Brekkie and brunch spots in NYC
New York New York….the city that never sleeps AND has an unbelievable number of restaurants, cafes, bars etc
Everyone has their own agenda when it comes to a few days in the big apple but I thought it would be nice to see some foodie recommendations from my recent trip to give you a flavour of what is on offer. See below some of our favourite breakfast and brunch spots that we visited when we were there…
There is a fabulous brunch scene in the city so we literally only scratched the surface!
Tartinery
There are a few branches of Tarinery and it is pretty much what it says on the tin. Lots of things on fresh sourdough toast as well as traditional brekkie/brunch options like eggs, granola and porridge. They had all the usual coffees available with normal or plant based milks and also had plenty of smoothies, juices and soft drinks. This was a good, low(ish) cost option and catered for the whole party, the only downside for us was that we went to the Olympic Tower branch which was close to the main door to the tower so it kept opening and closing thus letting in a lot of cold air!
Friedmans
We went to Friedmans on day 2 as we were looking for somewhere that had a good selection of GF options. This was a really traditional, Jewish restaurant with a great variety of dishes all of which were available all day. Some of us had more breakfast-y options like yoghurt and granola and others opted for more lunch type options like burgers and steak. They did good coffee including plant based milks and decaf and the vibe was really local and buzzy. There are a few branches across the city and I would definitely recommend for a good value brunch, lunch or dinner.
La Grande Boucherie
La Grande Boucherie is a really instagrammable spot with incredible decor and waiters dressed in white shirts, waistcoats and bowties. As the name suggests, it felt very french and was really busy and vibrant. The breakfast menu runs until 11am and then they move in to the all day menu. We, once again, ordered from both menus and the portions were incredible! The french toast comes with 5 slices of thick toast, loads of fruit and yoghurt and plenty of syrup, definitely one to share and put in the middle of the table as a bit of a breakfast ‘dessert’. They then had all the usual egg based options, granola, fruit, yoghurt bowls and then savoury options including burgers, macaroni cheese and steaks. This was probably the place with the biggest portions and with so many options it worked for us to order quite a few different plates for sharing and then to pass them around. We actually went here to meet up with an old friend and therefore wanted it to be a bit of an occasion and it was a great choice for this.
The Smith
This was recommended to us by some local friends that we met up with for brunch on our penultimate morning. It was a really busy spot with loads of locals enjoying their Saturday brunch here; they definitely cram everyone in and its all a bit chaotic! We had a couple of mistakes on the order (incorrect coffees and an extra set of pancakes!) but all in all it was a really fun place to dine. Coffee was good and strong and again they had all the plant based milk options and decaf available. Food wise, their pancakes and the breakfast sandwich were the stars of the show and the portions were quite normal sized. They also had a great shackshuka which one of our party ordered. There are a few branches and I would definitely recommend booking as this was a great vibe and the food was yum.
Oliyo
This was quite a rogue choice. We went here on our final morning when we had checked out of the hotel and had an hour before our transfer. It was on the same road as our hotel and we had popped in a couple of times in the week for snacks and coffee so knew it had some good brunch options. It is a predominantly self service restaurant and they have SO MANY options! You can build your own hot breakfast with sausages, bacon, hash browns, beans etc all available at the buffet. They also have porridge (4 types with different milks/water), an incredible array of fruit, yoghurt, bircher muesli, acai bowls, cereal etc and plenty of vegan and gluten free options. There are then some stations where you can choose things to order such as quesadillas, different types of eggs, omlettes etc and these are made for you on the spot. There is a small canteen type dining area where you can choose to eat in but we saw plenty of people come in and take their brekkie away. It is also a small grocery store so you can pick up some fun snacks and drinks to take away for later as well. The only downside here was that the coffee wasn’t very nice - they have a proper coffee machine etc but no proper baristas therefore they don’t really know how to make lattes and cappucinos.
