Brooklyn, New York – Egg

Restaurant: Egg
Cuisine: Breakfast/Brunch/Diner/Eclectic/Southern/American
Last visited: September 10, 2011
Location: Brooklyn, New York (Williamsburg)
Address: 135 N 5th Street
Subway: Bedford Av
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: FMF Must Try!

Food: 4.5
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Eclectic menu
• Local ingredients
• Southern influenced
• Local favourite
• Busy at peak hours
• Casual
• Family friendly
• Cheap eats/budget friendly
• Beer/wine available
• Cash only
• Breakfast until 6pm every day.
• Lunch at 11:30am on weekdays and 3pm on weekends.
• Monday — Friday: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Saturday & Sunday: 8 a.m. — 6 p.m.

**Recommendations: Eggs Rothko

Egg. It’s a beautiful thing. I’m not referring to the restaurant, but the actual thing. I love eggs. Seriously, I love them so much that if I had to pick one ingredient alone to eat for the rest of my life, an egg would be up for consideration. It doesn’t need salt and pepper and it still tastes good. Hard boiled, fried, scrambled or poached, they all taste different… I will eat them here and there, I will eat them ANYWHERE! (That was from Dr. Suess’ Green Eggs and Ham in case you didn’t get that).

Anyways, when I was planning my Follow Me Foodie to New York itinerary I discovered Egg in Brooklyn. Well, in that case Follow Me Foodie to Brooklyn too! I will travel for food and I will travel for Egg. Williamsburg in Brooklyn isn’t even far from Manhattan and one of my other favourite New York restaurants, Traif, was also found there.

Egg is a classic local favourite in the hipster part of Brooklyn called Williamsburg. Ironically it’s a trendy neighbourhood, but there are lots of independent restaurants worth exploring. Egg is probably one of the most popular for breakfast and brunch and there’s an expected line up during the weekends.

It’s a very casual and quaint restaurant featuring local ingredients showcased in an eclectic and Southern light. I expected every single menu item to feature an egg, but that’s not really the case. There are a good amount of menu items with eggs, but there’s also options without them. It didn’t have any more or any less egg options than a standard breakfast/brunch restaurant would normally have.

Brunch is a big deal in New York and it’s one of my favourite meal times. On the scale of popular and iconic brunch places I tried in New York, I liked it better than Prune and The Fat Radish, but The Spotted Pig was probably my favourite. This is the most casual and affordable out of the listed though. If you’re planning on checking out Williamsburg then I would recommend starting your day off at Egg. It’s nothing fancy, although there’s effort in the menu creations and it’s a charming place to experience brunch as a local.

On the table:

**Eggs Rothko – 6/6 (FMF Must try!)

• Easy-cooked egg in a slice of Amy’s brioche and topped with Grafton cheddar. Served with broiled tomatoes and a side of meat or seasonal vegetables $9
• This is their claim to fame and what convinced me to check out Egg.
• It’s one of the best “Egg on Toast” creations I’ve had. This was Egg IN Toast!
• The idea is brilliant and it’s not necessarily hard to do if you can find a great brioche, so it seems replicable at home too.
• It was a very hearty, rich and filling brunch that would put you right back to bed.
• Alright so were is the star of the show? Where is the egg?!

*Gasp* O.M.G. I don’t know if I’m more excited for the cheese pull or the thought of an egg nestled underneath it!

• It was a nice thick slice of super soft and fluffy toasted brioche with an egg buried underneath a layer of melted cheese.
• The brioche was a fantastic brioche. It was moist with a stretchy texture and buttery rich flavour.
• There was literally a hole cut out of the middle of the bread.
• The egg was cooked in the hole so that it was almost melded together with the bread.
• It was covered generously with lots of ooey gooey white cheddar cheese and the whole thing was intense with buttery flavours.
• The cheese oils absorbed right back into the already buttery brioche.
• The edges of the brioche were crispy and flaky and almost like a croissant, and then the rest was all soft and moist and melted in your mouth.
• It was one of the best ways to enjoy an egg and grilled cheese sandwich.

Yes! I had to get the picture. I love runny egg yolks and this would be perfect for my Runny Egg Yolk Series.

