Permanently closed


Bottom line:  A casual way to spend the morning with a good cup of coffee - alone or with friends.

Tips:

• Sit in the front room for a casual coffee or go to the back room for more of a restaurant experience

About:  The relaxing coffee shop + restaurant is a great place to swing by if you happen to be walking around the East Village shops and Tompkin's Square Park.  With a local vibe, a solid cup of coffee and a patient staff, this is a great place to go to work on your computer, read a book or enjoy a bite with a group.

Food:  We all enjoyed our meals, particularly the egg scrambles (no omelets here).  They come with a choice of fresh ingredients and bread to make a sandwich or eat separately.  The French toast was a tiny portion, our only real complaint.

Atmosphere:  The definition of neighborhoody, Cafe Pick Me Up has regulars who swing by for coffee and to work on their laptops all the time.  Comfortable for the regulars as well as those who come less frequently, this restaurant is very low-key with good food and service as well.  Some of the seats in the back room are not so comfortable (little stools to sit on), and the restaurant is a little beat up looking, but the food and atmosphere make up for that.

Cafe Pick Me Up:  145 Avenue A, 212.673.7231

Bottom Line:  Deli meets Brunch with plenty of Gluten-Free options.

Tips:

• Take a pre or post brunch stroll on the Highline or on the cobble stone streets of the Meatpacking District.  

About:  Friedman's Lunch offers their brunch patrons the option of classic deli fair or traditional brunch dishes. The variety on restaurant's menu may cause the best brunch problem of them all - difficulty in choosing one's meal. 

Food: Gluten-free dishes at Friedman's are marked with a dot. When it comes to dots on the brunch menu, the menu has a lot of them making the gluten-free choices almost as numerous as those available to gluten diners.

On the deli end of the menu, gluten-free brunchers can choose from Two Bean Turkey Chili, Tomato Soup, a B.E.L.T. (bacon, over easy eggs, lettuce, tomato), a Burger, or a Grilled Pastrami Reuben. Friedman's has gluten-free bread so no worries about the Reuben or Burger missing their carbohydrate. 

On the brunch end, there are gluten-free pancakes and a number of egg dishes from the basic 'two eggs any style' to 'make your own omelet' to an 'egg white scramble' (which this bruncher enjoyed) that comes with market veggies, avocado, potato hash, and like all the egg dishes, with gluten-free toast.

• Egg White Scramble:  The egg whites are perfectly scrambled with spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, and onion, and are garnished with slices of avocado, which compliments the flavors of this dish perfectly.
• Potato Hash: The hash is light and unlike other hashes, is not overpowered by onions or peppers. The gluten-free toast rounded out this meal perfectly. 
• Turkey Reuben:  My fellow bruncher substituted turkey for pastrami and brunched on a gluten-free Grilled Turkey Reuben with a side of potato hash, which was delicious.
  

*When ordering gluten-free, make sure to tell your waiter or waitress that you are gluten-free.*

Atmosphere: Friedman's Lunch takes the best of Chelsea Market and brings it inside this sleek, modern, fun restaurant. 

Friedman's Lunch: Chelsea Market - 75 Ninth Avenue (212) 929-7100 

Bottom line:  Unbeatable $12.95 brunch special in a quaint French bistro.

Tips:

• The French toast is incredible!
• $12.95 brunch special includes one drink
  
• The restaurant is small and gets packed so make a reservation if you can

About:  Le Parisien is a neighborhood gem in the heart of Murray Hill.  A small, quaint bistro with delicious food and rustic French decor, you feel like you're no longer in Manhattan as you take advantage of the unbeatable brunch special.  For just $12.95 you will get an entree and a drink (mimosa, OJ, coffee, or sangria)!  Chef Johnathan Masse, who comes from the Waverly Inn, does a great job bringing a comfort-food flare to this French bistro.

Food/Drink:  While everyone loved their brunch, the French toast was the clear winner!  The food came out in a timely manner, and our coffees were refilled almost before we knew we were out. 

• French toast - With warm vanilla maple syrup, thinly sliced bananas and apple compote.  This was sooo yummy!  The apple compote tasted like apricot to me, and it was such a unique taste that went perfectly with the dish.  Loved how the bananas were sliced very thin so that they don't overpower when you take a bite.  This leads to the question... do the French really make the best French toast?...
• Omelets - Both the herbs & roasted veggies omelet and the ham & cheese omelet were bit hits.  The spinach was particularly tasty in the herbs & roasted veggies omelet, but the egg wasn't cooked evenly throughout the omelet.  The ham & cheese omelet came with gruyere which added a flavor you don't normally get in this basic type of omelet.
• Poached eggs with salmon - On an English muffin with hollandaise sauce.  We loved the crisp muffins and the eggs that tasted farm-fresh.  The eggs were cooked to perfection and the hollandaise sauce was well-balanced.  Also enjoyed the crispy French fries and salad that came with the dish.
• Eggs benedict - With Canadian bacon and hollandaise sauce - gets two thumbs up.
  

