My Life in Meals

You’ve probably heard about all you can drink brunches, but an all you can drink dinner?!

Welcome to Piola in Union Square, a large Italian eatery where on Wednesday nights ladies can have unlimited house wine (red or white) with any entrée after 8pm.  As you can imagine it’s full of groups of girls from NYU (which was my friends and I just a few years ago), as well as those long graduated (which is us now!).

They have an enormous selection of specialty pizzas, as well as a more limited menu of salads and pastas. The food is consistently good, not life changing or anything - but you’re obviously not coming here for the food!

On our last visit here, we ordered two pizzas and a pasta to share between three of us. I’ve tried a number of their pizzas over the years and I have never gotten a bad one. The Penne Rosate pasta (pictured above), with smoked salmon, tomato sauce, cream and parsley is my favorite pasta on the menu, but the gnocchi is very good as well.

Mareverde Pizza - Shrimp, brie cheese, arugola, tomato sauce and mozzarella (pictured above).

Ortomisto Pizza - Fresh tomatoes, eggplant, spinach, sweet peppers, zucchini, broccoli, tomato sauce and mozzarella (pictured above).

Piola runs all sorts of other gimmicky nightly specials like all you can eat gnocchi night on the 29^th of each month, or all you can eat pizza night on Sunday evenings. Check out all their specials and promotions here.

I highly recommend you plan your next ladies night here! It gets pretty packed, so make a reservation for a guaranteed table with minimal amount of wait time!

Piola
48 East 12th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 777-7781
Website
Price: $$

Kittichai, a Thai restaurant located in the Thompson Hotel, has one of the best all you can drink brunch deals out there. Compared to all the other places in the city (there must be close to 100 now) that offer these bottomless brunches, Kittichai is definitely the most upscale and imaginative.

This year for my birthday, twelve of us dined outside the hotel restaurant in their beautifully draped summertime cabanas. To drink they offer you the option of unlimited lychee bellinis, bloody mary’s or blood orange mimosas. The bloody mary’s were a MUST have even if that’s not your drink of choice. They were perfectly made and had a real kick! The waitress was really great about refilling our drinks often and definitely not stingy - everyone had their fair share of drinks for the afternoon!

Here’s what we got to eat:

Asian Five Spice French Toast withThai basil and fruit compote.   

Kaffir Lime Leaf Pancake with soufflélemongrass butter.      

Eggs Benedicttopped with penang curry hollandaise.  
   

Kittichai Omelette stuffed with thai sour sausage and jumbo lump crab.



Kittichai Pad Thaiwith shrimp, garlic chive and peanuts.

All in all, the dishes were unique and delicious and I would definitely come back again (if only for the amazing bloody mary’s!). I also especially loved the yellow curry potatoes that came with the egg dishes.

They were even nice enough to put together an awesome birthday dessert plate with an assortment of goodies!

Kittichai
60 Thompson St.
New York, NY 10014
212-219-2000
Website
Price: $$$

Have you ever had South African food? Me neither. In fact, I didn’t (and probably still don’t) even really know what constitutes as South African food. I came across Braai on Wined and Dined’s trusty list of all you can drink brunch spots in the city. The menu looked interesting, and I am always up for trying new things!

This place is really a hidden gem. It’s small, but fully equipped with vaulted reed-thatch ceilings and tree trunk lined walls, making you feel like you have escaped into an African Oasis. The “mimosas” included in the all you can drink special were actually made with pomegranate juice instead of OJ. They were awesome, and I love the glasses they were served in! They also start you off with some scones for the table with butter and apricot jelly. I’m not generally a jelly fan but this was really fresh and tasted homemade.

Everyone’s food was really really good. I wish I had tried South African cuisine ages ago! Here’s what we got:

The Fish Parcel consisted of deep fried fish and calamari served with slapchips in vineger. The calamari was huge and the fish was nicely seasoned, although it could have been slightly more crispy. Nonetheless, still delicious! It was even served in a newspaper, like they do at authentic fish and chip spots in London.

The Mini Braii Burgers, consisted of two mini lamb burgers topped with grilled shitake mushrooms and caramelized onions. Perfectly cooked medium and delicious toppings.

Ostrich Benedict, which consisted of sliced ostrich, poached eggs, served on english muffins with hollandaise sauce. I had never tried ostrich before, and expected it to be very tough and gamey but this was actually very tender. A unique twist on a classic dish!

