One of my favorite theaters is iPic Theater (you can read about it here: http://www.foodlovergirl.com/ipic-theater-hudson-lights/ and here: http://www.foodlovergirl.com/ipic-theater-hudson-lights-2/ ). There is a huge restaurant connected to the theater, who also serves food in the theater. Even though we ordered food off the in-theater dining menu, we never actually dined in the restaurant. So, we decided to have an early brunch one weekend to see what they are really like in there.
They have an outdoor seating, with good amount of moving room around the tables. I can see it would be really nice on a cool or warm day. When we entered, they have a big host/hostess station. This is where you get your parking ticket validated, if you parked in a municipal parking right across the street from it. If you are dining in the restaurant, you get 4-hour free parking in the parking garage.
They have a huge bar in the middle, with bar seats, high table & chairs in the front side of the restaurant. It had a wall mural of George Washington Bridge, which is less than a mile away. Very modern and simple decor.
Behind the bar is regular table seating, lots of it too. I loved the trees in the middle. Even though we were in the inside, it brought the outside into the space. They had lots of wood everywhere, floor, ceiling beams, furniture…all together to create a cozy, relaxing atmosphere. All the way at the back is an open kitchen, which I always appreciate. It is fun to be able to see how the food creations come to life.
They also have some seating that are half chairs and half sofa, and also some booth seating along the brick wall on the side. You have all sorts of seating choices here. Since we were here kind of early, it was still quiet, so we got to enjoy our brunch in nice calm environment.
We sat at the booth, and I really liked the light fixture and all the art decorations on the wall. It was kind of country, homey and cozy. It was fun looking at all the art pieces.
They have an interesting brunch menu, with a Prix Fixe called Brunch Box ($19.99). You get to choose one entrée and one drink. They had a good amount of food choices, and as for drink, you could get basic kinds like coffee, tea, etc., or you could get alcoholic beverage. You can make it bottomless with additional $10. We went with regular Brunch Box, without bottomless. My hubby got Moscow Mule, which did not come in a tin container like we are used to, but that was ok. They make the ginger syrup in-house, and it was strong! Had really nice punch there.
I went with Mimosa. It was nice and bubbly, but nothing special, just a basic, refreshing drink that was not too sweet.
For main, I chose Eggs Benedict, which comes with poached eggs, English muffin, and hollandaise. There was an option to add an extra item for additional $4, so I decided to add crab cakes. This made my Brunch Box into $23.99.
Now that I look at the photos, maybe they could have given me a couple of more asparagus…LOL. Regardless, the asparagus were cooked just right, not too hard, not too soft. Still crunchy and very fresh.
The eggs were great too, perfect egg porn. The crab cake was more like “shredded crab meat” on the English muffin, but it was pretty tasty. I wish if there was a little bit more crab meat, but I still enjoyed it a lot. Nice seasoning, not too salty but well flavored.
My husband went with French toast, which comes with thick sliced brioche, ricotta, and candied pecans. This one also had an option to make it “decadent” with additional $4. So, his Brunch Box also became $23.99. This is how they get you… With that option, the French Toast become stuffed with farmers market berries and whipped mascarpone. I know, “Decadent” does sounds great, right?
And this thing was HUGE! The picture does not show the real size, but it was really big, to the point I said “WOW!” when it arrived. Yes my hubby was super happy… It was coated with bits of candied pecan, which gave nice crunchy texture. Lots of fresh, sweet berries on top, with fruit syrup drizzled over them.
And yes, it was stuffed with creamy, velvety whipped mascarpone that was airy and light. It was a dream come true for Stuffed French Toast lovers. The bread was sliced thick, dense and very filling yet fluffy and bouncy like a cloud. I say we were fully satisfied!
Well, we were so satisfied when it came to the volume, that we couldn’t finish. We ate all the berry and the parts that were soaked with berry juice, and left the rest for later. Our waiter took it back to be wrapped up, and he came back with a nice brown bag. He said that he added more berry compote, and yes, he was right! We found almost half the French Toast that we left, and extra berries in a cup for us! How sweet and generous, thank you!!!
Their bathroom is located on the other side of the host/hostess station, by the escalators that leads to the movie theaters. They have more, larger bathroom upstairs as well if the bathroom on the ground level is full.
The ground level bathroom is rather small, compared to the one upstairs. It is nice and clean, and most of the time, it is well maintained.
We had a lovely brunch here, relaxing and tasty. I wish if their brunch menu allow the option to have just the entrée, without drinks added. But then again, we usually get some kind of drink with the food so maybe that is ok. The service was good, slow but in a relaxing way. Our server was polite, friendly and had a good knowledge of their menu. They had a few other items that sounded good on their brunch menu, so I would like to go back again to try them in a near future!
City Perch Kitchen + Bar – 2023 Hudson St, Fort Lee, NJ 07024