Category: sunday brunch

Sunday Brunch: Petite Abeille

A place easy to remember by its signature bumblee.

I found this place by searching the best “moules frites” (mussels and fries) in NYC, but that’s another story for another time (they were delicious!). Petite Abeille was one of those really popular bistros which you have to wait at least an hour for a table at brunch. It’s a Belgian-French bistro with four locations scattered in lower Manhattan.

 

Last week for my birthday, my fiance decided to treat me to this place. However it was too early for dinner and mussels, so we settled for a late brunch at the 17th Street location. The wait was around twenty minutes, which is practically seconds for New Yorkers.

Again we expected a dinner menu, but brunch apparently lasts until 4PM. No complaints here. I decided to go with a Tartine de Saumon Fumé (salmon with egg salad on sourdough) with Belgian fries.  A strange combination that works – and it has a hint of Dijon mustard for those who like a kick.

He went with a daily special waffle with tropical fruit (mango, kiwis, and bananas), whipped cream and strawberry sauce. All of which was quickly gone.

Petite Abeille has daily dinners specials everyday which you can check out on their website.. Brunch is a popular meal of the day so try to go here later in the day for a shorter wait time. Or if you are an early bird, they do open at 8AM.

Pofferjetes – Flemish pancakes.

Stuyvesant Town
401 20th St
New York, NY 10010

West Village
466 Hudson St
New York, NY 10014

Flatiron
44 West 17th St
New York, NY 10011

Tribeca
134 West Broadway
New York, NY 10013

Sunday Brunch : Rose House

Rose House is popular go to place for Lolitas. It’s statisfies the hankering for tea and cakes with a decent price without a wait. The waiting part is most important in New York City when everywhere you go there’s a waiting list.

Located in the heart of Flushing in the Queens Crossing Mall, it’s pretty easy to find – that is if you are familiar with Chinatown’s bustling and crowded streets.

While majority Lolitas have found their comfort place to drink English tea and dine on tea cakes and sandwiches, this European style teahouse is a very uncommon in Asian metropolitans. There’s a strange fascination with the pseudo-European style in Asian culture. The English teahouse being the most popular to replicate.

True to its name, Rose House is decorated in all things roses and overwhelming smells like an English rose garden. It’s almost intoxicating. Even the water is sprinkled with a dash of rose water.

Since its located in Chinatown, the menus and waitstaff are fluent in both English and Chinese.  Most people feel customer service varies from experience, personally I think it’s no different than any Chinese restaurant. However the reason you go to Rose House is not to be waited hand and foot – it’s for the food!

Cream cake with a dash of rose water in the cream.

The menu selection is very simple and ranges from a typical Afternoon Tea set to full Asian entrees like curry beef. By selecting any sweets they have a faint aroma and taste of roses.

Unlike Alice’s Tea Cup, afternoon tea at Rose House has two versions: a two-tiered and three-tiered (both very good). And the top tier has a small scoop of ice cream, which tends to vary every time you go or if several of you order the same set.

One thing that is also standard about afternoon tea is that you’ll never go searching for another meal immediately after.  Rose House is no different. They also have a nice selection of Belgian waffles (I am personally fond of the waffle with ice cream or the tuna waffle), which is also great for a midnight snack.

Fun fact: Rose House is open until midnight.

For the most part, Rose House is a nice place to treat yourself to tea but, personally, conditions to go here must be right.

If you have the cash (they do take credit), time to venture out to Flushing, Queens (it is really out in the boroughs), and, of course, good company, then you should hop on the 7 train and head to Rose House.

Rose House
136-17 39th Ave
1st Floor
Flushing, NY 11354

Sunday Brunch: Alice’s Tea Cup Chapter II

Alice’s Tea Cup is very reminiscent of childhood tea parties you use to have. Except instead of fruit punch you can have actual tea and real tea cakes. (Did I mention real cake?)

Chapter II is one of there most popular locations in New York City for lovers of pink and nostalgic for childhood fancies. As well as people who want a real tea party without the stiff and stuffy atmosphere.

Lolitas love to venture to Alice’s whenever they have the chance, and the wait staff are more than welcoming to those wearing dresses with maximum poofiness. With a short walk from Central Park and the popular shopping avenues–it’s no wonder that this place has wait times that are anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours. 

I had been several times before, but wanted to introduce the other half to the place. Luckily we had our chance on a late Saturday brunch with a short wait of 15 minutes!


He was a bit skeptical at the thought of Afternoon Tea. He presumed tea and cakes would not be a whole meal, fully knowing that afternoon tea was more of a snack time for adults when lunch was at noon and dinner was served at 8 o’clock rather than around 6 o’clock nowadays.

