfasts and brunches right now:
1. The Breslin (all days of the week). No reservations. Decadent. Try the English breakfast, the cinnamon brioche toast, the pancakes (ricotta and strawberry last time I went), deep fried peanut and banana sandwich with bourbon and vanilla (add a side of bacon for maximum decadence), get a side of blood sausage, or some excellent cocktails all named after rock songs. The cheese sandwich with egg is also great -- she puts cheese on the outside of her grilled cheeses! Hip atmosphere.
http://thebreslin.com/i/menu-brunch.pdf2. Minetta Tavern (weekends only). Make a reservation. Rat Pack-esque, lots of caricature of famous people lining the walls, so it feels very throwback NY. Pretend you got drunk with Sammy and Frank last night. Service is excellent. Try the poached eggs on potato latkes, french toast (really really good brioche is used here as the base), the shirred eggs with truffles (or morels if you are lucky, they are probably out of season now), the ham baked in hay (served with the best biscuit I've had in recent memory), or the famous Black Label burger, or one of their famous steaks. Great bloody marys.
http://www.minettatavernny.com/menus/brunch.pdf3. Locanda Verde (all days of the week). Make a reservation. Skip the pancakes and french toast in favor of the breakfast pastries or the rightfully hyped sheep's milk ricotta served with burnt orange toast, truffled honey, and fresh herbs. There's also excellent cocktails, and their poached egg dishes. I like the porchetta sandwich as well as the ouvo modenense with cotechino hash, spinach and tomato hollandaise. The house made juice of pomegranate, blood oranges and valencia oranges is also excellent. Skip the pancakes and french toast here, though, they're not as good as other places.
http://locandaverdenyc.com/brunch.php4. Clinton St. Baking Co (all days but go on a WEEKDAY). No reservations. Biscuit sandwich with scrambled egg, melted cheddar, tomato jam, and do add on bacon. Or try the blueberry pancakes with warm maple butter. Best pancakes in the city, some say. Incredibly light and fluffy. The other items are OK (like the burger or the waffle). They are known more for their pancakes, as they whip the egg whites separately and fold them in at the last second. Simple, delicious, maddeningly long line to get their famous pancakes. Go on a weekday or wait 2 hours. Or have them for dinner! They are served all day long.
http://www.clintonstreetbaking.com/?page=restaurant-menu-everyday5. Shopsin's (Weds-Sun but go on a WEEKDAY). No reservations. Just get in line. Shopsin's is probably the most "innovative" breakfast place/diner in town. Breakfast sliders, mac and cheese pancakes, slutty cakes, sandwiches with the "bread" made out of french toast or pancakes, made-up soups from around the world (i.e., "this is what I think Kenyan soup would taste like" not "this is the kind of soup they eat in Kenya"). Some people hate it; some people love it. No copying other people's orders. No cell phones. No parties greater than four people. No modifications/allergies/picky eaters. Don't go if you don't like the occasional f-bomb being thrown down.
http://www.shopsins.com/wp-content/up...Honorable mentions: Prune, Blue Ribbon Bakery.
No reservations at Prune or BRB (though BRB does take them for bigger parties). But at Prune if you show up at 9:30am for the 10am opening you should be fine. Don't miss out on the deep fried monte cristo sandwich, their specialty juice, or the dutch pancake. I also like the coddled eggs and salad dish (very light breakfast), as well as the sausages and oysters platter.
For Blue Ribbon Bakery, skip the french toast in favor of the bone marrow, the Blue Benedict with Serrano ham, Jarlsberg cheese, and tomato, or the duck club sandwich (overall it is a more lunch-y menu).
Also for a classic New York-y thing to do, go to Russ & Daughters, get a bagel sandwich to go, and eat it outside on a bench on a nice day. I'm fond of red onion, capers, regular cream cheese, and tomato on mine. Try a few smoked salmons before you settle on one, they're surprising different (and lox is not the same as smoked salmon, because lox is salmon cured in salt brine, and most people actually prefer the more modern, Nova-style smoked salmon). You can get a mini-sized bagel sandwich here, too, if you wish. Takeout only. Note: NYers don't toast bagels.
Other, quirky items:
Shopsin's has basically everything on the menu available during their operating hours so you can easily get soup, salads, sandwiches, other cooked dishes for brunch.
If you go to Aquagrill, you can have any of the over two dozen varieties of oysters on their menu.
Momofuku Ssam Bar offers scrapple on their weekend lunch menu.
At Blue Ribbon Bakery, a lot of their lunch/appetizer items are available; we usually spring for the roasted bone marrow.
I am also fond of the sliders or burger at Little Owl, the duck burger at Perilla, or the Spotted Pig burger.
