In addition to mac and cheese, Chat 'n Chew sells other quintessential American comfort food like grilled cheese sandwich, meatloaf, turkey, fried chicken, pork chops, a Holy Cow hamburger, and a "TV Dinner" (chicken fried steak, green bean casserole & skin-on smashies with country gravy). Their Sweet items include a Coca-Cola Cake and Cookies 'n Cream cake. It's a fun-looking restaurant filled with American nostalgia decorations and large Christmas tree lights.
As we said before, brunch on weekends is a New York institution. New Yorkers know how to brunch, where to brunch, and when to brunch. When we went to Chat 'n Chew for brunch yesterday, it was as crowded as could be, which made the restaurant feel very congested. But you quickly forget the people around you because of their delicious food. Our intention was to try their mac and cheese but their brunch menu was calling us and we're "breakfast food at non-breakfast times" kind of people.
We ordered their Banana Pecan Buttermilk Flapjacks. These were unbelievably chew-tastic. These flapjacks were nicely dense, not overly cooked, had the perfect texture, and the powdered sugar, bananas, pecan, and maple syrup just gave us that good 'ol lovin feeling. (Side note: We realize that our pictures at times royally suck balls, especially when the restaurant, like Chat 'n Chew, is dark. All of our photos on this blog have been taken with our phone camera, which means no flash, no zoom feature, no macro feature. We'll need to cut back on dining out to afford to buy a new camera).
For an extra $2, you get a plate of several large slices of ham. This is probably the best ham we've ever feasted on.
We also ordered the "Sam the Butcher" - a jumbo three-egg omelet with crispy bacon, honey-baked ham, potato, spinach, and gruyere. Yowza! That's what I'm talking about! Even their toast tasted good. Yes, it's just a plain white toast but it was super duper crispy and crunchy without looking like it had even been toasted.
These people do not skimp on their food. They make sure to give you a BIG good meal so you're getting your money's worth. This is the first omelet I had a hard time cutting. I've never eaten an omelet with gruyere cheese in my life and man I feel suckered for not having had this spectacular combination until my current ripe age. Most people make omelets with the typical American, Swiss, Cheddar, or Blue Cheese. I think the Gruyere really made this omelet.
The only thing we had no desire to try from their brunch menu were their brunch drinks, which included a beer mimosa (yuck!). We are definitely gonna go back to Chat 'n Chew to try their mac and cheese and partake in their $2 happy hour beer specials. If not for the recommendation from my co-worker, we would never have known to come here. And it's in a great location near the Union Square open market. So after we stuffed our faces, we walked it off at the open market (finding comfort from the chilly air by drinking pear apple cider, and by getting more food, of course).