However when the 3-tiered tray (a Mad Hatter’s tea for two) arrived every questionable thought disappeared at the sight of so much food.

Alice’s is very accomodating for vegetarians and with the tiered trays  you can to choose what you want as opposed to being presented with something you probably wouldn’t like (and garnished with caviar).

The setup is pretty standard with sandwiches on one tier, tea cakes on another, and light sweets at the very top (since it’s the smallest and one can go overboard when it comes to noshing on too many). And for the amount of food versus the price, it is well worth the wait for a table.

Also the tea is magnificent for it’s extremely long list and wide variety – from classic English blacks to purer greens and whites to herbal and fruity there’s something for everyone. And Alice’s Tea Cup maintains it’s kitschiness with no two cup and saucers are the same at the table. It also helped we both each got and emptied a pot of tea.

The decor helps you feel at home if you’ve never taken tea what with the multicolored butterfly wings and interpretative pictures of Alice Liddell (that’s the name of the real Alice on the wall) along the walls.  It’s a place that you can never tire of and always find something new.  Being my second time, I noticed the tables were refurbished vintage sewing machines.

There is a limit to Alice’s Tea Cup and that is you will probably take something home, which is not exactly a bad thing. As you can see the bottom tier became a doggy bag of sweets.

Alice’s Tea Cup does take reservations and have private dining areas for parties and “un-birthdays”, but I find it more fun to drop in and see if there’s room at the Mad Hatter’s tea party.

Sunday Brunch: Eataly + Birreria

This is not your typical Italian food with pasta and pizza (which is not really Italian). If you’ve never heard of Eataly before, and you love artisanal food, then this is your heavan. Or at least your mall.

From chocolate, to cheese, to seafood, to vegetables and gelato, Eataly is your level of gluttonly at its finest. Besides shopping you can also dine and the various stations/sections. Be prepared for a long wait for any of them (especially during weekends and dinner hours), but that’s when you begin roaming around this part supermarket, part restaurant, part food court.

If you aren’t in the mood to stare at the various kinds of brie Eataly offers, then head up to Birreria, Eataly’s own rooftop beer garden/restaurant.

Wine and Bread wrapped in parchment paper.

I can only attest to a late lunch, but it was still exquisite, especially when paired with a rosé wine. The waiters are also very attentive when it comes to asking for recommendations.

Cavolo Nero Con Salsa – Chopped mixed kale, grapefruit, poppy seed frico with anchovy vinaigrette

The price is a bit average for New York, but worth it to try once. Although Birreria is open all year round (winter time, they have heatlamps) the best time to dine would be preferably during fall and spring when the weather is just right.

Eataly
200 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10010
212-229-2560

Sunday Brunch: Sip Sak

New York City is a very convenient place for anyone who is hungry anytime, anywhere because there is always a slew of restaurants to choose from.

What people may not know is that if you step off the main streets like Broadway, you arrive in the New Yorker’s area of the city: a quieter, residential but still have that urban feel.

With so many restaurants in the area is best to choose based on a roulette method: walk along the street until one strikes your fancy.

It’s a method that’s especially useful when you are unsure of what do about brunch on a late Sunday morning after one last skate around The Pond at Bryant Park.

If you’re wanting brunch, but want something different, Sip Sak should be on your list. Their sage green doors and mirror-framed menus outside will entice you to try their food on impulse.

And it won’t disappoint.

It’s a Turkish restaurant located on the upper part of Midtown along 2nd Avenue.

The menu was pretty simple and explanatory for those unfamiliar with Turkish cuisine. With items like Sahanda Sucuklu Yumurta (eggs with spiced lamb) or Kasarli, Sucuklu Tost (panini with cheese and spiced lamb sausage) you really can’t go wrong. Or if you’re a burger person and want to be a just a little adventurous, try a Lamb Burger.

The Turkish tea was certainly a refresher after being quite comfortable with the taste of English Breakfast or Earl Grey. It was perfectly hot to the touch (just the way I like) and in a cute tulip-shaped cup. The light smoky flavor lifted my tastebuds to imagine drinking in a teahouse at the side of a bazaar.

If you are more of a coffee person, Turkish coffee is very much like a shot of espresso, except much stronger.

The waiters were attentive, and the food arrived as soon as our side of hummus and bread were nothing but crumbs. Although I had an omelette with mushrooms, peppers and onions, it came with home fries and a salad. The price is average for a Manhattan restaurant, but considering it was my first time at Sip Sak, I’ll be sure to be coming back with friends.

(Note: While Turkish cuisine highly favors meat-lovers, Sip Sak does have vegetarian options.)

Sip Sak
928 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10017
Neighborhood: Midtown East
(212) 583-1900