Westchester Breakfast Club

:a_Top:

 

 

 

25 Studio Hill Road

Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 (Map)

(914) 502-0080

http://haymounthouseny.com/

 

 

It’s Sylvia’s birthday again (darnest thing, seems to happen every year). So we headed for an elegant brunch at Haymount House. Unfortunately, there were some glitches this day, including a hamburger ordered medium-rare came out charred beyond recognition and a maple butter served with the fried chicken and waffles that was more paste-like than anything. Happy birthday, Sylvia.

 

Attendees: :jump_to_Sylvia:, :jump_to_Andrew:, :jump_to_Reid:, Jeffrey, Shelley, guests

 

 

 

:a_Sylvia:

It was my birthday, and after a lot of hemming and hawing, I finally settled on the Haymount House for brunch with my friends.

I wanted to like Haymount House.  I really did.  It was a classy place and sounded delicious.  Perhaps that expectation was what ultimately lead to my disappointment.

Haymount House is a restaurant that resides hilltop in Briarcliff Manor among other small quiet residences.  A beautiful place for a wedding or even a surprise baby shower, which was going on at the same time as we were brunching.  The parking is in a large lot, but awkwardly divided.

We were seated in a nice sunny nook of the dining room, looking out into the yard.  It felt fun, fancy, but comfortable.

So far so good right?  Well, let’s get to the food.  It boosts itself as a farm to table restaurant, with a kitchen headed by talented, well credentialed chef.  So, the food should be good right?

I opted for the prix-fixe option, which for $29, allowed me a choice appetizer and main entree, with a cocktail.

Fresh off a 7 mile run, and not very well hydrated, I was only able to enjoy a couple of sips of the Bloody Mary.  It was good.  I enjoyed the addition of the horseradish and found it cut through the sometimes hard to drink nature of tomato juice.  The few sips I had were very good.

For an appetizer, I had the Biscuit and sausage gravy with poached farm egg.  It was really an appetizer portion of what was offered as a main entree.  That was very good.  Slightly under seasoned, but the biscuit was good, and the egg was poached perfectly.

For my main, I ordered the Poached Local Blue Hen Eggs, Mushrooms, Creamy Polenta.  What I got was poached eggs and spinach over creamy polenta.

Here’s the thing.  I understand if a substitution is made, but it would be nice if I was told there was a substitution and why.  Instead, a dish with spinach instead of mushrooms was wordlessly presented to me hoping I won’t notice.

Regardless, it was good.  Egg, again poached perfectly, and the spinach was sauteed with garlic.  The polenta was indeed creamy.

The Czar says:  While the food was not terrible, what I wasn’t thrilled with was how underwhelmed I felt when I left.  The setting was beautiful, the service was great, but the food just didn’t deliver to the level of the price point set.  It just felt like something was missing.

:back_to_Top:

 

:a_Andrew:

A charming manor house in the suburbs of Briarcliff, the Haymount House looks exactly like Senior Prom. The tastes like it as well.

Let me explain.

Like all those fancy dresses and sharp tuexedos you’d see at prom, the brunch menu at Haymount House looked exciting. Biscuits and sausage gravy, chicken and waffles, yum yum.

The execution, unfortunately, was more like your classmate’s band doing covers of 50’s era pop  music, off key, muted and just plain bland. The chicken and waffles was simultaneous overcooked (waffles) and under-cooked (chicken) with no seasoning on the chicken and some kind of  sauce or syrup or something for the waffles.  It tasted exactly like a bunch of kids were just rushing out orders with no communication or cohesion.

Skip Haymount House, just play Twister in your friend’s basement.

 

:back_to_Top:

 

:a_Reid:

The Case:  Haymount House v. The Westchester Breakfast Club

The Venue:  Studio Hill in Briarcliff Manor

The Facts:  As a venue for a relaxing, Sunday brunch to celebrate a friend’s birthday, you couldn’t ask for much more than the grounds of Haymount House, especially on a nice day.  The decor and architecture are quite lovely, and the large windows let in a lot of natural light.  The staff was friendly and attentive.

Unfortunately, the food not only failed to match the atmosphere, but it was possibly the least palatable food I’ve had as a member of the WBC.  I decided to go with the $29 prix fixe option, which gets you an appetizer, an entree, and a mimosa/bloody Mary.  For my appetizer, I ordered the short-rib sliders.  For my entree, I ordered the chicken and waffles.  And for the drink, I got the Mimosa.

The short rib sliders were so dry that the cheese they surreptitiously added did not allay the scraping sensation I felt when biting into the tiny sandwiches.  I guess I should be grateful that unlike the cheese with the sliders, the menu actually reflected that the chicken and waffles were served with a citrus maple butter.  But it would have also been nice to know that rather than being served in a small carafe on the side, that citrus maple butter comes thickly poured over one of the two waffle slices they so graciously serve with the chicken.  Even the smallest dollop of the viscous stuff was too much to handle; served by the cup-full it was positively gag inducing.

So, my first task after receiving my entree was to painstakingly scrape the disgusting glop out of every corner and crevice of the waffle slice and off of the main plate, and deposit it on a bread plate.  This was quite the task, as the viscosity of the stuff was too thick to pour off and too thin to come off in chunks.  Once that was, for the most part, accomplished (though, to my great displeasure, some of the butter was impossible to get rid of) I unfortunately had to actually start eating my meal.

 

Though, in comparison to the butter, the fried chicken and waffle were quite good, in comparison to a decent meal, they were quite bad.  The waffle was warmed-over and had the texture and flavor of moist cardboard.  The chicken tasted burned and reheated, and was dry as a bone.  I also must once again mention that they only gave us half a waffle, which is bizarrely stingy, though I recognize that complaint must sound like the old joke: “The food was terrible, and such small portions!”

The Verdict: While the brunch at Haymount House may or may not have been the worst meal I’ve had as a member of WBC, it was definitely the most disappointing, given the promise of the setting.  Skip it.
:back_to_Top: