We are fans of Mile End at their Manhattan location. While visiting Brooklyn on one weekend and looking for a brunch spot, we happily discovered that we are nearby their Brooklyn location. We head over to the delicatessen right away. The exterior was very modern, sleek, and clean look to it. No extra fancy decoration, almost artistic.
We got there almost right after they opened, so there were only few people in the inside, but it quickly got busy. The inside is rather small, they have nice counter seating on one side, and large picnic style tables on the other side. The counter is made wide enough so that is comfortable.
The tables are large, and are meant to share with other customers. The entrance side of the wall have large windows from floor to ceiling, flooding the inside with natural light, illuminating their simple, sleek interior. They have clean white walls helping bright up the room, and very thick, solid wood furniture that was very comfortable. They also had chalk board around the counter, with their special menu on it.
Just like the exterior, they have some artistic elements to it in the inside. I especially liked their light fixtures on the wall. Very simple but yet very unique and beautiful.
So, let’s talk about food! We started off with a nice cup of coffee. They offer house blend Stumptown Coffee, and we ordered Drip Coffee ($3). It came in this adorable cup that had antique design look to it. We wanted milk to go with the coffee, and it took as asking 2 different servers 2-3 times for it, before they finally brought the milk…
Then we ordered Breakfast Sandwich ($9) with Smoked Meat Poutine on the side ($13), and one of their brunch special menu, Smoked Duck Grilled Cheese ($14).
The Breakfast Sandwich comes with fried eggs, bacon, and cheddar on rye. The sandwich was really nice and fluffy, cheddar hugging the egg and bacon, bread was fresh and soft. The bacon had very nice flavor to it, and eggs were cooked just right, it was egg porn…
The poutine was covered with gooey cheese curds and chicken gravy, and had chunks of smoked meat. It brought me back to when we traveled to Montreal. I really want to go back there again, they have such amazing food! Mile End does a good job creating poutine as well. The fries were very potato-y and soft, gravy had nice flavor, and meat was juicy and tender… Just an awesome item. However, I do think it was very pricey, I mean, “side” portion for $13…! This made the combo to be total of $21! That is a pricey brunch…
It also came with picked vegetable, which was very refreshing and gave a good contrast to the sandwich and poutine. Almost like a pallet cleanser.
The Smoked Duck Grilled Cheese came with Swiss and American cheeses, rye, maple glaze, and fried egg. When we asked our server about this dish when we were deciding on what to order, she recommend this sandwich, and told us it will be sweet, as the sandwich is coated with maple glaze. We had no idea what that would be like, and with our curiosity high, we ordered it. It was very interesting indeed. It had great smoked flavor, tender and juicy duck, perfectly cooked egg, and yes, it was sweet. It could be a bit too sweet if you are not into maple glaze stuff, but for sweet lovers, it could be a big win. I thought it was pretty tasty. Get your sugar rush in the morning, and goes great with a good cup of coffee (without sugar).
The service was not consistent, it was ok at the beginning, but quickly became the game of catch. It was not easy to get their attention, even though it was not packed. I guess it was a bit more relaxed atmosphere, which we were ok with, but when we needed milk for our coffee, or refill of water, or wanted to get a check, it took more than enough effort and time and I prefer. Other than that, they were very nice and helpful (once you catch them). The food was very good, even though a bit more pricey than I prefer, but they do come with high quality food. I have not had any disappointing food from any of their location, so you know I will be going back for some more soon!
Mile End Delicatessen – 97A Hoyt St, Brooklyn, NY 11217