• The brioche was the perfect mop for the egg yolk sauce. I promise you this plate was dishwasher clean after I finished.
• The Eggs Rothko had everything going for it. Heaven. This was truly a slice of heaven and a step away from a heart attack.

• The middle of the brioche that was cut out for the egg, but it was not wasted.
• It was toasted and then served along side with room temperature broiled organic tomatoes on top.

• Your choice of a side of meat or vegetables? Why not top things off properly with bacon?
• I chose candied bacon and they were good quality too!
• They could have been crispier, but they were thick and meaty and a bit on the leaner side.
• They were nice and sweet and being Canadian it reminded me of maple bacon served at home.
• This one didn’t seem like maple though and I think it was honey or another type of syrup.
• It was a good balance of salty and sweet and even better eaten on top of the Eggs Rothko.

Country Ham Biscuit – 3.5/6 (Good-Very good)

• Country ham from Col. Bill Newsom’s Hams in Princeton, Kentucky. Served on a biscuit with homemade fig jam, Grafton cheddar, and a side of grits $8.50
• If you’ve tried Pine State Biscuits in Portland, Oregon, then you’ve already had your ride in the Ferrari. If you haven’t, then this is a tease.
• This was another very rich and hearty brunch item.
• I like grits (ground corn) and this one was organic and good, but it does get better.
• The grits were very cheesy with grated White cheddar cheese, but not creamy. I’m not sure if they maybe just sat for a bit longer than they should have.
• This was almost like mushy rice meets oatmeal and it was stiffer than I prefer.

• Again, since I’ve had a Pine State Biscuit, I wasn’t necessarily impressed with this biscuit sandwich, but it was still good.
• This was basically a gourmet ham and cheese biscuit sandwich.
• It was a flaky and buttery homemade buttermilk biscuit with crispy edges, but it was crumbly and a bit dry and perhaps over toasted.
• The ham was from Kentucky so it would be nice to have an actual local ham on the menu, but I can overlook it.
• The ham was a bit too salty and jerky like and I wasn’t keen on it especially with the drier biscuit.
• It was pretty cheesy which helped with the moisture and the sweet fig jam was a nice contrast to the salty ham.
• I just wanted more sauce to this and I felt like adding a fried egg in it.

Duck Hash – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• Duck leg confit with potatoes and green onions and served with 2 eggs any style $12
• Duck confit is one of my favourite things, so this had to be on the table… even if it was for breakfast.
• I had it with 2 poached eggs with runny yolks so that I would have the perfect dipping sauce to eat the hash with.
• The plate was a bit bare, but the flavours delivered.

• The hash was made almost like a hashbrown omelette, but instead of an egg it was shredded potatoes.
• Like a taco, the duck confit was shredded and folded into the hashbrown like shell. It probably could have used a bit more duck for $12 though.
• The hasbrowns were crispy, but not over fried and the inner layer was tender moist shredded potatoes.
• The duck confit was creamy, juicy, not too salty and well seasoned and although basic, it was very good.
• I would have loved this to come with a side of apple sauce and sour cream… almost like a latkes or rosti would be served.

Seared Rabbit Sausage – 4/6 (Very good)

• With Goatfell chard pea tendril poached duck egg and heirloom tomato $12
• This was the special of the day.
• I love rabbit and if you haven’t had it, it tastes like chicken.
• The house made rabbit sausage was a bit inconsistent though. Some pieces were moist and juicy, while others at times dry.
• Rabbit is leaner than chicken though so naturally it might be a bit drier.
• It was good sausage and it was well seasoned with a nice herby thyme flavour and perhaps some chili flakes, but it wasn’t spicy.
• The organic chard pea tendril was sauteed with garlic and it was slightly tangy from perhaps some lemon or vinegar.
• Although very good, I just wanted something more to this dish like nugget potatoes sauteed in grainy mustard or even more heirloom tomatoes.

For dessert I ended up at an authentic hole in the wall Polish bakery called Northside Bakery (149-151 North 8th Street, Brooklyn, NY). This was the kremówka papieska (Papal Cream Cake) which is basically a Napolean. It was a huge triple decker sized sandwich slice of pastry for about $2 and the custard was ultra rich and thick. The place had a steady flow of old time Polish customers and while the dessert was good, I think the highlight is supposed to be the bread.

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