Brunchable

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Supper is a well known restaurant in the East Village, home of great atmosphere and delicious food. Unfortunately, this was not my experience. Immediately upon entering its somewhat busy front room, I and my brunch-date were ushered past the kitchen, up a some steps and towards the ass-end of a communal table that might have been salvaged from a failed diner. Oh, and to add insult to injury, the room was drafty, forcing us to wear our jackets during the meal.

After scouring the menu, I decided on the Roasted Fennel and Fontina Omelette. I’m a big omelette fan and recent practitioner of omelette making, so title and description had my mouth watering. When it arrived (about 25 minutes later) I found the taste nor the luke-warm temperature to my liking. My company for the meal had the organic pancakes which she reported [3rd party reporting at its best] as being dry and over-cooked. She left more than 1/2 off it on the plate.

But the real salt on the wound, what kicked me while I was down, was the Bloody Mary. It had waay too much lemon in it, a pitiful quantity of vodka, and boring veggies (lime AND lemon, and an albino stalk of ancient looking celery).

In the defense of this restaurant, I’ve had perfectly delicious dinners with good service and reasonable room temperatures at Supper before. But thank god they didn’t name this restaurant “Brunch,” because it’s namesake sucks at 156 E. 2nd street. Don’t waste your time.

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Little Giant, on the corner of Orchard and Broome, seems to be titled self-referentially: “Little portions, Giant prices.” The good thing is that their food is pretty damn tasty.

Being a veggie, I haven’t extensively sampled their menu, but I can say with confidence that they know a thing or two about making a biscuit, their home made gravy is drool-worthy, and their Bloody Mary will make crawling out of bed on the weekend worth it.

The friendly wait staff happily replaced the sausage patty that typically accompanies their biscuit and gravy dish with a very tasty tomato slice which I feel was a worthy pairing for the poached egg and small side salad. If I had to be harsh about any part of the meal, it would be that the gravy and biscuit, while moist, were a slight bit on the salty side. Luckily, Little Giant gives each table their own decanter of water.

But on to the star of the show: the Bloody Mary. Little Giant’s rendition of everyone’s favorite early morning alcoholic beverage is a top contender for my favorites spot. Although they tend to mix up the accoutrement, you are guaranteed to have a tasty selection of crisp veggies to munch on while or after you consume the beverage. Spicy pickled string beans, regular and golden beets, and chunks of jicama made this a destination I would DEFINITELY recommend. Just remember to hit the ATM, their brunch is cash only.

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Noho Star. The restaurant’s name properly reflects the area’s fine cuisine which includes Two Boots, Gonzales y Gonzales (aka the neon sombrero), Wendy’s, and Subway. So, it came to no surprise that brunch at Noho consisted of underwhelming bloody marys and, adding insult to injury, an annoying clientele (children, tourists, and NYU freshmen) and food not worth the total bill.

While the bloody mary has perfected its form with a delicate balance of sauces and spices, Noho thought it’d be great to substitute its traditional tabasco/horseradish/rochestershire base with just lots of balsamic vinegar. Topped with a salad of chives, this drink’s flavors were more appropriate for bruschetta.

It baffles me that a restaurant could so terribly mess up a staple of east coast brunch. While the food was tolerable (ok, it wasn’t bad) and the service was prompt, they receive an epic FAIL for their inability to deliver on something so essential to brunch.