Essex Restaurant is housed in the same building as the Essex Street market and was the predecessor to the boozy, dance-y brunches of Bagatelle and the such in Meatpacking. It used to be $16 for a brunch entree, three cocktails, a packed house, pumping house music and people who had yet to go home from the night before or who dressed to the nines for this daytime weekend meal. Most remains, however the brunch has gone up to $20, the crowd is still the same and the food attempts to adopt the neighborhood's roots of a mixture of American, Jewish, and Mexican cuisines.
When you make a booking, don't plan on being sat for at least forty minutes even if you are early/on time, prepare self and so if it's a nice day, head outside to the street rather than standing the somewhat claustrophobic bar area. Once seated, hopefully you get a seat over looking the ground floor giving you the opportunity to watch the chaos down below. So what did I have?
I ordered the LEO but made some adjustments -- scrambled egg whites, onions, gravalax, with Swiss cheese, and a bialy. It was accompanied by homemade hash browns and a green salad. Simple straight to the point and satisfying after the wait.
If you're looking for a crowded, boozy, upbeat brunch to people watch this is the place to go.
Essex Restaurant
120 Essex Street, enter at Rivington and Essex.
NYC
No comments:
Post a Comment