Brunch Anyone? (And, Why No Hashbrowns in the Slope?)

username: * · December 2006

For your consideration, a (sort-of) new topic and a pointed question from an outsider (me).

One, where are your favorite places in the neighborhood to get brunch? And by "brunch" I mean a late breakfast, some time between 11 and whenever you eat dinner), that is served with alcohol. All suggestions and comments (and even rants about people who can't go at least one meal without having a drink) would be welcome.

And, two, what is it with this town that you can't get hashbrowns? And by "hashbrowns" I mean fried, shredded potatoes. ("Shredded" like the packages of cheese at the store.) It's enough to make a person nostalgic for diners back in F.O.C. (and to make half-hearted attempts to make them at home). Does any place in the Slope serve them? And does anyone know any good techniques for making them at home?

sarajean8 · December 2006

OLEA (Fort Greene)- great food, excellent ambiance

2nd Street Cafe (on 7th ave) if you can stand the wait

Moutarde (on 5th ave)

Tavern on Dean (Prospect Heights)-- great deal and large portions

Dizzy's on 9th st & 8th ave (usually has a long wait as well)

I'm looking forward to trying NoNO Kitchen's brunch.

erikka · December 2006

No hashbrowns anywhere

and trust, me, I've been looking for the last ten years.

pitu · December 2006

I don't go to Brunch that often for a variety of reasons
but last week I went to Miriam (Fifth Ave on the Flatbush end)
It was pretty great, in a classic brunch menu way with some *different* stuff like burekas.
Potatoes were not shredded. Pancakes came with a bowl of fruit, nice touch.
Sociology footnote: each and every table was filled with a biracial couple. Whoever thinks the Slope isn't diverse should have brunch at Miriam's.

Beso makes good brunch too...absurdly crowded.

Moutarde was nice, but it's been a couple of years.

Stone Park has the most delicious brunch by far. It is also the most expensive. Sausage biscuits with greens...bluefish cakes...fancy stuff.

bklyntransplant · December 2006

Stone Park makes a short-rib hash that is so, so excellent for getting you through the morning (or early afternoon) after the night before.

alafairnadia · December 2006

making hashbrowns isn't hard. the trick is salting them well and binding them together with a bit of egg and corn starch.

anonymous · December 2006

Beso has hash browns! Well, sort of... the potatoes are shredded, but a little crunch. They're good though.

whyfi · December 2006

Yeah, I've been looking for proper hash browns since my arrival in NYC, too... I still haven't gotten down home made hash browns... what kind of potato works best?

tuckpendleton · December 2006

Would like to second the votes for Miriam. However, the secret is out...go before 11am (which I know is against your original post) or after 3pm. They are also good for a chill dinner.

If you go to Moutarde or Stone Park, be prepared to have your patience SEVERELY tested by the service (or lack thereof). My experience with Moutarde was great food, lousy service, and Stone Park was lousy top to bottom. But others clearly differ.

There is also a pretty good diner on 7th and 9th street, just a couple of blocks from the Barnes and Noble whose name escapes me.

idlewild · December 2006

Obviously you haven't been to the McD's on 9th Street between 4th and 5th Aves. They make wonderful deep fried McHashbrowns. They even come in their own paper pocket.

captain salty · December 2006

applewood is awesome.

stone park is awesome as well.

bar toto is always on point.

dizzy's is overrated, overpriced, and overcrowded.

Tom's Restaurant in Prospect Heights is the bomb, just pray there isn't a huge line.

laura · December 2006

Idlewild wrote: Obviously you haven't been to the McD's on 9th Street between 4th and 5th Aves. They make wonderful deep fried McHashbrowns. They even come in their own paper pocket.

But they don't have McMargaritas. Or McMosas.

I've been searching for hash browns with brunch for years too.

idlewild · December 2006

Actually, even though I'm not a fan of Beast, they do have a decent brunch. If you want hash browns you could bring in some from the McD's across the street on Pacific and Vanderbilt.

username: * · December 2006

Idlewild wrote: Obviously you haven't been to the McD's on 9th Street between 4th and 5th Aves...

I was aware

of McDonald's, but vowed once I moved here to eschew nationally available fast food for good. Not for my health, mind you, but to avail myself of the local eats. (I may have to amend that policy and smuggle some hashbrowns into some of the places mentioned.)

Addendum: The menu for Flatbush Farm lists hashbrowns, but I have not been there to verify their quality. Maybe next weekend. ...Can a longtime resident weigh in on this: Is this dearth of hashbrowns, what, a cultural thing? An East Coast thing? A New York thing? Could I get them, for instance, in Boston or Philadelphia ...or Islip? Across the Midwest and Plains, for instance, diners often offer a choice of hashbrowns or the type of "home fries" you get around these parts. It kind of freaks me out that I don't see them on menus here.

Am I a has-been for wanting to eat hashbrowns?

carnivore · December 2006

The hash browns at Flatbush Farm were quite tasty (although I am speaking as a 3rd-generation Brooklynite, so I may lack hashbrown credibility in your eyes).

willregistersoon · December 2006

I think this is a regional thing. Homefries or hashbrowns here, tend to usually be potato pieces, cooked for a long time, with an occasional bit of onion and/or pepper pieces mixed in. This is how I like them and how I think most diners and restaurants serve them in the NYC area. The key to them being good is there has to be some crispiness. I always ask for them extra crispy when I order.

