Zengo (Washington, DC)

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*****

Anyone who knows me knows that I love brunch; breakfast foods, mixed with lunch foods, at a reasonable time of day (aka, not breakfast time) on weekends with delicious champagne drinks?  What is not to love?  Well, I am living in the right place apparently, because the DC Metro area is saturated with, and Richard Sandoval's Asian-fusion restaurant Zengo is a great example of how good brunch can be.  I went with a friend from school, and we both enjoyed ourselves, though there were a couple small hiccups.

The brunch menu is all-you-can-eat, and all-you-can-drink; what a great combination!  Drinks include standard and tequila-variant Bloody Marys, a sangria made with Sake, and four different Mimosas; you can hope back and forth between the offerings, or simply stick with one if you find one that you like.  The food includes three categories, all of which are "small plates" (an annoying trend that actually works for brunch):  "Ceviches/Sushi/Salads;" "Dim Sum & Antojitos;" and "Brunch Plates."  The list of dishes we ordered was, to say the least, extensive, and I did not take notes or anything, so combined with a few mimosas, my memories are not as crisp as they could be, but I can point out a few highlights, as well as the issues I saw.

To start with, I had the Guava Mimosa to start, and after a refill or two, I switched to the Traditional Mimosa.  The guava variety does not really taste like a mimosa, as it is much sweeter, and the alcohol is not strong enough to get much taste of it; on the other hand, the traditional, orange variety is quite boozy, just the way I like it!  As for the food, I have listed the dishes we ordered below, in in order of how they appear on the menu.

Angry Zengo Roll:  Tuna, avocado, and cucumber are the primary ingredients, with a little sauce dabbed on top, it was certainly far from traditional (and traditional is my preference, to be sure), but it was very tasty, and I finished the meal with two of these.  The fish was fresh, which is always the key.
Vegetarian Roll:  I hate vegetarian rolls, but this one was pretty decent; it was not simply some cucumber and carrot shavings wrapped in rice, but rather had grilled asparagus, red pepper, and even some mushroom, so it was quite tasty.
Edamame:  On the menu, it actually says "Edamame Salted," and holy crap, are they serious.  I love edamame, and I love salt, but this was maybe a bit of overkill with the sea salt.  Still tasty, though.
Bacon & Scrambled Egg Steamed Buns:  We ordered these first, and had to ask multiple times to get them, and I was really looking forward to them.  Sadly, they were...blah.  The buns were too dense, not the light and airy steamed buns I love, the egg was similar in texture (though admittedly not flavor) to the egg in a Dunkin' Donuts breakfast sandwich, and the bacon was barely there.  Highly not recommended.
Shrimp-Vegetable Potstickers:  Really tasty, but not a ton of shrimp flavor.  I would have preferred a bit more of a crust on the potstickers, maybe just another thirty seconds or so on the flattop, but otherwise, very good.
Angus Beef & Pork Meatballs:  Probably my favorite thing of the day, the meatballs were juicy, flavorful, and just incredibly tasty.  Highly, highly recommended.
Thai Chicken Empanadas:  Very tasty, crispy dough and tender filling, though I would not have said "Thai" was the dominant flavor profile.
Achiote-Hoisin Pork Arepas:  This was not an arepa, but was tasty; the pork especially was good, though it was just on top of the "arepa" which was dense and a little dry.
Lobster-Chipotle Grits:  Bad texture did nothing to ruin this ridiculously delicious dish; I love grits, regardless of the quality, and though the lobster did not come through that well, the chipotle did, and the chunks of bacon were just freaking amazing.  My second favorite dish.
Peking Duck Chilaquiles:  Why do chilaquiles keep disappointing me?!  Not nearly so bad as at The Brass Buckle back home, I had higher hopes this time, and while the duck was reasonably tasty, the overall dish was nothing to write home about.
Bacon Roasted Brussels Sprouts:  Apparently I like Brussels sprouts a lot now; who knew?  Pai Men Miyake may have been the first to really convince me, but they were certainly not the last, and these were very solid, tasty sprouts.  They may have been the slightest bit undercooked, but the crunch of the interior was quite pleasant.
Plantains:  Well, what is there to say; they were delicious, duh.  Platanos always are.  The sauces, a crema and a chipotle, were both cook, though I preferred the crema to the slight heat of the chipotle.
House Cured Bacon & Eggs:  Over-easy eggs always get the better of me when I try to make them, so when properly cooked I am always a bit impressed when they are well made, and these were.  The bacon, however, was too crispy for me, and less flavorful than I was expecting.  Nothing you could not get at any decent diner.

All in all, this was an expensive, but enjoyable, experience, one that I would repeat again, though because of its cost it would likely be a very, very rare thing.  I would recommend it, though with the caveat that while the service was pretty good, the kitchen was somewhat inconsistent.  Kudos to the concept though.

