We Do Brunch vs. We Have Brunch

SHOWDOWN!  Well, not really.  But have you noticed that some places are solid brunch places - they do brunch, they know brunch, they draw a brunch crowd, they have a brunch following, the works.  Other places, they have brunch.  They sell regular brunch dishes, but they are not too crowded.  They are not known for brunch.  They are not usually recommended to you as a brunch place.  These places have brunch because they are restaurants, and they can't afford to be closed. 

Today, I am focusing on "we have brunch" by telling you about my experience last weekend at place called Lillie's.  Are "we have brunch" places bad because they don't "do" brunch? No, not at all.  Some of these places are really cheap.  Lots of these places are more pub like so they have a good bar and you can eat while watching a game.  So as a category, each "we have brunch" place is different, and you have to judge for yourself.  Chances are you won't have a wait, and you could get food for pretty cheap, but sometimes the experience of it all is not that worth it.  Or, it is all fine, but it doesn't match the fun hustle of "we do brunch." Really, there is no way to pigeon hole these places.  We got the good, and we got the bad.  You have to try them out and decide for yourself.

Who: Me & Bf.
What: Brunch at Lillie's.
Where: 17th street between 5th and Union Square West. 
When: Last weekend.
Why: We wanted something cheap, close, and with Open Table points.  So we made a reservation.  We are trying to get to 2,000 points, and we have been stuck lately.

We walk in at 11, which is when Lillie's opens, and we were the first diners there.  The place is really cool looking.  The long bar looks magestic.  It almost looked like a pub in London - you could tell this was a place to hunker down for the night and drink beer, but it was far from a dive.  The bartender just looks at us, as if to say "there is no one here fool so just find a table and sit down."  So I said "we have an opentable reservation."  She said "you have a reservation?"  No, I'm lying.  Yes I have a damn reservation.  Sometimes I think these restaurants forget that even an empty restaurant that you obviously don't need a reservation for does not mean that I am going to just walk in - I want the open table points!  I do it for the points.  Duh.  She tells us the hostess is not here yet, and I said ok well make sure we get the points (which we did)

No one escorts us to a table.  We understand we have to find somewhere to sit.  We pick a table - all of which are high tops.  We look over the menu, which we had obviously looked over before selecting the restaurant.  Most of the dishes are $10 with a mimosa, bloody  mary, or draft beer.  That is a good deal!  First, we order drinks.  Alex orders a beer, and I order a mimosa.  They were nice. I like mimosas, but I do appreciate places that offer a beer.  Sometimes it just goes better with what you ultimately select as your entree.

On to entree selection.  Alex settles on the "Irish Breakfast" - fried eggs, black and white pudding, potatoes, fried tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon, sausages, toast.  Damn.  That is a lot of food. I ordered an omelet with spinach, mushrooms, and gruyere.  I asked for egg whites too.  I have not done that in awhile - I usually don't because restaurants charge you $2.00.  Ok, ok, I can shell out the 2 bucks.  But sometimes, if the omelet is already $13, I do not want to spend $2 more just to get egg whites, because at that point, I would rather upgrade to a better $15 brunch dish.  Done whineing about paying extra for egg whites.  Well, maybe not.  It is annoying.  I want less fat and cholesterol and you are charging me more for that?!  Diatribe on expensive healthy food and highlights of great cheap healthy food is for another day. 

Food arrives.  Hmmm.  This omelet is really yellow.  Like egg yolks.  These are not egg whites.  Egg white FAIL.  I call the waitress over and I tell her - these are not egg whites.  She said "o you are right, they are not."  Thanks Sherlock.  I send them back.  I have a few potatoes off Alex's dish.    His dish was decent.  The sausage was delicious, and the pudding cakes too.  The bacon slices were really wide.  The eggs were ok, but not excellent.  All in all, it was certainly a lot of different types of food, but it wasn't an overwhelming amount.  $10 seemed fair. 

So, Alex has about 1 egg, half a piece of toast and a sausage link left by the time my dish comes out.  I know that they had to make a whole new omelet, but it was pretty long wait and I had to just sit there and watch Alex eat.  Not amused.

My omelet comes out and it was pretty good.  The gruyere was a nice touch.  One of the reasons why I was excited for the omelet is because a lot of "we do brunch" places include 2 omelet fillings, and all other fillings cost additional.  Lillie's includes 3 fillings.  I think three is the appropriate number.  You have three categories of fillings - meat, cheese, vegetables.  I might want one of each.  Or usually, I like two vegetables and 1 cheese.  And I want my omelet to have color.  If I only get 2 fill ins, and I pick a white cheese and spinach, it basically just white, yellow and green on the plate.  If you get three options, you can get spinach, tomatoes, and bacon, and it will look so much more appealing and exciting!  But I am sure "we do brunch" places have to keep costs in mind, and it may not be cost effective to have 3 if people are choosing more "expensive" fill-ins. 

The potatoes were good too.  I kind of wish it had toast or a side salad with it.  I like my brunch to have 3 components, unless it is a sandwich, in which case 2 components will suffice.  O well.  No toast.  All in all, for $10, it was decent. 

I see that the table next to us ordered burgers, and they looked excellent.  I realized at a place like this, that maybe is not so well known for brunch, it may be best to stick to their usual lunch items, that they cook frequently and probably have a better handle on.  Just something to keep in mind for next time.  We were not super full, so we got a piece of cake for $7, and this piece of cake was my favorite part of the meal.  It was delicious, filling, beautiful presentation.  It really kicked the entrees in the butt.  It was a sweet ending to the meal.  All in all, we each spent about $15 dollars total, which was nice treat to our wallets, to be able to get an entree, a drink, and split a dessert. 

Lillie's may not be a great brunch spot because they don't do brunch, but the decor was cool, the food was fine, and I did not shell out alot of money.  I also liked the place enough to consider going back, but going to the bar. All in all, you may not be rushing out of your home to try this brunch place after my so-so review, but I hope you will look for these characteristics in other "we have brunch" places.  Is the service good?  Are you getting a deal?  Is it a good place to watch a football game?  Or is it even better than your regular brunch spots because it is underrated and not crowded? 

http://lilliesnyc.com/HOME.html

What brunch places have YOU been to that have brunch, but don't "do" brunch, and how was it?

Have a delicious day!
NYCMenuGirl