My husband and I joined two friends at Talula’s Garden for Sunday brunch. The restaurant is in the Washington Square area, just on the edge of the park. You enter the restaurant by walking through a wrought-iron gate and their patio area. Upon entering, you are invited in with tall ceilings and windows that let in a ton of light. There are stone walls and three sections of seating – the main one you walk in to, one to the left in a slightly separate area, and one just ahead of you in the bar area. We sat in a room with the bar. Although the Brunch menu seems limited, there are a few vegetarian options, including a few egg dishes. I did not choose one of these because we were there on the later side of brunch (almost 2 p.m.).
I started my meal with the Tropical Influence Fresh Fruit, which consisted of Pineapple, Banana, Citrus, Pomegranate, Mint, and Elderflower Syrup. I was a little nervous at first because I have never had Elderflower Syrup, but I thought it was a very nice-tasting compilation of fruit. The food was fresh (it looked like it had just been cut) and the syrup helped enhance the sweet flavor of the fruit. I was slightly disappointed that the pomegranate was just a couple of strips, and not the seeds; also, the citrus was a couple segments of a mandarin orange, which I gave to my husband. Overall, though, it was a good dish to start off with.
As my “main” I ordered the Orchard Pear Salad. The salad included Red Watercress, Endive, Walnuts, Port Pears, Point Reyes Blue Cheese, and was coated in a Poppy Seed Dressing. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask for the dish without the blue cheese (which I close to despise), but I was able to push it to the side (another unfortunate thing, most of the walnuts were stuck to the cheese, so they went uneaten as well). However, the rest of the salad had a good taste - the pears were crisp and had been soaked in port wine (with just a slight tint of purple color around the edges) and their sweetness contrasted nicely with the more savory flavors of the endive and watercress. The poppy seed dressing coated the salad, but was not too heavy – there were no puddles after I got through eating it. As a side, I shared the Fried New Potatoes, Leeks, and Farmhouse Cheddar dish with my husband (although I ate most of it). The potatoes did not have a standard cut, but that made the dish more interesting. They were quite crispy and the cheese had a shredded-melted texture as opposed to a wetter-melted texture (i.e. what you get with Velveeta). The only thing I think could have been better with this dish is that there were only a few leeks and I would have liked a lot more. Oh well.
My opinion – check out this restaurant. It’s worth the slightly high cost of the dishes.
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