East Ender Bar & Kitchen (Portland, ME)

On my trip to Maine a couple weeks ago, I finished my trip with brunch at East Ender Bar & Kitchen with my sister and her boyfriend.  Located on Middle St. right next to Duckfat, it is a short walk from Commercial St. and is one of many good restaurants to open in the Old Port in the last few years.  We arrived fairly late for brunch, close to 1:00pm, as our first attempt at a restaurant was met with failure, so it was not too busy and we were seated immediately.  The brunch menu features a good mix of the classics (Eggs Benedict, a standard two eggs, meat, toast, etc option, and a burger for those more inclined to the lunch side of brunch) and some nice surprises (chicken and waffles, pulled pork with johnnycakes), though there are not many vegetarian options on the menu.

I went with the chicken and waffles, because...well, do I really have to explain this to anyone?  I mean, it's fried chicken on top of waffles.  And this was really good fried chicken, despite being boneless breasts; it was crisp, juicy, flavorful, with breading that stuck to the meat and never became soggy despite the delectable maple hot sauce crème fraîche sauce that doused it.   That sauce was amazing, creamy and slightly sweet, with just enough hot sauce to put a little fire into it, but never overwhelming anything at all.  The waffle part was great too, with a crispy exterior on the waffle and a soft, moist interior, that was perfectly cooked.  It was not super sweet, but had just enough to balance the hot sauce and the savory chicken.  All in all, this was one of the best dishes I've had for breakfast or brunch ever.  If not for all the other amazing options to try for brunch in Portland, I would probably go to this place every time I'm in town for a weekend; as it is, I will still certainly come back at some point.

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Prune (New York City, NY)

I first heard about Prune via a post on Keith Law's blog The Dish about Gabrielle Hamilton's memoir Blood, Bones & Butter, which he raved about.  His description, and several quotes from the book, made me want to immediately drive down to New York City and go to Prune.  Hamilton's philosophy is simple:  good, unpretentious, fresh food, and this ethos won Hamilton a James Beard Award in 2001 and 2011, as well as multiple additional nominations as Best Chef in New York City.  While getting a reservation for dinner can supposedly be difficult, brunch--served on weekends from 11:00am to 3:00pm--is first come, first served.  Luckily, less than two weeks after reading Keith's post, I was on my way to NYC to see a friend, and she very nicely agreed to accompany me to brunch.

We arrived a little before noon, and were told it would be an hour wait, so we decided to wander around the area a bit, returning after about 35 or 40 minutes, only to find that they had already called for us.  However, we were put right back on the list, and within the next few minutes were being seated at the bar.  The restaurant is tiny, with tables for maybe three dozen people, packed in pretty tightly, plus another ten or so at the small bar, which has bright magenta stools that goes with the rather eclectic look of the whole place.  The menu doesn't look like anything special, with mostly old favorites like the Monte Cristo sandwich, steak and eggs, and even huevos rancheros.  There are also some more creative and non-traditional options, such as spicy stewed chickpeas, egg "en cocotte," coddled egg with chicken, and even spaghetti a la carbonara and a sausage and oysters dish.  The drink menu includes a number of traditional and non-traditional brunch drinks, such as a variety of Bloody Marys, Mimosas, and the bizarre Chicago Matchbox, which includes homemade lemon vodka (I presume that means they take regular vodka and add the lemon flavor in house, rather than actually distilling the vodka), pickled Brussel's sprouts, baby white turnips, caperberries, green beans, and radishes, and is served with a chaser of my personal guilty pleasure beer, Red Stripe.  It sounded interesting, but not quite interesting enough to get one.

I went simple, with the Classic Eggs Benedict, my all time favorite breakfast dish, which was served with "potatoes rosti," which was really just a giant potato latke, albeit a very good one.  My friend


Eggs Benedict, Potatoes Rosti, and Mimosa, with pickled veggies in the background

ordered the Soft Scrambled Eggs, served "on the wet side" according to the menu, with fresh chopped parsley, bacon, potatoes rosti, and a toasted, buttered English muffin.  Since she is gluten intolerant, I was the happy recipient of her English muffin.  We also both ordered Mimosas, because...well, does that really need an explanation?

My Eggs Benedict was perfect; the Canadian bacon was not chewy, a common problem with it, and the eggs were perfectly cooked, spilling the runny yolk all over as soon as I cut into it, giving me something to dip the potatoes and my extra English muffin in, which was exactly what I was hoping for.  The hollandaise was light, but very tasty, and definitely homemade.  The potatoes rosti were crisp on the outside, slightly chewy on the inside, and delicious, though if I had to make a complaint it would be that they were a little under-seasoned; Julie added salt and pepper, but I just used the egg yolk to add flavor.  With a bit more salt, however, it would have been just about perfect, reminding me of eating latkes during Hanukkah as a child.  Julie was also very happy with her food, saying that though the eggs were cooked rather less than she was used to, she really enjoyed them.  The Mimosas were the perfect accompaniment, with good, though slightly pulpy (I hate pulp) orange juice and actually decent champagne.

At just under $47 for our meals, drinks, and a good tip (the bartender was fantastic) this was an exceptionally reasonable meal, especially by New York City standards.  The service was great, the restaurant beautiful, and the food was superb; I cannot recommend it enough.  It is also very vegetarian friendly if that's your thing.

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