The Ace Hotel occupies the south-east corner of 29th and Broadway and insides its doors represents a couple of pockets of England. The restaurants on the ground floor of the hotel are the domain of April Bloomfield, the Executive chef who grew up in Birmingham and spent time at Bibendum and River Cafe before setting up The Spotted Pig with Ken Friedman. Fast forward a few years and April’s stock has never been higher with a recently published cookbook and expansion into restaurants in The Ace hotel. The day we visited the Ace, she was entertaining the hordes at the Googa Mooga festival in New Jersey.
The restaurant are on the ground floor of the hotel and piscivores gather in the John Dory Oyster bar to one side while carnivores head to the Breslin on the other. The lobby in the middle is where the kids who have no interest in food but want to be seen with their laptops gather. Or maybe they’re vegetarians whose form of protest at their relative lack of food options is to occupy all available power sockets. The high-ceilinged John Dory is light and airy with exposed metalwork and huge spherical fish tanks. The Breslin is heavily panelled with dark wood and bears a much greater resemblance to a pub interior.
The restaurant are on the ground floor of the hotel and piscivores gather in the John Dory Oyster bar to one side while carnivores head to the Breslin on the other. The lobby in the middle is where the kids who have no interest in food but want to be seen with their laptops gather. Or maybe they’re vegetarians whose form of protest at their relative lack of food options is to occupy all available power sockets. The high-ceilinged John Dory is light and airy with exposed metalwork and huge spherical fish tanks. The Breslin is heavily panelled with dark wood and bears a much greater resemblance to a pub interior.
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On the drinks side, The Breslin has the better beer but the John Dory does a killer Bloody Mary so it was the obvious place to start while deciding where to eat. The Bloody Mary is an excellent pick-me-up after a late New York night thanks to the copious amounts of black pepper and fresh horseradish in the drink. It puts a spring in your step and gets you in the mood to actually think about food.
This Saturday lunch time, the need for meat trumped fish so we headed to the Breslin once cocktails were downed. The brunch menu, served on Saturday and Sunday is a mixture of light breakfast items, breakfast mains including a Full English option and sandwiches. We were all mindful of big evening meals in store so it was strictly limited to one food item and beer. The Breslin is usually a point of pilgrimage because it carries Old Speckled Hen on tap, a rarity in the US. My lunch option was the Chargrilled lamb burger with feta cheese, cumin mayo and thrice cooked chips. The burger was requested medium rare and turned out to be nicely pink inside. The outside of the burger was nicely browned with no burning and the meat was deliciously moist. The accompanying bun was toasted to give a nice crunch and the sharp feta contrasted nicely with the rich lamb. Taste-wise, the sandwich was reminiscient of a more classy doner kebab . The cumin mayo was served in a small pot to spread on the burger but it didn’t add anything for me. The triple cooked chips were excellent. This is definitely a sandwich I’d recommend.
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Overall verdict.
The Breslin is a great venue for an informal lunch. Food is good and hearty and the menu is definitely worth exploring further. As seen with so many other places the room is quite dark and I generally find that off-putting.
Would I revisit The Breslin?
Of the two, my preference is the John Dory. However, both restaurants have loads of character and justify repeat visits. I’ll be back.
Overall Rating - 3/5
The Breslin is a great venue for an informal lunch. Food is good and hearty and the menu is definitely worth exploring further. As seen with so many other places the room is quite dark and I generally find that off-putting.
Would I revisit The Breslin?
Of the two, my preference is the John Dory. However, both restaurants have loads of character and justify repeat visits. I’ll be back.
Overall Rating - 3/5