Comments on Noshing Confessions: Bistro Brunch Backfires

i would've been SHATTERED if the cinnamon crem...

2011-07-21T16:11:47.719-04:00

i would've been SHATTERED if the cinnamon creme fraiche had been gross. shattered. on the up side, i'm now inspired to make guava hollandaise! :)

@Holly- I loved being at brunch with you guys. It ...

2011-07-20T07:53:21.122-04:00

@Holly- I loved being at brunch with you guys. It was an amazing meal in the company in every respect. And they were more than generous with the time they gave us at our table. But you're right - Max London's would have tasted better. And we could have gone to look at beautiful yarns and ridden the carousel afterwards.

@MollyMom - I think you've hit the nail on the head with a successful dinner model being applied to brunch. But, from what I've been reading over the last couple days, mediocre to inedible sides served with beautifully presented main components seem to be the result day or night. We'll give it a shot for dinner one of these days.

I agree with everything you said, Leah. I would o...

2011-07-19T21:16:16.832-04:00

I agree with everything you said, Leah. I would only add that I was as happy with the ambience as with the service: NWBB is a very pleasant place to sit for a couple hours.

In retrospect, though, I kind of wish I'd hassled you all into trekking up to Saratoga to brunch at Max London's instead.

I've never been either, Leah. I look at the me...

2011-07-19T16:58:26.305-04:00

I've never been either, Leah. I look at the menu every so often and think, "Well, ok, yeah, that looks pretty good, I guess." And then, for no reason in particular, I don't go. Now I feel a bit better about it.

Zero complaints on service- our waiter was phenome...

2011-07-18T18:35:10.102-04:00

Zero complaints on service- our waiter was phenomenal.

I have only had dinner at New World, and have had ...

2011-07-18T17:42:59.187-04:00

I have only had dinner at New World, and have had no complaints about food or service. And there are folks like me who can't wait to order the green beans each time. Perhaps the mis-step is in trying to apply a successful dinner model (including prices) to a brunch menu. It sounds a bit ill-conceived.

My brother/partner-in-crime-on-most-things-food-re...

2011-07-18T16:56:29.194-04:00

My brother/partner-in-crime-on-most-things-food-related raves about NWBB's sweetbreads and blood sausage and general willingness to use ingredients others won't touch and use them well during their dinner service. But, I just don't know. Anyone who knows how to poach an eggs should have no problem with scrambled and to see the side component of nearly perfect main dish mangled so thoroughly just pisses me off.

And that includes your experience with the dinner entree - great protein, and black eyed peas vs. kidney beans fine, but to kill RICE!!! It's the kiss of death and a sure sign of a lax kitchen with an absentee head chef and a prep cook or sous that needs their ass kicked.

I completely hear you on the "Bistro" title in a restaurant: all it seems to do is to give restaurants license to charge more for a hit or miss experience.

I have eaten at NWBB twice. Once for dinner (http:...

2011-07-18T16:35:44.355-04:00

I have eaten at NWBB twice. Once for dinner (http://derryx.com/derryxdines/derryx-dines-new-world-bistro-bar-albany-ny/) and once for brunch. The dinner experience, in a nutshell, was good. I alluded to the fact that they got a little cute with the description of the side dishes, but I did enjoy their Jerk chicken.

So much so, that when I went for brunch, I ordered the jerk chicken + waffles. It comes w poached eggs, but I ordered scrambled because I like to be difficult and because I can't do yolks and whites separately. The chicken was great, again; the waffle was meh, a waffle; and the scrambled eggs were a plank, way overcooked. You can order eggs your way, so it's not like there are people in the kitchen who only know how to poach them.

Since that time, I haven't returned, not because I was terribly displeased, but because the experience left me indifferent. For less money, I can get comparable or better brunch anywhere else, just as you concluded.

I'm going back for jerk chicken for dinner some time, though!