Sunday In Brooklyn — Restaurant in New York

I'm challenged by my 3-star rating because I'd be okay giving it 4, and I really wanted to love this place. It's been saved in every list I've made for a brunch must. And that is perhaps why, after swimming against the current to try for dinner instead, I left "meh" and giving it 3, because 4 means I'd go back again, 3 stars means I'm fine crossing it off the list forever.

Here's what shook down for two people:

Buckwheat Sourdough w Salted Beer Butter / $7 Crispy Potatoes w Sambal Aioli / $8 Black Sea Bass Crudo / $15 Grilled Brook Trout / $22

I hate to say it, but the favorite dish was the small plate of Buckwheat Sourdough... simply devine, and a bunch of plates of this along with an evening of cocktails would have been sufficient.

The Potatoes are a popular item, and all tables they looked consistent. Crispy, seasoned, and about the amount of one whole potato sliced up and fried. I'd probably rather have 2 helpings of the sourdough instead of one bread and one potatoes to start, but either way you'll be happy.

Took a really wrong turn with the Sea Bass. It was mealy, tough, and fishy tasting (I know it's raw-ish fish, but still). I've never had Sea Bass cured in citrus (ceviche) and knowing that sea bass is typically a tougher fish, I should have ordered better...it just doesn't work like a lighter white fish does in lime juice. I'd just take off the menu.

The Trout redeemed the evening (I know, 2 fish dishes?!) as I liked it a lot, but my dining parter said "it's OK" leaving me to happily finish most of the dish. Good flavor, and nice texture.

Overall, the bread was the only good memorable thing last night. The too-cool-for-school service was bad memorable. Not saying it was bad service, just, I don't know, almost hipster for the sake of being hipster? #millenials #watchagonnado.

Bonus point for bottled bubble water in a refillable carafe. This is a rarer "luxury" I'm surprised is not at all more common.

Bonus bonus points for fun paper straws. We really need to stop using plastic.

Book on Resy, but know for later dinners you're just as fine walking in and finding a spot.

Meal with 2 cocktails came out...

Ambiance (6/5): I came specifically for the holiday decorations which are donned across the whole restaurant in a beautiful way! Their ceilings have trees and presents hung, their outer kitchen has decorations hung about. Their open kitchen allows you to peer into their prep and the very back has a wood brick oven as well! It is cozy, well-lit but also very snug between the tables. There’s outdoor dining that is enclosed. Service (5/5): We were a party of 2 for a walk-in and had to wait close to 30-minutes as they have a tight reservation schedule. There was a seamless energy on how the kitchen and wait staff work—there was always good energy and teamwork in their handoffs, when they pass by each other, etc. I also saw the head chef (I assume since he was the only one wearing a white kitchen outfit) who checked on the tables and made sure everything was going well. Food (5/5): Every single dish (even my neighbor’s) looked like an artisan creation and packed flavor to perfection in every bite!! The reasonable price combined with the taste makes this place an out of the park experience! Don’t come, RUN to eat here! Sunday Burger (5/5): 2 smash burgers cooked medium (medium-rare not an option). Whatever the “Special Sauce” is needs to be bottled so I can bring that baby home and smother it on everything I eat! There was so much flavor to the burger and it was a solid portion too! Fries (5/5): I asked for the fries cooked well-done and they indeed were cooked with the perfect addictive crunch! The skinny fries were seasoned generously with oregano and tarragon that enhanced your mundane side of fries. Don’t get me started with the garlic dijonnaise! The fries were so good it didn’t even need the savory complement of the flavored dipping sauce! Biscuits & Gravy (4/5): This is a very heavy choice but still delicious. I wasn’t expecting the biscuits to be smothered under the gravy as such as it seemed a little less appetizing in presentation. Wish the poached eggs were...

After seeing some lovely pictures on the web and in social media about Sunday's holiday themed cocktails, I guess I expected a somewhat similar experience to what others have written about and reviewed. Unfortunately, and maybe because we arrived between 4pm and 6pm service and maybe because we didn't order food, but service was very mixed and the cocktails were underwhelming, especially for their price.

I get it, what the drink is served in and with really shouldn't matter, it's what the drink tastes like, but when somewhere goes through the trouble of presenting drinks in kitschy cups and servings and charging a premium price, it would be nice if the "bulb' wasn't dirty and dented, that the evergreen wasn't more than a couple limp pieces thrown in, and it would also be nice to actually get all of the trimmings that are supposed to come with the cocktail.

My "mezcal hot toddy" was missing some of the pieces it advertised, which besides feeling a little left out, also was missing the citrus zing it needed. The "horchata" was overly minty and seemed to be lacking sufficient rum. To make matters worse, the bar actually had the missing accoutrements to the hot toddy, but were running low, and discussed right in front of me (apparently thinking they were being quiet) about how they should save them for dinner service.

On the plus side, the place is cute (although crowded), and our pickle plate was actually downright superb! The polar bear pina colada was good and had a kick. We were planning on trying more food, but decided to exit after the cocktail letdowns.

Take this review with your gain of salt as we did not eat food beyond the pickle plate. Giving 3 stars instead of the 2 I planned, because the pickles were really legit and I'm hoping the lack of service and enthusiasm was due to the change in service (but hey, don't open if you can't provide a consistent product throughout the...