Atmosphere:  Except for the unsightly, tiny restroom that is basically in the kitchen, I can't say anything negative about the atmosphere here.  It was a bit loud and only as people cleared out did we notice music playing in the background.  While the restaurant itself is small, it doesn't seem cramped.  Instead, it actually has an intimate, romantic feel, and would be great for a day date.

Le Parisien:  163 East 33rd street, 212.889.5489

About:  This was my first experience with dim sum, and I'm hooked!  If you don't have a detailed map or an iPhone, you may have a difficult time finding this dim sum gem.  Located on Doyers, one of the shortest streets in Manhattan, is the city's oldest dim sum restaurant, Nom Wah Tea Parlor.  There's usually a line, so be sure to put your name on the list and take a little ticket in return.

Food/Drink:  Whether a newby to dim sum or a regular of the cuisine, Nom Wah will have something you love.  Think Chinese food + tapas and you'll get an idea of what dim sum is all about:  small portions of savory treats like dumplings, egg rolls, noodles and more.  When you're seated, you get a paper menu where you check off all of the items you want to order (similar to some sushi restaurants), and they come out as they are cooked fresh.  Below is our recap (the must-haves are starred with **):

• Shrimp and chive dumplings - I was afraid I wouldn't like it because I'm not a huge fan of chives, but these dumplings were very good, and they didn't leave you with a strong aftertaste!
  
• **Pan fried noodles with soy sauce - Thin, non-greasy and delicious - a great staple to order every time
• Turnip cake - Nice light flavor, but not a huge fan of the gummy/doughy texture
• Chinese greens with oyster sauce - Loved the taste of this, and felt good to be eating greens with a relatively greasy overall meal, but they were a bit undercooked and it was hard to chew some of the pieces.  Also, a huge portion that the table couldn't finish!
• **The original egg roll - So good, nothing more to say, so good
• Tofu skin roll - Wouldn't recommend, too greasy
• **Vegetarian dumplings - The dumplings were delicious and I loved that you could see the veggies when you cut the dumping in half (vs. seeing a veggie mish mosh paste like at some Chinese restaurants)
• **Almond cookie - One large cookie for $1.50 is enough for a table of three to munch on at the end of a meal.  The tasty, slightly dry cookie is great to end on a sweet note (and soak up some of the oils from the meal)
• Tea - The tea comes in a huge pot that will last through the meal.  I'd recommend the "Bo-lay" which is the most popular tea for dim sum because it aids in digestion and supposedly lowers cholesterol too (it's just a light, lovely tea)
• Drinks:  Nom Wah is a wine/beer establishment, but they do have a mimosa option during weekend brunch

Atmosphere:  Nom Wah is very casual and has an interior like a diner complete with tables and booths.  There's no A/C (to my knowledge), so the restaurant is cooled by large fans.  The clientele is mixed between tourists and locals, as it is a quality establishment in the heart of Chinatown.  Overall, the atmosphere is nothing special, and may seem a bit grungy, but don't be fooled by appearances - the food is fresh and delicious and Nom Wah makes for a great brunch.

Nom Wah Tea Parlor: 13 Doyers Street (between Bowery and Chatham Square), 212.962.6047

About:  A low-key cafe located next to Columbus Circle and the southern end of Central Park, AQ Kafe caters to locals and tourists alike.  You can go in and grab a quick snack in the storefront, or you can sit in the dining area and enjoy the authentic Swedish delicacies.

Food:  The food selection isn't huge, but what they do have is very good.  I absolutely recommend the baked eggs (my favorite is the spinach, tomato and Swedish cheese).  They come to the table in the iron skillets they were cooked in.  Another favorite is the Swedish pancakes.  If you've never had them before, think crepe over traditional American pancakes.  They come with the most delicious jam (and whipped cream) and while the portions aren't huge, they are certainly filling.

Drinks:  No alcohol here, but they have a large selection of coffee and tea drinks to choose from.

Atmosphere:  Very casual environment with a few communal tables for large parties (or to make new friends) as well as private tables.  The decor is very simple with wooden everything from floor to tables to cabinets.  The service is a bit slow but always friendly.  It is definitely not a trendy, high profile spot, and there will be tourists there with you, but if you're in the neighborhood and not in a rush, it's definitely worth a try.

AQ Kafe:  1800 Broadway, 212.541.6801