I like brunch.

Prune

Restaurant Information:

54 East 1st Street  

New York, NY 10003-9313 
Get Directions 

(212) 677-6221  

prunerestaurant.com

Service* 7/15 or 46.67%

  • Hostess(5 points) (N/A)

  • Promptness(3/5 points)

    I was seated and given a menu almost as soon as possible. The food was served shortly there after and with out much ado.

  • Alertness(2/5 points)

    I don’t think this waitress cared at all about her job. The place was dead as could be with maybe five tables for her to look over in the entire restaurant. She spent more time talking with the bartender about some guy she just started dating than with all of her customers combined. She didn’t even attempt to refill my water or coffee. Personally, I hope the relationship works out, because her job isn’t.

  • Friendliness(2/5 points)

    I think the waitress could have been friendly, but her indifference soured the experience. The chefs looked like they really enjoyed what they were doing and would have been open to talking if they had the time. I think the bartender definitely gets points here.


Food and Drink 15/20 or 75%

  • Price(3/5 points)

    For the quality of drink and the excellent presentation you got what you paid for here. Otherwise, I felt like I got ripped off completely and there was more style than substance for what I got.

  • Quality of Food(3/5 points)

    The food itself was quite tasty. I had their version of traditional New Orleans meal, Eggs Sardou. The confectioners sugar slipped into the hot sauce gently and mixed well for an excellent addition to the dish flavor-wise. It all went downhill from there. There are a few unspoken rules of brunch and serving poached eggs with bread is one of them; unfortunately, the chef was unaware of this rule. After my eggs had been popped and the artichoke hearts, eaten, the plate turned into a pool of yoke, sweet hot sauce, and little else. It was served with three small fries—honestly, they were there primarily for decorative purposes. The normal way this dish is served is over creamed spinach, but their version left that out completely. If they had included the creamed spinach and provided a proper spoon, this dish would have been executed much better.

  • Quality of Beverage(4/5 points)

    The coffee was good, not great. However, it was served with individual sugar cubes, both raw and refined. Cream was on the side in a small pitcher, per usual. The water was served in a tiny glass.

  • Presentation(5/5 points)

    Everything really did look quite delicious. I don’t think it would be possible for them to have done a better job on presentation. It’s so disappointing that the rest didn’t fare as well.

Decor and Space 14/20 or 70%

  • Cleanliness(4/5 points)

    Everything was quite clean. I was impressed by the spotlessness of the tables and counter tops. All of my dishes looked brand new, save my flatware.

  • Theme(3/5 points)

    I don’t think this place knows what it wants to be. Half of it screams Parisian cafe, half of it mumbles old Americana. I particularly love the bench on the side wall and the use of mirrors near the ceilings. I would kill for that bench.

  • Adequate Seating(4/5 points)

    I want to give this place a higher rating for their use of seating. The layout is superb, but the size of this place is just too small. It needs to move to a much larger space desperately.

  • Location(3/5 points)

    I thought about giving this a higher score because of it’s incredible closeness to the subway stop at second avenue. Then, I remembered Joe Doe was right across the street, does a far better job with everything Prune claims to do, isn’t pretentious, and actually likes their customers. Just go to Joe Doe, you’ll have a better time.


Bonus(5 points)

One point for serving a ginger treat with the check.

Total Score 36/55 with bonus 37/55 or 67.27%

*The caveat to this is that I visited on a Tuesday afternoon. Trying to get into this place on a weekend is a nightmare and should be avoided completely.

Penelope

Restaurant Information:

159 Lexington Avenue  

New York, NY 10016-8154 
Get Directions 

(212) 481-3800    

penelopenyc.com


Service 8/20 or 40%

  • Hostess(2/5 points)
There were two hostesses: one completely worthless, the other very helpful.  The worthless one was the first one I interacted with and she told me that the wait time was going to be a hour and a half!  I had her put my name down and went back out side to wait for my friend.  I entered maybe fifteen minutes later and was told I could be seated immediately.  Turn out, they hadn’t been maintaining their list very well.
  • Promptness(2/5 points)
We were asked almost immediately after sitting what we wanted to eat.  Our food and drinks came in a timely manner.  However, the waitress did forget to bring the side of bacon that was ordered.
  • Alertness(1/5 points)
This place is a mad house.  They need either more waiters or more people working on refilling drinks.  I think I got my water refilled once with out asking.  Coffee I had to ask for another one.
  • Friendliness(3/5 points)
Every one we interacted with seemed fairly friendly.  I wouldn’t say anything would push me to think otherwise in either direction.


