It’s been 11 months since the three of us, that is Sabrina, Jack, and I, have embarked on another one of our Sunday brunches, but at least that gave them plenty of time to lose weight and get in shape. Now that the three of us are living in the Gramercy/Union Square area(ish), we can finally try out all those restaurants lining up on Park Ave and Broadway from 18th street on.
Despite the lure of brunch at Punch, I wanted to try out a new place. Searching online, there were only a few places that had a decent brunch menu with somewhat cheap prices in the area. Barbounia was one of them. I remembered seeing the place before I left and thinking that I wouldn’t be able to afford it.
But, you’d be surprised. Their brunch entrees are very affordable. Everything is under $12, unless if you’re going for the steak and eggs. Being in an altered state after semi-formal from the night before, I had this intense craving for potatoes, hence why I got their cheese omelette that came with home potatoes. While it was indeed good, it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. There must have been at least 4-5 full eggs in that omelette. That omelette was so yellow it was as if egg whites ceased to exist.
Sabrina ordered the buttermilk pancakes, which came with a good portion of berries and more importantly, a heaping cup full of cream. Now, cream generally tastes really artificial and oversweet in the US, but this cream was delicately light and flirtatously sweet. Sabrina would have eaten the cream by itself had she had run out of pancakes. Actually, I think that’s what she ended up doing.
Jack decided to be boring and order the eggs benedict. While the bite that I tried was indeed good, I can’t really decide whether it was truely tasty or not. But, when it came time for dessert, Jack was the only one willing to split one with me. Now this is really strange, but when I was in Sydney, a good friend of mine finally started her own food blog and posted about Barbounia. I was intrigued by this “yogurt panna cotta” that she wrote about and I actually commented saying that I wanted to try it. Having forgotten that I’d written that, I told Jack that I really wanted to try to yogurt panna cotta. He agreed and so we ordered it. Talk about fate or what.
The yogurt panna cotta reminded me of the Arctic circle from Aquavit. It was topped off with a scoop of pistachio ice cream and a cigar shaped bundle of sweetness. The panna cotta itself was thick and creamy, just the way it should be. Topped off with dried fruit, it was such a refreshing dessert.
If you order coffee here, they serve it by the pot. By the time we came for brunch, it was already 1pm. The service was spectacularly great and the servers were both friendly and helpful. It’s a great place to go to if you’re looking for a blend of American and Mediterranean food.
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250 Park Ave. South
New York, NY 10003
at 20th St. See Map | Subway Directions 
212-995-0242
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Posted in Flatiron, New York City
