On Saturday, we met up with our friends Danny & Lindsey (check out her LTUL blog!), for some brunch at The Fat Radish. TFR recently opened & is located where the Lower East Side meets Chinatown - which, we all noted, is a completely different world. A cute coffee bar greets you upon entry and after walking down a small hallway, you are introduced to the dining room, which has a very hip and rustic feel to it.
I'll start with the negatives...the location and the service. I shouldn't have to ask multiple times for water or coffee. At brunch, these things should be flowing! I would think that this will only improve as the restaurant ages.
File this under "odd," but the entire staff breezes by in plaid button-downs. Waiters, hostesses, bus boys, etc... I'm not sure how I feel about this but it seems a little like they're trying too hard. We get it... you're hipsters.
Now, on to the goods... the food! My pumpkin pancakes were out of this world delicious and I will 100% be back again when I'm more hungover and these suckers can soak up some alcohol. Served with a maple mascarpone, candied walnuts, & a side of syrup, each bite was simply heavenly. Besides being a sucker for all things pumpkin (whoopie pies, what what!), what made these pancakes better than most others in Manhattan is that they were just a bit undercooked. This caused the middle of the pancakes to have a batter-like feel to it and who doesn't like that? It was like pumpkin cookie dough was greeting you at the end of every bite of flapjack.
This is what I looked like after my meal.
The rest of the table got eggs & while everyone enjoyed, I didn't get the sense that they LOVED the dishes. Maybe that's because I was too busy savoring each bite of my own dish. Lindsey's dish sounded the most interesting - spaghetti squash, candied bacon, & crispy egg. It should also be noted that the portions weren't particularly large. This was OK for the pancakes b/c no matter how you portion 3 pancakes, you're going to be full. But for the egg dishes, it was problematic. Eggs should ALWAYS be served alongside potatoes &/or toast. We had neither. Major no-no.
Oh, and the bloody mary's were quite delicious!! We'll be back soon enough.. Either for the pancakes or to see what they got for dinner.
