Bun Boy Eats NYC – DIRTY FRENCH – LOWER EAST SIDE

DIRTY FRENCH – LOWER EAST SIDE – BRUNCH

June 8, 2016 5:06 am

Restaurants located inside hotels are tricky, when it comes to brunch.

They want to cater to locals, who know what it really means to brunch. It means, to booze. Which means lots of cash in the restaurant’s pocket. Locals are well aware of that restaurants in New York City will gladly assault their wallets, and they’ve accepted it.

However, hotel restaurants also have to please their guests.

Tourists from other parts of the country and world aren’t familiar with the idea of brunch. They’ve heard of it; they’ve seen Sex and the City. But they don’t live it. Brunch is a state of mind.

Visitors from small towns want breakfast. They want scrambled eggs and coffee at 8 am. Not mimosas and chicken liver on toast at noon.

Europeans want cappuccino and pastry. They’re not pigs, like us.

Neither group is willing to drop $100 on brunch. They’ve got a full day of racing to the tippy tops of every skyscraper in the city and need to save their shekels for that big ass pastrami sandwich they’re going to get at Katz Deli later.

So, when locals come to a place like Dirty French for brunch, they’re met with quiet tourists who “haven’t had their java yet” and waiters who look at you like you’re a homeless person when you ask for a bloody mary.

We arrived at 10:50 am. 10 Minutes before “Brunch” was officially to be served.

I took on look at the menu and my heart dropped. I study every menu in advance. Breakfast was NOT what I wanted.

I wanted BRUNCH!

Meaning, I wanted the lamb burger and not $18 eggs. I will spend lots of dolla bills ya’ll on burgers and things that are complex or annoying to make. But I hate spending that kind of money on .50 cents worth of eggs.

The burger was perfect. Simple, juicy, well seasoned and not gamey at all. Those of you who are frightened of lamb burgers, this is for you!

The French Dip was also perfection. Crusty French bread (not the soggy, white tasteless loaves you get at a diner) plenty of tender slices of rare beef and a nice horseradish sauce. Heaven.

We were given a little platter of complimentary pastries, which were a nice start. At first, I began to gloat. “Oh, they must have recognized me. This happens all the time. So embarrassing.”

But then I saw another table being served the same pastries! So insulting. If I handed out stars in my reviews, I would remove one for that move.

Just like with every hotel restaurant, prices are about $3 bucks more than they should be. Like going to a McDonalds in the airport and spending $6 on a Big Mac. But you have no choice.

Ludlow Hotel
180 Ludlow St
New York, NY 10002
Lower East Side
(212) 254-3000
dirtyfrench.com