It’s time for another brunch list! As I’ve said in the past, we have our family time on Sundays. We try so many different restaurants that I’ve decided to share my experiences with you. Here is the ranking, number one being our favorite. We tried several ones that we liked very much, so it’s not because a restaurant is not among the first three that they are bad.
The restaurant is on the first two floors of a red brick townhouse in West Village. The decor looks like a farmhouse with a mix of wood floor, wood chairs, and an old white fireplace. They have a nice outdoor patio on the second floor.
The basket of croissants and pains au chocolat is served with Bonne-Maman jam and butter: yes, the chef is French! It was crispy outside and delicious inside. They also had pain with apple compote. Yum!
We ordered the pancakes, the eggs Benedict Florentine, the oeufs meurette en cocotte, and the confit Lamb shoulder, and all the dishes were tasteful, perfectly cooked, and well presented.
Price range: $$$
181 W 10th St, New York
📞 212-488-2626
West Village
I have quite a good memory of my brunch at The Loyal, it has funny drawings on the walls: pigs drinking beers, carrots taking a sunbath, children playing around a broccoli tree, and more.
The brunch was amazing. The olive oil skittle cake served with berries was perfect to share. We also shared the coconut muffin with lime curd and the monkey bread, flavorful and tasty!
The Piedmontese Burger is their signature. I usually don’t order burgers for my brunch but this one looked so appetizing I couldn’t resist. The meat was thick and juicy and it was presented with a big tomato confit and diced French fries.
Price range $$$
289 Bleecker St, New York
📞212-488-5800
Greenwich Village
Located on the Upper west side, Marlow bistro has the laid back flare of Brooklyn, probably due to the brick wall, the black and white tiles on the floor, and the wooden benches with red cushions. They serve produce, dairy, and meat from local farms.
The Marlow eggs Florentine is served with puree instead of bread, which makes it more special. I highly recommend the French toasts; the pumpkin spice mascarpone on the side was a delight!
Price range: $$
1018 Amsterdam av, NY
📞 212-662-9020
Upper West
It’s a cute tiny place in Greenwich Village that serves only vegan and nothing but vegan. Even the milk in my coffee was vegan – almond milk.
The décor is cute and the service pleasant. A French woman and her son own the place.
We ordered a savory crepe and a sweet one. They were both tasty and I was impressed by how close they were from the real crepes. Close but not equal. Although the size of the dishes was generous it wasn’t quite filling. So if you’re not familiar with the vegan concept, I suggest that you order one more dish.
Price range: $$
20 Christopher St, New York
📞 212-243-7200
Greenwich Village
The almond pancake with poached pears is what I highly recommend at Dante. It’s made in a skillet and baked in the oven like a Dutch pancake. It came with crème fraîche and cinnamon maple syrup, delicious!
The burrata with sea salt and honey is my second recommendation. Spread it on the cranberry and pecan bread – it’s a delight! All the dishes with eggs were perfectly executed, whether it was the poached or the baked eggs.
Price range $$
79-81 MacDougal St, New York
📞 212-982-5275
Greenwich Village
You can’t go wrong with a brunch at Sunshine & Co, an address to keep in mind when in Brooklyn. The service is pleasant, the atmosphere is casual, the food is great, and the price is reasonable.
Start with the hot house-made biscuits with butter and jam, they will whet your appetite. If you are a fan of Brussels sprouts you have to try their Brussels sprout hash. The sprouts are crispy, a tiny bit spicy with paprika, and the poached eggs are a subtle addition.
Price range $$
780 Washington Ave, Brooklyn
📞 347-750-5275
Prospect Height
Faun is always a good idea, especially in the summertime for their patio. They have large parasols that protect from the sun. The décor is soft and elegant. I’m a big fan of their French toast with foie gras and walnuts. Needless to say, it’s quite rich but so good, especially when you add the maple syrup!
The shrimp and polenta served with poached eggs is definitely a keeper if you want to try a more southern dish.
606 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn
📞718-576-6120
Prospect Height
As much as I like Bar Boulud, which is from the same owner Daniel Boulud and located around the corner, although recommended by Michelin Guide, this one has not left me a lasting memory. The restaurant looks like a refectory of an old corporate, a room with absolutely no charm.
As Boulud Sud is specialized in Mediterranean cuisine, we started with some dishes to share: Moroccan flatbread and mezze – hummus, falafel, and babaganoush. We ordered the ricotta pancakes with lemon curd to share as well. We were pretty satisfied with the starting dishes; the pancakes were excellent and light.
The chicken tagine and the salmon were okay but nothing to make chef Boulud proud of. What was really bad were the poached eggs. Both dishes – eggs Benedict and eggs Florentine – were frankly bad. The eggs were way too cooked and the salad was not fresh. How can you miss the eggs when you’re serving a brunch?
20 W 64th St, New York
📞 212-595-1313
The décor is quite attractive and sought after. The feeling is good when you enter the restaurant; it’s pleasant and bright. Two things I didn’t like, first the restaurant is noisy and they put the music way too high. We asked them to reduce the music but they didn’t cooperate.
The second was the food, which is more concerning. The French toast looked good but the bread was not well soaked so it was just bread. The scrambled eggs and the egg sandwich were desperately tasteless.
Price range: $$
2315 Broadway, New York
📞 212-496-9100
Upper West
Minetta Tavern is one Michelin-starred restaurant that was often recommended to me. Yet the day we finally had our reservation, everything, and I mean all the dishes, went wrong. Nothing we ordered was even close to acceptable. The pastry basket wasn’t fresh, the croissant and the pain au chocolat were soft, the pasta dish was tasteless, the salmon in the egg Florentine didn’t have the taste of salmon, the avocado toast was worthless, and the ham and eggs was a lump of ham and burned tomatoes. I didn’t even post pictures on Instagram, which is quite alarming. It was maybe an accident, maybe the chef was absent or something was not normal that day. But one Michelin-starred restaurant cannot have maybes.
113 Macdougal St, New York
📞 212-475-3850
Greenwich Village
I hope this list will come in handy when you’re looking for a place to brunch. Don’t hesitate to send me your favorite addresses, I’ll be happy to try them!
looks like I missed quite a few…!