When I dream of Brunch, I long for overcrowded, loud places with extreme waits and overpriced food. Why? It builds character and leaves you with a lasting impression. As a result, you generally expect more from the food and service.
Should the restaurant deliver, you brag about it to your friends and experience long lines on repeat visits. Should it fail, you caution others through flyers, posters, billboards, whatever means necessary to prevent them from making the same mistake.
Prune, located off Allen and Houston in the Lower East Side, is exactly this type of place. I’ve had my eye on its door for many months. One Sunday afternoon craving eggs, Bloody Mary’s, and coffee, I went. An hour 30 minutes later, my Brunch companion and I were seated.
I ordered Huevos Rancheros, baked eggs in tomato and chili sauce with black beans and avocado. My companion (with slight coaxing from myself and the waitress) ordered Spicy Stewed Chickpeas, butter-crumbed eggs with chickpeas served over flatbread.
What exactly is butter crumbed eggs you ask? Pure deliciousness. The more technical description is poached eggs covered in Prune’s own breadcrumb-like concoction.
Everything was really great. At the end of our meal, I ordered a Southwest Bloody Mary from Prune’s eclectic Bloody Mary menu. I asked the waitress to substitute tequila for another liquor I can tolerate (tequila makes me nauseous). It was very good.
Although I was disappointed that most of their other Bloody Mary options contained some form of meat or clam juice, I could not help being impressed at the large selection, each priced at $9. The unusually long wait was a small sacrifice to my above average dining experience at Prune.
The place is pricey, but I left with my stomach full, taste buds satisfied, and bank broke. Mission accomplished.
DAMAGE ~52
VERDICT: Go
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