We’re all back from the hiatus! Thank you for staying with us! We decided to head down to New Rochelle to try out the Brickyard Bistro. So, without further delay, here it is!
Brickyard Bistro
16 Division Street
New Rochelle, NY 10801(Map it!)
Attendees: Shelley, Sylvia, Pat, Reid,
New Rochelle is far for most of the WBC, so we decided to carpool. After a brief debate about whose vehicle to take, we were off, GPS and all, ready for the trek down the east coast of the county. The car ride would have been perfect had it not been for the suspicious red stain on the inside of Reid’s car. It made us all a little nervous.
Thanks to that smart woman who lives in the GPS machine, we found our way to Brickyard Bistro with no problem. Brickyard Bistro is one of several unassuming storefront restaurants running along Division Street. There was a small round bistro table on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant and there was a container with paper take-out menus, one of which I grabbed on our way in. Upon entering we were greeted by the waitress behind the bar. She told us we could sit anywhere but when she saw there were 5 of us, she kindly suggested the cushy booth in the back corner. I settled into the throne-like seat, where I felt (and, I assume, looked) quite regal. The waitress brought us our menus. Turns out the paper menu I had taken on the way in was, in fact, the actual menu of the restaurant. Now, let me say, Brickyard Bistro doesn’t strike me as a paper menu type of place. It looks like it should have actual menus. The interior is dark, illuminated by the natural light flooding in through the large window next to the front door. The walls are exposed brick (of course), the floors are a dark tile, and the tables are a dark wood. It has a polished look. Paper menus make me think that a place doesn’t expect customers to come along very often. “Hey, we have customers. What do we give them? I don’t know, just grab some takeout menus.”
I was also struck by how quiet this restaurant was during prime brunch time (we arrived at 11:30). There were only 4 other patrons in the establishment, and the waitress who initially greeted us appeared to be the only waitress working that morning. Maybe it’s because it was World Cup Finals day, maybe it was because it’s the middle of summer. Or maybe Brickyard Bistro doesn’t do a very brisk brunch business. I’m not sure.We were promply brought a carafe of water for the table, but at no point during the meal were we ever asked if we wanted to order anything to drink. No offers of coffee or tea or juice. There were several such occurrences during the meal. Read on, you’ll see what I mean.
After considering the options on my paper menu, I settled on two scrambled eggs (the menu presented “two eggs any style”), which came with homefries and toast (I opted for whole wheat this morning). The wait time was reasonable and when our food arrived the presentation was aesthetically pleasing. All of our meals were served on white rectangle plates. My portion of eggs was quite generous, alot for two eggs, and they were well cooked. I don’t like runny eggs and these were moist without being runny. They were also pleasantly fluffy. The homefries were good–generous cuts of potato, well seasoned, and not greasy. (If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know by now that grease is no friend of mine.) There was a small cup of ketchup on the side of the plate, a nice addition, and certainly much nicer than having a squirt bottle of Heinz on the table. Then there was the toast. The toast in and of itself was fine. It was served dry, which is probably preferable for most people and was something I welcomed after having been to several restaurants in a row that presumed to butter my toast for me. However, our meals were not served with butter. Now, if they could put some ketchup into a small cup, surely they could have also provided a small cup with butter. Our waitress disappeared for a little while after our meals came out but when she came back I asked for some butter. I was brought a small glass cup filled with several soft butter packets and one packet of grape jelly in the bottom of the cup. Not as pleasant a presentation as the ketchup.
You would think my eggs would be enough, but the lemon ricotta pancakes had piqued my interest. When the dish of two large pancakes was placed in front of Sylvia, I decided to order a portion for myself, based on looks alone. Maybe I got a little distracted by the tempting dollup of whipped cream on the pancakes. Turns out it wasn’t my best move. As Sylvia already described, the pancakes did not live up to our expectations. I expected fluffly, flavorful pancakes. What we got were flat, gummy, overly lemon-y pancakes. I would venture that there was no ricotta in the pancakes, and I’m pretty sure I got little bits of lemon stuck in my mouth.
My eggs were quite good, actually, I’d say, among the better scrambled eggs I’ve had, and once I got the butter on my toast things were ok. The price for the meal was reasonable. Because of the distance to New Rochelle, I can’t see myself going back to Brickyard Bistro anytime soon, but I’d say for people in the area, it offers a fine meal. If they get their servers to ask if patrons would like any beverage with their meal and to bring out some butter when the meals are served, I think they’ll be just fine.
We have no photo of the outside of the restaurant because Sylvia was on a mission for coffee and the rest of us (or at least me) got distracted as we were leaving by the cute little children (who really should have been supervised) riding their scooter and bike up and down the block. We’ll do better next week when the WBC takes a trip down to the big city for brunch!
I don’t know why, but I keep calling this place the Backyard Bistro. It did have a backyard patio, and not much of a brickyard feel. Having never stepped foot in New Rochelle, I was a little curious. New Rochelle is far, and it requires lengthy travel on two different highways to get there (three if you follow the directions of Google maps), and a crossing of a toll on our return. There are ways to bypass the toll, but that requires patience on the local roads. Anyhoo, that was probably the reason why the breakfast club piled into Reid’s car this morning to make a road trip to see what New Rochelle had to offer.
