The West Village Brunch Life

I never knew how big brunch was until I moved to New York. Here brunch is LIFE. There are so many amazing brunch spots in the city that I'll probably never even come close to being able to try them all. Although, in my two years as a New Yorker I've definitely put a dent in the brunch market. Now whenever my friends or family come to visit me one item on my must do list is taking them to eat brunch. One of my sorority sisters and her husband came down from upstate New York this past weekend for a break from their busy lives as doctors so we decided to hit up a bunch of cute West Village eateries (mainly because we couldn't just choose one). Originally, I had a huge long list of places to eat at, but after 3 spots we became too stuffed to continue... Definitely one of the downsides to having a small stomach, but big eyes! 

Before eating desserts, I usually need something savory to start my appetite so we dropped by the popular High Street on Hudson cafe for a quick bite. To our delight, the wait was only 25 minutes! While that may seem like a long time to somewhere from anywhere else in the States, for New York brunch time it is considered to be a short wait. I've waited up to two hours (Clinton Street Baking Company) for delicious brunch before- like I said, us New Yorkers are crazy about our brunch. At High Street, my friend and I both ordered The Forager- a burger with no meant, but plenty of kale, mushroom, and egg. Along with my passion fruit tea, it was the perfect start to my day.

During our 25 minute wait for brunch, we didn't want to just sit around so we headed to Aux Merveilleux De Fred to try the highly rated Merveilleux cakes. These tiny cakes were created in France by the pastry chef, Frederic Vancamps, to be light little cakes. We chose the double chocolate and the speculous flavors and while the consistency wasn't what I was expecting, it was very interesting to taste.

After brunch, we stopped by Dominique Ansel Kitchen for a post meal dessert (I do love my sweets). This is the sister outpost to the famous cronut bakery, Dominique Ansel Bakery. The Kitchen version has a more extensive menu, including sandwiches, and doesn't have the crazy long lines and influx of tourists. A good alternative for the crowd averse person! Plus, they still serve much of the same desserts, including their staple pastry, the DKA. My DKA actually had ICE CREAM in it. Whoever though of the combination is genius- and probably my favorite person! The DKA is a sweet flaky doughy pastry (similar to a croissant) and mixed with vanilla ice cream, was delicious. Also, excuse my shirt... I realized at the end that it was literally messed up in every photo I took because it was so flowy that it kept moving around (and for some reason no one told me!).

So the next place isn't brunch, but we became too tired from all the eating in the morning and had to take a break. For dinner, we ate at the ramen hot spot, Ippudo. Ippudo is another one of those restaurants that always has a long line so waiting is a guaranteed thing. For our table of 7, the total wait time was 2 hours! Since I come to Ippudo for their ramen quite a lot, I decided to try something else this time around and went for their ramen okinomiyaki. Okinomiyaki is a Japanese dish that is basically a thick pancake with meat and vegetables mixed in and mayo and bonito flakes and sauce on top. Ippudo goes the extra mile with the dish and adds in their ramen and wagyu beef. I've had a lot of okinomiyaki over the years (its one of my favorite Japanese dishes), but Ippudo's version definitely is the winner. The flavors all aligned perfectly. Also worth noting is my drink. I had no idea what I was ordering but I got some kind of pink sparkling champagne sake mixed drink that had jelly in it. An odd combination, but somehow it all came together to make the girliest drink ever- I loved it!

As I mentioned at the beginning, we actually had a few more dessert spots we had wanted to hit up after brunch, but later became too full and fell into a food coma. Also on my list was:

• Mah Ze Dahr Bakery- I actually came here a week later and ate a yummy coffee cake. Its a very cute and clean cut place.
• Sweet Time Dessert Cafe
• Stick with Me
• Mille Feuille Bakery
• Baked

Have you guys eaten at any of these spots? Do you guys prefer dessert or more savory food?