Linger — Restaurant in Denver

Partner birthday weekend = new brunch spot

He selected Linger which, I didn't even realize they did brunch! We'd been a few times for dinner so I was looking forward to this. I went in menu unseen intentionally (I'm usually one of those must have order ready before arrival at restaurant people) and I was absolutely blown away.

Linger's brunch menu is everything you could hope for from this place. It's got an eclectic selection of food inspired by several countries but they all work well together and everything was prepared well, despite the range in cuisine.

Now for the food breakdown:

Pink Lemonella - there is no sweetener in this. This was fine with me but I definitely wanted to give you all a heads up. It's non alcoholic, and invigorating, great for a brunch menu. Partner described it as bitter thanks to the ginger.

Partner got the Good Witch and liked the presentation a lot, also mentioned this was bitter and very orangey. He did like it and thought the bitter drink worked really well with his spicy main course.

Next up is the Georgian pull apart bread (if you like this, check out house of bread too!) Which was a seasonal item. It's got three types of cheese - goat, feta, and mozzarella, and all three came through distinctly. Very filling, really enjoyed the crust being brushed with herbs before baking.

We also grabbed the Bao Duck bun (wrong name but it's the only duck one) which was so good. I'm not usually a huge Bao fan (because I don't like a lot of bread in my meals in general don't come for me about this) but theirs was super soft and crispy on the outside. The duck itself was moist and flavorful with the crispness of the sauce and cucumbers being a fantastic finish. There is only one per order.

Now on to the entrees:

Smothered green chili pork tamales are up first - Partner isn't a huge fan of tamales in general but ordered this because of the unique flavors. He really enjoyed the flavor combination and presentation- he did finish the plate there. He found tamales of this type for breakfast to be really unique and not something he would have ordered before.

I got the breakfast Dosa which our server mentioned was a crowd favorite. It's a lentil crepe - which tasted much better than anticipated and I found myself just eating it by itself, spiced potatoes, scrambled eggs, peas, apricots, and drizzled with maple syrup.

When I say I never would have put those things together in a meal. They worked incredibly well together, I'm a huge fan of different textures in my food and this was A+ for this. My favorite thing was that the potatoes weren't stupid hot, it was clear a lot of care went into preparing each dish. This also reheated well.

Finally, we had the something crema. Again, this is not super sweet - please do not expect anything sweet at any point when you eat here unless it specifically states that it will be.

I personally found the crema to be really refreshing, it had a more savory flavor with the addition of cinnamon to cut through the heavy cream. This paired really well with the sweet plantains and the pistachios added a nice crunch.

I also want to highlight: I do have a food allergy (nothing I ordered had it in it but I always mention it) and everything came out with an allergy tag in it. The level of thought and care here really blew me away!

All in all, this was one of the best brunch experiences I've ever had. I would definitely go back.

In total it cost us $99 exactly beforetip. This included: An alcoholic and non alcoholic drink Two appetizers Two...

Came here for my birthday dinner, and we were so excited to check out this spot for the first time. Food was delicious, service was so poor we would probably not return. We had a reservation at 7:30, and arrived about 10 minutes early. The hostesses greeted us half heartedly and told us we had to wait until 7:30 even if we were early, which is fine. They did however greet their friends who arrived enthusiastically and immediately seated them (maybe they had a reservation?). Our waitress came by pretty quickly and greeted us and wished me happy birthday which I thought was a nice touch but then everything else service wise went downhill from there. We ordered edamame for an appetizer and it took 45 minutes to arrive. Forty Five Minutes. For edamame. I understand being busy but an order of edamame shouldn’t take the same amount of time as a well done steak. In that time our waitress only came by one time to ask if we were ready to order and my husband said he was in between a couple options and wasn’t sure and she said that’s fine, turned on her heel and walked away. We were left with our mouths hanging open. He wanted to ask her opinion/thoughts which normally a waiter would say “what are you thinking about, do you have any questions, can I help you decide?” Eventually our appetizer arrived, beans were good but needed salt, we both wanted more water, and my husband wanted a second drink. We waited another 10 minutes and eventually I flagged down a girl who was walking by to ask her for salt. If we had waited for our waitress to show up the food would have been cold. Eventually our waitress showed up took our order and left, before we could get any other word in edgewise about wanting another drink (did not bother herself with asking how the appetizer was or apologizing for the insane delay). At that point I think the manager came by to touch tables and ask how we were doing, and wish me happy birthday which I thought was nice. We ordered our drink with him, having given up on our waitress who hadn’t asked us in more than a hour if my husband wanted a drink or if we wanted more water. He also cleared the dirty plates off the table. Food arrived, my husband had the fried rice with the bison skewer, he thought they were delicious. I tried the fried rice and can only describe it as fancy fried rice. I had the vegetarian sliders which were excellent. I don’t know if the manager said anything to our waitress but the rest of our interactions she was stiff and slightly irritated with us. The restaurant sent over a free dessert which was a mousse with chocolate pearls and was so delicious I only let my husband have one bite. I’ve had service in Denver restaurants that was exquisite, start to finish. It’s a joy to have a waiter who knows the menu, are kind and attentive, and dinner just flows. You want a dessert they offer, you want that cup of coffee and after dinner drink they suggest, you even though you almost never do that, because the experience was so enjoyable. This was not that. And I understand that not every place can have that kind of service but for the price point of $172 for two people, it could definitely be...

We had to try this place out because of the amazing reviews. And why not, the menu is so diverse I am actually impressed that the chef was brave enough create custom dishes from all around the world. And to an extent, Linger pulls it off. Asian, American, European, African, and the middle east!

We had: Appetizer - steamed Bao bun trio (a very light asian bun filled with various meats). Loved this.... wish they were a little bigger, but they were portioned properly for the type of but it is Asian - chili garlic edamame. We ordered this for our Gluten free appetizer option. It was good. Hard to go wrong but the sauce was actually very delicious. Asian - entree - Satay lettuce wraps. This is a sort of build your own lettuce wrap. Very fresh and healthy. We got the chicken which was very well seasoned and moist. Middle East?- Colorado Lamb Sausage Pita Wrap...it tasted like a really good Greek gyro. We loved it, BEST dish of the night! African - Morrocan Chicken B’stilla. This was a surprising dish. We knew it was something new that we have never tried before, but it turned out being this really tasty Crispy pastry stuffed with a variety of flavors that kept me going back for more. Americas - Carne Asada Street tacos. Delicious. The meat was tender and well seasoned. A little on the small side in terms of no other sides came with it.

Why 4 stars? I was a little bumbed that they did not have the Greek hot dog that I had been craving all day, but what can you do? I guess that means it's a popular dish. Very limited drink and beer selection. On the menu it said to ask a server about their "canned" beer selection, but the server knew very little about it and there was no menu and they wouldn't let me go up to to the bar to look. The server was a little in the weeds even though their were half of the tables. Maybe they short staffed because of that, but either way it was one of those nights where everything took a few minutes longer than normal to come back, and he actually looked pretty busy, so I am not saying that he wasnt trying.

COVID-19 You have to reserve a table. Especially right now since they are at 50% capacity. And do not expect to get seated early. We had to wait right up to the 7:30pm mark when our reservation was set for.

In closing, If you are in Denver, can make a reservation for one night, and have a good appetite for some international cuisine.... then this place is for you. It's definitely not a cheap fast paced sort of place...