Brunch is the quintessential New York meal. It is neither breakfast or lunch. Fresh fruit and cereal,eggs, hamburger and chips, steak  or spaghetti…the choice is yours. A bloody mary or a glass of champagne is the usual accompaniment.
Some restaurants only offer their brunch menu on the weekend whilst, for others, it will be available every day. A lot of restaurants have a no reservation policy, so be prepared to queue but, be warned, New York restaurants will only seat you when all of your party have arrived!
The Spotted Pig
Restaurant, gastro pub or bar, the Spotted Pig can wear all hats. If I lived in this beautiful leafy corner of New York, I know it would become my local. Pot plants decorate the front of the restaurant and overhead a spotted pig marks the entrance. Inside the feel is of an old fashioned tavern.
At this time of the year, we were able to be seated when the restaurant opened at 11am . It didn’t take long for the friendly staff to bring our first bloody mary!
Chef April Bloomfield believes in fresh, local produce. Vegetarians are well catered for with some fabulous salads on the menu but for us, it was the chargrilled hamburger with roquefort cheese and shoestring fries that stole the show! My husband declared the poached eggs with corned beef hash a winner as was the frittata with ramps and ricotta.
The Spotted Pig
314 West 11th Street @ Greenwich St
New York 10014
Tel: Â 212 620 0393
www.thespottedpig.com
Brunch: 11am – 3pm, weekends only. No reservations
Locanda Verde
The lure of Locanda Verde’s famous sheep’s milk ricotta with truffle honey and burnt orange toast drew us to Robert de Niro’s trendy Greenwich Hotel, where Locanda Verde is the hotel’s bar, cafe and italian influenced taverna. There is also a takeway bar inside the restaurant for those who can’t wait for their coffee and pastry. Tall french windows overlook the busy side walk,where on a beautiful day, you can sit and watch the passing parade. By night, the bar is busy and diners are filling the tables.
The truffled honey drizzled over the sheep’s milk ricotta to it another level whilst my husband loved his eggs with cotechino hash, spinach and tomato hollandaise. No bloody marys this time as we were headed to the 9/11 memorial.
Locanda Verde
377 Greenwich St @ N.Moore St
New York 20013
Tel: 212 9253797
www.locandaverdenyc.com
Brunch: All days of the week. Reservations available
The Breslin Bar and Dining Room
As we walked into the Breslin Bar and Dining Room, we instantly thought we were back at the Spotted Pig. Similar in design and layout, even to the point of carved and painted pigs decorating the walls, we were not surprised to learn that both restaurants are owned by chef April Bloomfield and her partners.
Situated in an emerging area , it is part of the Ace Hotel on 29th Street. Just around the corner is the newly opened NoMad Hotel with it’s signature restaurant supervised by Daniel Humm and Will Guidara from Eleven Madison Park, getting rave revues
The meal of choice at the Breslin is the chargrilled lamb hamburger (surprise!!) with feta and cumin mayo but this time it came with with thrice cooked chunky chips that hubby declared to be the best!
The Breslin Bar and Dining Room
16 West 29th St @ Broadway
New York 10001
Tel: 212 6791937
www.thebreslin.comÂ
Brunch: All days of the week. No reservations
Prune
Having read Gabrielle Hamilton’s book  ‘Blood, Bones and Butter’, our travelling companions were keen to try her restaurant, Prune. Open only on the weekend for brunch and as another with a no booking policy, we arrived to join the queue. Thankfully it didn’t take long for a table to be free.
Prune is a small, unassuming restaurant with a relaxed atmosphere created by it’s simple distressed wooden tables and mirrors. The chef can be seen working in the small open kitchen.
We were all very excited to be given a bloody mary menu with ten different variations to choose from. I wasn’t sure about the beer chaser but….this could be a long brunch!
Cereal and fruit dishes, eggs and omelettes are all made with a twist. We tried the eggs en cocotte, a coddled egg served with savoury chicken, and the heuvos rancheros- the baked eggs in tomato,garlic and chilli served with black beans. Soft scrambled eggs were also delicious especially with the grilled lamb sausage. The choice is hard.
But what ever you do, don’t miss the Dutch style pancake with sour cream and  blueberries!
Prune
54 East 1st Street ( between 1st & 2nd Ave)
New York 10003
Tel: 212 Â 6773221
www.prunerestaurant.comÂ
Brunch: 10am – 3.30pm Weekends only. No reservations
Balthazar
Unfortunately we didn’t have time for brunch at Balthazar this trip but the coffee drinker in the family did often disappear and return with a takeaway from their boulangerie. This restaurant was always buzzing and the food looked great. It’s certainly one I will visit next trip.
Balthazar
80 Spring Street @Crosby St
Tel: 212 9651414
Breakfast all days with a brunch nenu on the weekend from 10am . Reservations  can be made
 www.balthazartny
Though we didn’t try these restaurants, they all come highly recommended for brunch.