I usually associate the shredded style with places like Denny's. There is something like this you can find in most supermarkets - its like Swiss-style homefries or something - and it comes in a pouch. I've tried it before at home and it comes out really good.

laura · December 2006

"Potato pieces, cooked for a long time, with an occasional bit of onion and/or pepper pieces mixed in" are fine, but they are homefries, not hash browns. It's not a difference of "style," it's two different things.

pitu · December 2006

laura wrote: "Potato pieces, cooked for a long time, with an occasional bit of onion and/or pepper pieces mixed in" are fine, but they are homefries, not hash browns. It's not a difference of "style," it's two different things.

thank you for the clarification

I bet you have to find a place that has Swiss roesti :roll:
Yes, that's right: in NYC, you need an invitation to the Swiss embassy to get anything resembling hash browns.
The MacDonalds things are more like tater tots. Ahh, tater tots. Better in memory than actuality...

WhyFi, I think you'll be wanting older bakers for the home version - you need the starch. New potatoes are too wet.

willregistersoon · December 2006

laura wrote: "Potato pieces, cooked for a long time, with an occasional bit of onion and/or pepper pieces mixed in" are fine, but they are homefries, not hash browns. It's not a difference of "style," it's two different things.

I agree with that definition but I don't think the terminology is strictly adhered to around here. I think many places use homefries and hashbrowns interchangably. Theres an entry on Wikipedia about it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_browns

Oh and that Swiss thing is apparently called Rosti:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rösti

idlewild · December 2006

I've only known homefries as the type of taters you get at Tom's, The Usual, Junior's, etc, and hashbrowns as the string potatoes that are pan fried in oil and resemble a patty or a shredded mess. The homefries I had in Milwaukee were the same as I have here. We need more tater tots btw.

laura · December 2006

willregistersoon wrote: I think many places use homefries and hashbrowns interchangably.

Well, that sort of thing must be stopped!

Idlewild wrote: We need more tater tots btw.

Oh, we do! I luurrrv tater tots.

willregistersoon · December 2006

I had tater tots for breakfast - from Burger King. They were soggy and tasted old. Blech. Long live tater tots though!

idlewild · December 2006

Gotta go Ore Ida my friend.

brookfetish · December 2006

This sucks because I've lived here for well over a year now and not once have I realized that I've been going sans hashbrowns...until now. (Like Username *, I am a Midwest transplant.)

Perhaps it's a case of you don't know what you've got until you KNOW it's gone.

I will say I am quite happy that I can get grits at a large number of establishments.

Brunch:
-Beast (Prospect Heights) has a good one;
-Tavern on Dean (PH) isn't too bad - good crowd at the bar;
-Moutard was "okay" from what I remember.

In Manhattan, I like Cafa Habana.

Non-alcohol breakfasts aren't as fun, but The Usual (PH) is good and very inexpensive. Plus, they have grits.

joanjettofarc · December 2006

Moutarde was extremely disappointing when I went for brunch a few months ago. Will most likely never return.

mixergirl · December 2006

Long live tater tots though!

Don't want to make anyone too jealous, but I know where the best tater tots in NYC can be found. Try any of our lovely Dept. of Education cafeterias. Seriously...most of the food the kids eat is junk, but the tater tots (at least at my school) are wonderfully browned and crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked on the inside. Now, if only they had real ketchup to go along with them

.

laura · December 2006

Ketchup with Tater Tots? Not in MY book.

pitu · December 2006

mixergirl wrote:
Long live tater tots though!
Don't want to make anyone too jealous, but I know where the best tater tots in NYC can be found. Try any of our lovely Dept. of Education cafeterias. Seriously...most of the food the kids eat is junk, but the tater tots (at least at my school) are wonderfully browned and crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked on the inside. Now, if only they had real ketchup to go along with them .

What is this fake ketchup they are feeding our children?
Now that it can't be considered a vegetable, have they completely given up?

jayce · December 2006

JoanJettofArc wrote: Moutarde was extremely disappointing when I went for brunch a few months ago. Will most likely never return.

I'll echo that. Completely non-plussed. I can make comparable at home, minus the tight seating and snootiness. The place looked schmantzy, but I was completely underwhelmed.

whyfi · December 2006

mixergirl wrote:
Long live tater tots though!
Don't want to make anyone too jealous, but I know where the best tater tots in NYC can be found. Try any of our lovely Dept. of Education cafeterias. Seriously...most of the food the kids eat is junk, but the tater tots (at least at my school) are wonderfully browned and crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked on the inside. Now, if only they had real ketchup to go along with them .

The tater tots at Whole Foods are actually really good, for ones that you make at home... they don't call 'em tater tots, though - too pedestrian.

Pitu wrote: WhyFi, I think you'll be wanting older bakers for the home version - you need the starch. New potatoes are too wet.

Great! We usually have new potatoes - I can get 'em to turn out on one side, but the other side is always a letdown... maybe I should be making these on cast iron - our skillets are good, but I think that they're not retaining as much heat as the cast iron would... :-k

anywho... :oops:

alafairnadia · December 2006

WhyFi wrote: [quote=Pitu]WhyFi, I think you'll be wanting older bakers for the home version - you need the starch. New potatoes are too wet.

Great! We usually have new potatoes - I can get 'em to turn out on one side, but the other side is always a letdown... maybe I should be making these on cast iron - our skillets are good, but I think that they're not retaining as much heat as the cast iron would... :-k

anywho... :oops:

I argue corn starch as the answer to all evil. with a bit of egg, it becomes a lovely binding material, making your hash browns vaguely like a cross between a bleeding mass of potato shreds and a patty worthy of mcgoodness.

best hash browns evar: donna's in bumblefuck wyoming.

Brunch Anyone? (And, Why No Hashbrowns in the Slope?)

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