Catching Up and Double Date Brunch at The Smith

The Smith
55 3rd Avenue New York, NY 10003
212.420.9800

After trying out Jane for our friend Alex's birthday brunch, I knew instantly that I would want to try Jane's sister restaurant The Smith too. Luckily last month Alex, Samantha, Will, and I met for brunch at The Smith.

Unfortunately, we picked a chaotic day to do it because you see, the day we chose was December 14, 2013 and on this day, SantaCon took place and a tremendous amount of snow hit The Big Apple, but we managed to have a successful and great brunch together. Luckily, Sam made reservations ahead of time and we were seated after arriving for ten minutes.

The ambiance and decor is different from Jane. It's slightly dimmer, crowded, and not as cozy as Jane.

 Cucumber Ginger Ale

We started off with drinks. I ordered one of their housemade sodas: cucumber ginger ale. The cucumber ginger ale is different, but a good different. I really liked my drink especially because it had slices of lime which made the cucumber ginger ale super refreshing.

Beer Battered String Beans with Ranch Sauce

We wanted to order an appetizer first, but wasn't sure what. The customers next to us ordered the beer battered string beans with ranch sauce and it looked and smelled amazing, so we decided to order it too. The beer battered string beans was delicious. Perfectly fried, tasty, crunchy, and addictive! I highly recommend this appetizer.

Vanilla Bean French Toast & Chicken Sausage

Will ordered the vanilla bean french toast and with a side of the chicken sausage. Jane also has the vanilla bean french toast as well. It's been a while since I've had a bite of french toast, so I was actually excited to try a bit of Will's french toast. All I can say is sweet, moist, sponge-like deliciousness! The chicken sausage was tasty as well.

One Yolk Omelette 

Our friend Alex ordered the one yolk omelette which is basically an omelette smothered with sun-dried tomatoes, ricotta cheese, and basil. It didn't taste too special to me. It tasted just like a pizza except in an omelette form.

Potato Waffle Benedict

Our friend Samantha ordered the potato waffle Benedict. According to Yelp, the potato waffle Benedict is a popular menu item, so she listened to my suggestion and ordered it. The potato waffle Benedict looked great! The potato waffle Benedict was topped off with a creamed spinach sauce. Samantha ordered the chicken sausage on the side too.

Will and I tried the potato waffle Benedict and it delicious! Although, I would have preferred a tomato-based sauce or the classic Hollandaise sauce. The egg was cooked just right and runny and the potato waffle was crunchy and crispy.

Croaker

I ordered the croaker because it sounded interesting. The croaker consists of different layers - sunny up eggs, smoked ham, gruyere cheese - sitting on top of a sourdough bread. I wasn't too thrilled with my order, it tasted alright, but didn't really appeal to me too much.

So after all this food, we still wanted dessert. We chose two desserts to share.

S'mores Bread Pudding

Our friend Samantha and Alex ordered the s'mores bread pudding which looked great! It's made with a chocolate brioche bread, pudding, graham cracker, homemade marshmallow, and honey anglaise. The s'more bread pudding was so moist, delicious, and absolutely chocolatey and marshmallow goodness!

Pumpkin Pie in a Jar

Will and I ordered the Pumpkin Pie in a Jar and oh my goodness, It was literally, and I do mean literally one of the best desserts I've ever had! It looked great and tasted great. It's made up of pumpkin cheesecake, cranberry gelee, pecan brittle, and sugared cranberries. The dessert was creamy, delicious, a little sweet, and a little tart. I really and truly enjoyed this dessert.

All in all, our double date brunch was great! We had a good time trying different foods and catching up with our friends. The food at The Smith was great and I would like to come back in the future to try out their brunch menu again and their delicious desserts.