Shopsins
120 Essex St on the Lower East Side ( Essex Street Market)
Brunch here is reputed to be an experience! Just reading the menu takes forever, let alone making a choice
Open from Wednesdays to Sundays, it is advised to go during the week as it can get very crowded. No reservations. They do not take groups of more than four people.
www.shopsins.com
Clinton St Baking Company & Restaurant
4 Clinton St on the Lower East Side
 Known for their light and fluffy pancakes, my daughter recommends loves the blueberry pancake with warm maple butter. Again it can get very busy on the weekend so go during the week. No reservations
www.clintonstreetbaking.com
Minetta Tavern
113 MacDougal St near Washington Park
Brunch is a weekend only affair served from 11am – 3pm but reservations can be made. Famous for their Black label burger with caramelized onions and pommes frites.
Tel: 212 4753850
www.minettatavernny.comÂ
What are your favourite brunch spots?Â
Read more about New York:
What to do in New York
 Walking New York’s High Line
The 9/11 Memorial in New York
Lunch at New York’s Eleven Madison ParkÂ
Eating in New York
Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
New York’s Grand Central Station
Brunch in NYC
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All the featured restaurants look great. I particularly like the decorations and ambiance of the “Spotted Pig”. I like places with a comfortable laid-back quirky feel about them. I also am partial to places with names involving pigs. Do you remember a wine bar close to the City in Perth called “The Pink Pig”. I won’t say how many years ago it was operating, but needless to say it was “too many to reveal”. lol
Thanks Jan. We certainly had fun trying them all. New York is pretty relaxed and this feeling is evident in it’s bars and restaurants.
Even though I hate to admit it, I do remember ‘The Pink Pig’!
My folks use to own and operate the Pink Pig in East Perth, that goes back a long time, 30 years ago…..
I remember the Pink Pig, Anthony…now I’m aging myself!!!
Too many wonderful choices…how could I possibly decide. I’ll have to stay way longer just for brunch.
Yes- you’ll just have to stay a couple of weeks Karen to try them all! There’s so much to do in NYC that 10 days was not long enough!
We love brunch here. The Turkish breakfast becomes a brunch when we all hit the restaurants on Sundays and we’ve even been known to enjoy a beer with our ‘breakfast/brunch’ on occasion. 🙂 Love the look of that burger with the shoestring fries.
Julia
I love your turkish breakfasts Julia. Menemen was my favourite dish. I could eat it all day and with an Efes! Hate to say but the burger was pretty good.
Great round up! That photo of the pancakes and blueberries looks scrumptious. Wish you’d made it to Clinton St Baking Co – next time though!
Thanks Marina. Coming from a local, I’ll take that as a compliment!! Have you been to Prune? It was worth it just for the pancakes! Clinton St Bakery is top of the list for my next visit!
No! I haven’t been to Prune but will make sure to look it up. Today we had a breakfast in the West Village – simple and no frills attached – at Caffe Reggio. for a hot summer’s day, it was perfect! NY is hot Jenny – very hot hot hot!
I just had a quick read of your new post and photos of Caffe Reggio. Looks great – I’ll be over to comment in a sec!. New York must be a very different city when it’s so hot and no breeze to cool you down. Maybe you need another break in SoCal!!
My lands!! Every last one of these places looks and sounds fantastic. 🙂 I adore brunch. It’s such a happy, relaxing meal. 🙂 If I HAVE to choose, I’ll go for the Spotted Pig simply because the name makes me grin. 🙂
They were all great Krista. I really got into the swing of having brunch than a fabulous dinner. You can’t go wrong with the Spotted Pig!!
That Dutch style pancake looks divine. It’s been a while since I’ve done brunch like this. I wish I was in New York right now so I could visit these places!
They were pretty good Christy! Brunch is a fabulous meal- we often combine breakfast and lunch when we’re travelling – its probably more to do with being able to enjoy a fabulous dinner, but it works for us. Thanks for commenting.
You made some excellent dining choices while in NYC! It’s worth researching ahead so no meal is wasted on mediocre meals.
The honey-topped ricotta looks simple enough, but so appealing. Somehow I just don’t think it would taste as good if I tried it at home…
Thanks Traci. We had a fabulous time in New York.Loved every minute of it! The link up is a great idea and a fabulous way to support NYC.
I took the most amazing helicopter tour over New York City with Zip Aviation. Loved every minute of it and will do it again soon!
This is fantastic! Thanks for sharing this places. I will for sure have to go and check them out!
Thanks Leslie. Hope you have a great time trying them all!
Love the Spotted Pig for brunch. Been to the Breslin and Balthazar (both so good), but never for brunch. Getting hungry…
Hi Adrienne. If you love the Spotted Pig you’ll also love the Breslin! I can definitely recommend both the Breslin and Balthazar for brunch. Brunch is one of may favourites meals and not one does it as well as the New Yorkers!