Food and Drink  14/20 or 70%

  • Price(4/5 points)
This was going to get a normal 3/5, because their brunch pre-fix meal is about what I would expect. Then I remembered I ordered a side of bacon and what I got was a mini-mountain of bacon for $4.75.
  • Quality of Food(4/5 points)
We had the pumpkin waffles and the Nutella French toast with a side of bacon.  The pumpkin waffles were like an autumn explosion in your mouth.  The strawberries were probably some of the best I’ve ever had.  I think the Nutella French toast didn’t wow me at first, then I realized they had put the Nutella IN the bread.  I think the food here is definitely worth visiting again, but hopefully I forget about all the other negatives or get there early enough to enjoy the meal more.
  • Quality of Beverage(2/5 points)
The coffee tasted pretty bad.  The OJ was fresh but served in a mini glass.  I really think they should work on their coffee.  The other beverages they served though looked quite tasty so this could be an issue of bad on the basics, but good on the extravagant.
  • Presentation(4/5 points)
The food was carefully positioned on each plate and decorated accordingly.  Even the fruits were nicely arranged.  The apple slices arranged on the waffles was a delightful touch. 

Decor and Space 9/20 or 45%

  • Cleanliness(3/5 points)
Everything was about as clean as I would expect.
  • Theme(2/5 points)
I don’t think there really is a theme to this place.  It just looked kind of blah to me.  To add to the madness, it was loud.  I have very good hearing and I couldn’t hear the person sitting across from me.  If they worked on the acoustics of the place, it might be a more enjoyable meal.  Honestly, I couldn’t wait to get out of here and on to the NYC streets where I could understand the conversation I was having.
  • Adequate Seating(2/5 points)
There are far too many tables and not enough space to handle it.  We had to slide our table over several times to let people out of their spots.
  • Location(2/5 points)
It’s a few block from the 6 line, but this area is basically dead.  You’re not going to really want to look out the windows to see anything but buildings.  Additionally, the type of people that visit here looked to be mainly couples in their 40s wearing gym clothes, or groups of single girls trying to out dress each other but put no effort into hiding their hangovers.

Bonus(5 points)

None.

Total Score 31/60, or 51.67%

Enid’s

Restaurant Information:

560 Manhattan Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11222-3913
Get Directions

(718) 349-3859 * approximate times

enids.net

Map:
View Larger Map

Service 9/20 or 45%

  • Hostess(3/5 points)

She was a fairly average hostess that sat us roughly five feet from where we were standing.  She then went off to find our waitress and was never heard from again.

  • Promptness(1/5 points)

There was a forty-five minute wait that turned into an hour wait.  I think we waited another fifteen minutes after we were seated to be asked what we wanted to eat.

  • Alertness(3/5 points)

I would give this a four simply on the actions of the bus boy, but the waitress was no where to be found after she took our order and the food was delivered.  She later reached in between us and dropped the check on the table before walking away to something else.  I actually got up twice to refill my own coffee and that should never happen.

  • Friendliness(2/5 points)

They don’t care; they’re not going to care.  To make matters worse, the bus boy took my plate with out asking if I was finished.  I then had to awkwardly sit with nothing in front of me as my three friends paced themselves through their food.


Food and Drink 11/20 or 55%

  • Price(3/5 points)

The prices were about what you would expect, nothing really remarkable or outrageous.

  • Quality of Food(3/5 points)

I had the biscuits and gravy which was only so so but I enjoyed the sprinkling of paprika for flavor.  My three friends all had the huevos rancheros, which looked tastier but not much than my biscuits and gravy.