The Brickyard Bistro is located along a quiet street right near New Roc City. It is non descript and easily passable. The interior had that bistro feel to it, but it felt unfinished, like they just moved in and didn’t unpack all the boxes yet. We were given a rather interesting booth that had an L-shaped booth chair embellished by a design that was a modern take on a throne I guess, two small wooden tables, and two wooden chairs. The menus were the interesting part. They were the take out menus that were also stacked outside for passersby to take. The meals were listed on the menu, but no beverages. Did they serve coffee? Juice? Or was the water we were given it?
I had the lemon ricotta pancakes along with my glass of ice water. The last and only time I ever had lemon ricotta pancakes, they were at a bed and breakfast in Vancouver. There, they were freshly made with lemon zest and the ricotta taste was noticeable. Thank goodness I had those first, because if I had had the Brickyard pancakes first, then my opinion of lemon ricotta pancakes would be forever tainted. These looked incredible upon presentation. There were two golden brown pancakes topped with strawberries, banana slices, and whipped cream, and maple syrup on the side. They had a wonderful scent of lemon and looked promising. Until the first bite. That wonderful scent of lemon became overwhelming with each bite. Instead of a lemon zest, I think a rather generous amount of lemon juice was used to make these pancakes. Then, there was the gumminess to them. The pancakes were tough, and they had this odd gummy texture to them. One can only assume that the batter was over beaten, and the ricotta (if there was any) was added in too early and beaten to death. There was no hint of ricotta flavor whatsoever. If there was any, it was probably masked by the lemon.
I left unsatisfied and under caffeinated, and in my haste to run next door to Kaffine for a cafe au lait, I forgot to take a picture of the outside of Brickyard Bistro. My bad.
The Czar says: There has to be a better place for breakfast in New Rochelle.
What I Had: 2 Eggs over medium, Toast, Potatoes, One Lemon Ricotta Pancake
What It Cost: $10-12, all told
Worth It: Yes to eggs, no to pancake
The Rating: 3/5
The Details: As of this writing, it’s 12:30 on Wednesday afternoon. It’s been about three days since we sat down to brunch in New Rochelle. For the life of me, I can’t remember the name of the place. Additionally, I remember exactly three things about the meal: 1) we never were asked for drink orders, so I didn’t get coffee; 2) The lemon overwhelmed every other taste in the pancakes; and 3) the potatoes had a little pop in the seasoning which pushed them into the upper echelon of potatoes I’ve had on these breakfast excursions.
That’s literally all I remember. Needless to say, wherever we went did not make much of an impression on me, one way or the other. I still remember the horrible, dry eggs at Splendid Coffee Shop, the real maple syrup at City Limits, the fake maple syrup at Bella’s, and every element of the outstanding meals at The Flying Pig and The Barn at Bedford Post. Here, I remember nothing. Not even the name. Take that as you will.
The Bottom Line: Even if I could remember it, not much to recommend one way or the other.
Our adventures took us southbound to New Rochelle. I’ve never been, so why not? With the help of Reid’s GPS, we got there in no time. We didn’t have reservations at Brickyard Bistro, but luckily for us, the place wasn’t very full. There was actually only one other party in the restaurant that we could see. Brickyard claims to have a patio, which I believe to be in the back, since we caught a glimpse of it through a door on the side of the restaurant. We could have eaten there, but non-verbally agreed to sit inside with the nice air conditioning.
The atmosphere in this establishment was a nice one. Nice small groupings of tables along the wall. We were a somewhat large group, but they were able to accommodate us with the nifty set up they had for just such groups. A corner booth framed with iron patterns accompanied with chairs around a pair of tables. It was more like a cozy alcove. But enough about the looks and on to the food.
I had trouble deciding between the Stuffed French toast and the Monte Cristo. On one hand, I imagined the stuffed French toast being regular French toast with a small cut in it and physically stuffed with what ever good treats they wanted to put in there. That is what I believe the word “stuffed” means and how I believe it should be done. Low and behold, this is not their intention. Reid ordered the stuffed French toast and it was apparently just two slices of French toast in a stack with whatever crap betwixt them. I suppose that would make more sense, but let me be naïve with my crazy beliefs. Either way, I decided upon the Monte Cristo and I would compare it to the one I had at FAB.
I realize that Monte Cristos are a knife and fork operation despite their appearance as a sandwich. I’m fine with that. What would aide in the consumption process is a Monte Cristo that has structural stability especially after it’s been ravaged by utensils. This was the case with the MC from FAB. I think it was pressed down in order to seal the layers and prevent slippage. This MC, however, was constructed with the firm belief that gravity and only gravity was going to hold this thing together. Ingredients wise, it was a good MC. The French toast was fluffy, unlike FAB and the innards were of good quality. However, if it is needed to sacrifice fluffiness from the French toast in order to increase the structural stability of the apparatus, then I personally will make the sacrifice.
Service wise, I felt it was lacking. At no point did the waitress ask for a drink order. This means we didn’t have any coffee for the meal. This is brunch! Brunch requires coffee like steak requires potatoes! Luckily, after the meal, we went next door to a small coffee shop. I think it was called Kaffeine. It made my day a smidgen better.
POST SCRIPT!
I do have to point out that the environment was ripe for comedic gold. At one point, Reid was doing the ole drum rim shot to emphasize the punch line of jokes. One time, when he’s going for his “symbol”, the order up bell rang loudly, thus putting EVEN MORE emphasis on the joke. We all thought that this event could not go untold to our loyal readers.