Sunday, July 22, 2012

Brunch in NoLita - Cafe Habana

If the place looks the same, smells the same, tastes the same, feels the same and is still the same way completely full 3 years later - they must be doing something right!

I welcome you to Cafe Habana in New York. An amazing place to have brunch or lunch or breakfast or dinner. It is very close to where I used to live in NY so we went there as often as we could.


From the outside


As the name implies they serve Cuban food. I cannot comment on the ethnicity of it as I have never been to Cuba. However, the food at Cafe Habana makes me want to go to Cuba. We have had pretty much everything on the menu and if you can only make it there once, I would recommend the corn (which I just learned from their website is Mexican style) and the cocktails. Everything else is the icing on the cake. 


Food






Eating corn




The place itself is relaxed, loud and messy in the best possible way. It's ALIVE! and when you are there, you feel ALIVE. I would not go there in my evening gown but 'just off the beach' wear. Really, if this place was not in the middle of the concrete jungle they could as well lift it and place it just next to a beach and it would fit there beautifully.


Now - as usual, a picture is worth a thousand words (especially if the writer is me...) so here are some more:










Highly, highly recommended!!!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Brunch in Brooklyn: Vinegar Hill House

I would have never found it if it was not for M-L. There is no sign outside and I had not heard of it before. Lucky for us that our favourite local knew where to go. We also timed our arrival perfectly as we got the last free table and suddenly after us there was a long line of people wanting to come in to this wonderful place. As it is mainly a walk-in restaurant then timing is everything!




I said Wonderful? Yes. I thought so. It was a lovely mixture of French and Italian and American and being in your friend's summerhouse. The place itself is small with small tables and little space between tables. Luckily still enough space that you are not forced to hear every word the other table says. (About this later in another post). The interior design looks like someone went to the local flea market and bought a whole lot of things they liked and then found a place for each and every one of these things. I liked the interior but completely loved the garden that I saw in the back (on my way to the toilet). Had we known about the garden beforehand we would have probably asked to be seated there. Next time...

I also liked, scrap that, loved the service. They were kind and helpful and not at all in a fake way. They were accommodating to people coming in who clearly had had a late night before as well as families with babies. Somehow, smoothly, they fit us all in so that the overall atmosphere was such that I really did not want to leave.

Now, for the food and drinks:

As we got there around...hmmmm....13 to have breakfast we started off of course with a couple of mimosas. Delicious.



Then I had an 'Sunny duck egg': egg on toast and salad with spicy sauce which was quite frankly amazing and the duck meat hidden below was like a trying to get the picture at the bottom of your plate when you were a child. The pleasure of finally getting to it was truly satisfactory:



We were way too full for dessert, but decided to try this drink everyone seemed to be having:


And even though it looks cool and is served in a huge plastic cup I strongly advise against it. It was disgusting (sorry). But really. My best guess is that this serves as a hangover drink, for which it would be quite perfect. However, with no hangover...stay clear!

Highly recommended if you are in Brooklyn and need a place for a lovely brunch!

Check out their menus and info on their website