  • Quality of Beverage(2/5 points)

They had a station for coffee at the door so you could serve yourself and the coffee was horrible.  Also, there was the water bottle problem.  The only reason this got two points instead of zero was my friends were raving about how good the bloody marys were.  Otherwise, I think they were really unconcerned about the drinks.

  • Presentation(3/5 points)

The food was pretty much served with out much thought to presentation, but like I said the paprika was a nice touch.  The huevos rancheros really didn’t look appetizing at all.

Decor and Space  7/20 or 35%

  • Cleanliness(2/5 points)

This place looks more like a bar that decided to serve food than a restaurant that decided to serve alcohol.  The floors looked disgusting and I would be amazed if this place has been dusted in the past decade.

  • Theme(2/5 points)

If there is a theme to this place it’s hipster posing and indifference.  I think the really sad part of this is that the restaurant is right on the corner of McCarren park and they do nothing to make it a warm environment that it easily could be.

  • Adequate Seating(2/5 points)

I think there is definitely adequate seating, but the tables were arranged in a very awkward fashion with our table probably in the most unfortunate position.  I’d like to blame some of the bad service on the table configuration, but really I can’t.

  • Location(1/5 points)

For those of you not aware, getting anywhere on the G train is the transit equivalent of splitting the tiles and finding the jelly bean.  Yes, you can get here easily when the G train is running, otherwise, you’ve got to get off at the Lorimer or Bedford L stops and walk across the park to get here.

Bonus(5 points)

Two points for having some of the most attractive, but poorly dressed, people you will ever see, seriously.

Total score 27/60, with bonus 29/60 or 48.33%

Northeast Kingdom

Restaurant Information:

18 Wyckoff AveBrooklyn, NY 11237-2635
Get Directions

(718) 386-3864

- north-eastkingdom.com

Map:
View Larger Map

Service (6/15) or 40%

  • Hostess(N/A)

There was no hostess that I saw.

  • Promptness(2/5 points)

The bartender/waiter took my order but after that he couldn’t be bothered to follow up with anything.

  • Alertness(1/5 points)

On my seventh attempt to flag the bartender/waiter that was not more than two feet away from me, he finally noticed that I wanted something besides my initial order.  I almost threw my fork at him.  Also, this place gives you a giant bottle of water, which I is major pet peeve of mine.

  • Friendliness(3/5 points)
The people were just about as friendly as you’d expect.


Food and Drink (10/20) or 50%

  • Price(3/5 points)

I’d say the prices were fair for what you got.  That being said…

  • Quality of Food(2/5 points)

My french toast was crunchy?!?! CRUNCHY!! @#%$#.  The only thing that stopped this from getting a one point rating was the bacon; the bacon was fantastic and close to the best I’ve ever had.

  • Quality of Beverage(2/5 points)

The water came in a bottle that was filled with tap water and a very small glass.  The coffee was so bad I thought that I had just gotten a bad cup the first time, but no, it was just bad.

  • Presentation(3/5 points)
The french toast looked nice until I cut into it.  Everything else was just kind of slapdashed.  I get the feeling that not a lot of effort is put into anything at this restaurant.

Decor and Space (11/20) or 55%

  • Cleanliness(3/5 points)

Everything looked as clean as you’d expect.

  • Theme(2/5 points)

The theme really threw me: 90% of the restaurant is a campy hunting lodge theme, but tasteful enough not to offend the hipster locals, and the 10% that makes up the wall to the kitchen looks like a bad attempt at Mondrian art.

  • Adequate Seating(3/5 points)
The seats were placed not too close to each other but not too far either.  I saw a waiter squeeze through behind people a few times, but that’s not out of the ordinary.
  • Location(3/5 points)

It’s a short walk from the L stop, so not too bad.  It’s a bit of a trek out this way, especially if the L isn’t running and you have to take a shuttle bus from Lorimer, which will be continuing until August.


Bonus(5 points)

No bonus points could be awarded.

Overall score: 27/55 or 49%

1 of 1
Themed by: Hunson