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: $$-$$$

Last weekend was finally sunny and beautiful, and we wanted to find a brunch spot with outdoor seating so we could bring the pup with us. After a quick Google search, we found out that The Blind Pig offers an all you can drink brunch on Sat & Sun from 11am to 4pm, and is fully equipped with outdoor seating. Let me start by saying that if you are coming here to drink, then don’t bother coming at all because the mimosas included in the all you can drink special are utterly watered down. But, the food on the other hand was awesome! The atmosphere was also great on this particular day, as it just happened to be the same day as an Arsenal soccer match. Apparently, The Blind Pig is the watering hole of choice for local New York fans!

I ordered the Eggs Benedict off the brunch menu, and although it did not state that it contained meat (so be careful vegetarians!), it arrived with thick cut chunks of juicy ham underneath the eggs. What a great touch! The waffle fries they were served with were crispy and perfectly seasoned. I can never resist a good french fry!

My fiance (who accidentally deleted the photo!) ordered from the regular menu and got the Macaroni and Cheese, made with 4 cheeses, bacon, and breadcrumbs. He also asked them to put jalapenos in, but instead they brought them out on the side. Regardless, the mac and cheese was PERFECT and we finished every bite!

Unfortunately, we had to keep our dog Mocha on the other side of the enclosure, which she was extremely unhappy about. If you have a fussy dog like ours who wants to sit at your feet then this is not the place to bring them!

The Blind Pig
233 East 14th Street
New York, NY 10003-4113
(212) 209-1573
Website
Price: $$