The green sauce chilaquiles at Hecho en Dumbo are fantastic and spicy.
If you’re in the mood for breakfast pizza, try Motorino or Pulino’s, who put egg on their pies during weekend lunch service.
For artisanal sausages, check out the menu at DBGB’s brunch.
Tertulia has chocolate and churros, Spanish french toast (torreja), and other like-minded items on their brunch menu.
At Public, their Turkish eggs are amazing: two poached eggs on Greek yogurt with kirmizi biber butter.
International/non-traditional brunch:
The Stanton Social does this well: breakfast bruschetta, huevos rancheros, pierogi, french onion soup dumplings, sliders, fish tacos, pizzetas, and latkes.
See also:
Aquavit
Belcourt
Boqueria
Calle Ocho
Fatty Crab
Ino/'inoteca
Morandi
Pylos
Tia Pol
Veselka
Yerba Buena/Yerba Buena Perry-----
Russ & Daughters
179 E Houston St, New York, NY 10002Aquavit
65 E 55th St, New York, NY 10022Perilla
9 Jones Street, New York, NY 10014Momofuku Ssam Bar
207 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003Shopsin's General Store
120 Essex St, New York, NY 10002Spotted Pig
314 W 11th St, New York, NY 10014Minetta Tavern
113 MacDougal St, New York, NY 10012Stanton Social
99 Stanton Street, New York, NY 10002Little Owl
90 Bedford Street, New York, NY 10014Tia Pol
205 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011Aquagrill
210 Spring St, New York, NY 10012Morandi
211 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10014Belcourt
84 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003Blue Ribbon Bakery
33 Bedford St, New York, NY 10014Pylos
128 E 7th St, New York, NY 10009'ino
21 Bedford St, New York, NY 10014'inoteca
98 Rivington St, New York, NY 10002Calle Ocho
45 W 81st St, New York, NY 10024Boqueria
53 W 19th St, New York, NY 10011Public
210 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10012Prune
54 E 1st St, New York, NY 10003Fatty Crab
643 Hudson St, New York, NY 10014Yerba Buena
23 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009'inoteca
323 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10010Locanda Verde
377 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10013DBGB
299 Bowery, New York, NY 10003Clinton Street Baking Co.
4 Clinton St, New York, NY 10002Yerba Buena Perry
1 Perry Street, New York, NY 10014The Breslin
20 W 29th St, New York, NY 10001Motorino
349 E 12th St, New York, NY 10003Pulino's
282 Bowery, New York, NY 10012Hecho en Dumbo
354 Bowery, New York, NY 10012Veselka
9 E 1st St, New York, NY 10003Tertulia
359 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011›7 Replies-
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re: kathryn
I am interested in Clinton St Baking Co. My only day I can go is on a Saturday morning. They open at 9AM. I need to leave my hotel around 11AM to make it to the airport. In your opinion, will I be able to go to the restaurant (how early should I arrive) and have time to eat and make it back to Midtown in two hours?
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re: lcbailey81
I haven't been for a while but, on a Sunday several months ago, we arrived at 8:20am and were second in line. By 8:30am about a dozen others had joined us. We were seated around 9:10am. By then the wait was already 60 minutes if you were at the end of the line. Mind you, this was winter, so the wait outside was in different circumstances. We ordered, ate, paid the check, and were out the door by 10am.
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Hecho en Dumbo in the East Village is terrific for brunch, as is the weekend brunch at Prune (though it's usually a long wait for a table; go at about 2:30 for best luck). Maialino is a CH fave; I've been wanting to try it for a while now...
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Prune
54 E 1st St, New York, NY 10003Maialino
2 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10010Hecho en Dumbo
354 Bowery, New York, NY 10012›6 Replies-
re: howdini
I think I have personally come to the conclusion that the Maialino brunch menu is not compelling. I wish they had a waffle or french toast option instead of just pancakes, oatmeal, granola. The 2-3 pastry items I have tried have not wowed me either; really it was the savory food (soup, pasta, sandwiches) that were best, aka the lunch menu. The two egg dishes I tried were good but nothing special.
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Maialino
2 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10010
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Some of the best breakfasts are served at Clinton St. Baking Co. The lines to get in can be pretty insane, but your best bet of getting in without a wait would be getting there Friday morning before they open. (They open at 8am; plan to show up no later than 7:45am.)
I'm a big fan of the brunches at Cookshop, which takes reservations (either by phone or on opentable.com).
A search will reveal lots and lots of discussions of breakfast and brunch on this board.
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Cookshop
156 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10011Clinton Street Baking Co.
4 Clinton St, New York, NY 10002›3 Replies
