The Glue Holding Breakfast Together

Brunch is more than just Eggs Benedict and a Bloody Mary. At least, I think it is. This is the first installment of a new regular rocknrollscientist feature: brunch reviews.

Last week, I went to Honest John's with Ryan, Mark, and Brianna (names changed only slightly to protect the guilty). We started going to brunch semi-regularly about a month ago. It happened kinda spontaneously the first time. But then a week and a half later, I didn't call anyone and ran into Ryan and Mark at the bar. Apparently I was supposed to know that our brunch club would be a weekly event. Thanks for telling me, guys. Brianna didn't know, either.

So, that first time we went to Union Street (Midtown Detroit) for their new Sunday brunch. This was the first week they were doing it. For that, I am willing to cut 'em some slack. Our server (name unknown) was obviously hungover and not accustomed to waiting tables at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon. Ryan was still drunk from the previous night, so he didn't notice. This was also the day when he uttered the now familiar phrase: "Pig is the glue that holds breakfast together." He doesn't remember saying that.

While waiting for Mark to show up, Brianna, Ryan, and I looked over the huge menu. I think it may be bigger than the restaurant's regular menu (but that could've been the hangover...). All the typical brunch items were there, in addition to some regular Union Street lunch menu items. The entire drink/beer/wine list was also the same as usual. There are a few specialty items like the Biscuits and Jambalaya and a few others I was too hungover to actually remember. If I liked Cajun food, I'd be all over that, but I'm not the biggest fan. I like my biscuits and gravy with pork sausage gravy, the way it's supposed to be.

Quite a few of the brunch dishes sounded really good, but for me, a good measure of a brunch is the Eggs Benedict. The Bloody Mary can also be used as a barometer.

Oh, there's a cool thing about the Union Street brunch, they have a whole section just for bagels and the various stuff you can get with them. Then there's the bagel buffet. That's what we called it, although it's listed as the Friends and Family on the menu. This comes with a plate of about five toasted bagels sliced in half on one plate. On the other plate, there's a stack of prosciutto, smoked salmon, pineapple, melon, (huge) strawberries, a scoop of whitefish pate, a wheel of cream cheese (the dry kind - which I like), and a huge helping of garlic-laced boursin cheese. All of that for $15.95. Sounds like a lot of money, but seriously, the four of us couldn't finish all of it because we were so full, just from that. And we still had main dishes coming out!

Sidenote: Ryan had never seen prosciutto or smoked salmon before and kept referring to the smoked salmon as "pink" and the prosciutto as "old" (because we told him it's cured ham).

Ryan and I had the Eggs Benedict, which was less than tasty. The hollandaise was bland, and the english muffins were burnt. There are certain things that you just can't burn in a dish, or else it's totally ruined. The English muffins in an egg benedict are one such thing. Plus we were way too full from our bagel buffett and bloody marys.

That reminds me, the bloody marys were good. It looks like the only choice of vodka is Absolut Peppar, at least that's the way it's noted on the menu. My first one was served without ice, which I thought was odd, but whatever. Our server somehow ended up giving us a couple extra Bloody Marys. No idea why, but that contributed to Ryan staying drunk for probably ten hours straight that day. Mark wasn't drunk, but had been up for a couple days straight after his band played a show in North Carolina (in a dry county, no less) the previous night. He plays bass in a Kid Rock spin-off act. In other words, most of us were a little out of it that day.

Mark and Brianna both got omelets of some sort, and they seemed happy enough, but again, the bagel buffett sated our appetites almost completely.

Overall, I think that in time, Union Street will seriously give everyone else in town a run for their money. They're already known for good food and big portions, adding brunch to the things people love about the place was a great idea.

Last week, Ryan, Mark, Brianna, and I went to Honest John's (Cass Corridor, Detroit) for brunch.

I've had breakfast there before just with Brianna and I wasn't all that impressed. But, I know a lot of people who love it there, so I figure there's no harm in giving the place a second chance. Yet again, Mark met up with us there, so we had some time to make our decisions.

I recommend the bloody mary at Honest John's. Make sure you order it spicy.

Ryan couldn't decide what he wanted, and started writing a list on his paper place mat. For a short guy, he really wanted a lot of food. He started with corned beef hash, changed his mind five times, and came back to where he started. Plus a club sandwich. I don't think he ate more than one triangle of that sandwich.

I had a simple traditional breakfast with eggs, sausage, hash browns, and toast, which was good. Brianna had the swiss and spinach omelet that I had the last time and didn't like. She liked it. Mark had an omelet, too, I think. As far as the food goes, everyone was happy. The bloody marys were good.

Brianna, our den mother took care of business and made sure everyone was good.

Brian told us about the Garbage Olympics, an event he was taking part in later that night. I guess there's a weekly rap battle at Alvin's (Detroit) hosted by Proof (from D12). Brian and Proof were squaring off in a relay involving garbage bags, a dumpster, and a beer bong. I still haven't heard the results, but I guess there was supposed to be a pretty big crowd for this event happening at 3am early on a Monday morning...

Next week should take me and everyone else to Atlas Bistro for brunch. I'm sure you'll be hearing from me soon enough.