Braai
329 West 51st Street
New York, NY 10019-6422
(212) 315-3315
Website
Price: $$-$$$

For Mother’s Day this year we took our mom to my all time favorite brunch spot, Essex Restaurant in the Lower East Side. They have a great pre-fixe menu, which includes 3 bloody marys, mimosas or screwdrivers. My biggest word of advice for this restaurant would be to never come with out a reservation. Every weekend - regardless of it being a holiday or not - it is utterly packed, and you will be waiting all afternoon for a table.  Another word of advice - like most of its LES surroundings, its also utterly “hipster”.  I jokingly asked my brother-in-law why he didn’t break out the skinny jeans for the occasion!

We started with some bloody mary’s, mimosas, and the complimentary kaiser rolls. Skip the bread and save your calories, it’s cold and nothing special! Main entrees pictured below. They were all delicious, although we voted that next time we would replace the CEO out for something different!

The CEO – chorizo, scrambled eggs & onions served with corn tortillas.

Half-Pound Angus Burger & Fries, topped with a fried egg and jalapenos.

Mexican Matzo Brei – scrambled eggs, tortilla crisps, monterey jack & avocado with black beans & pico de gallo.

The Deep South – chicken fried steak with biscuits, eggs & sausage gravy.

Overall, Essex is my favorite brunch in the city for two reasons. First, it has awesome food, and second it includes drinks! What more can you ask for? Just remember to make a reservation on OpenTable at least one week ahead of time (if not more), they fill up fast!

Essex Restaurant
120 Essex St
New York, 10002
(212) 533-9616
Website
Price: $$

Over the past two years, New York City has seen an enormous amount of All You Can Drink (AYCD) brunch spots pop up. I have taken it upon myself to try many of them - hey who doesn’t like unlimited mimosas with the company of your friends on a lazy Sunday afternoon!? Here is a great list of AYCD brunch spots compiled by Wined and Dined (some of my favorites include Essex, HK Cafe, PS 450 and Bondi Road).

This weekend I was lucky enough go to Barbounia, a Mediterranean restaurant located in Flatiron/Gramercy, for their AYCD brunch. Add on $15 to any entree on the menu and get a never ending flow of Champagne cocktails with your meal. I had been to Barbounia before for a lunchtime office holiday party and was pretty underwhelmed, especially since I had heard good reviews from those who have eaten there before for both brunch and dinner. Brunch however did not disappoint, the dishes were flavor packed with Mediterranean and Greek spices, the service was excellent, and the decor is breathtaking with its high arched ceilings and long oak carved tables.

We started with a few appetizers to share amongst the whole group. First came the platter of five spreads: hummus, tzatziki, roasted eggplant, taramousalata, and spicy feta, as well as a plate of falafel. This falafel was not your average run of the mill street cart variety, the ingredients were extremely fresh and they were perfectly crisped on the outside and moist and flavorful on the inside. Additionally, alongside your appetizers they provide you with huge complementary loaves of thick and buttery bread, almost comparable to an Indian style naan. This bread proved to be the perfect accompaniment to our assortment of Mediterranean spreads.

I wasn’t able to try everyone’s food, but here are the three dishes I was able to attack! First was my own order, the Crab Benedict, which consisted of jumbo lump crab meat, spinach & truffle oil on top of an english muffin, served with a side of home fries. It was a lot more fishy (both smelling and tasting) then I had expected, which put me off a bit. Let’s just say it was not my favorite dish of the afternoon.

Next was the Moroccan eggs with lamb, which arrived in a sizzling skillet filled with sunny-side up eggs in tomato sauce, lamb, paprika & garlic. This seems to be one of their signature dishes and I would really recommend it to anyone who has brunch here. The lamb was perfectly tender and the tomato sauce on the eggs had a bit of a kick (For all those who are vegetarian, this dish is also served with out the lamb).

Last was the Barbounia burger , the all-star of the three dishes. The burger was made with Black Angus beef and topped with pancetta, Vermont cheddar cheese & harissa aioli. It was perfectly cooked - extremely moist, juicy and flavorful. The fries that accompanied it were thin cut, crispy, and perfectly seasoned. For burger lovers, this is a must try!

We finished off the feast with a dessert to share amongst the group, Apple Crisps, served with maple ice cream & caramel sauce. Not really the most adventurous thing on the dessert menu - but nonetheless this classic was done right, satisfied everyone’s sweet tooth and was the perfect end to the meal.

Barbounia
250 Park Ave South
New York, NY 10003
(212) 995-0242
Website
Price: $$$