Kristy Hudson

Review of Brasserie 8 1/2

A curious adventure in American Brunch.

A curious adventure in American Brunch.

This place is (I am led to understand) representative of the classic American brunch of the type one would take your parents to. It is very popular and it seems bookings are required. The Sunday brunch offering is an "all you can eat" buffet that offers a variety of classic breakfast foods, roast meats, and desserts. It also offers bottomless Mimosas. (It appears you can substitute a Bellini). I had a respectable Bloody Mary (not bottomless), served by a very elegant and charming gentleman who was the epitomy of old-world service - nothing was too much trouble, and offered help at every turn.

To this Australian, the whole concept was strange (breakfast food and lunch food and alcohol but called brunch), so please note that my observations are biased.

The seating area is quiet, elegant and well presented, and the staff were an insightful balance of unobtrusive but always ready to assist.

The food offerings were well executed and beautifully presented, allowing you to try morsels of many different types of food. Offerings included prawns (shrimp), smoked salmon and accompaniments; a "made to order" omelette station, freshly made waffles and crepes, fruit salads, savoury salads, and a roast carvery. Many sweet offerings were presented, each beautiful, and each in a tiny serving so that you felt able to sample a few types.

Our group included people from several different countries, all of whom had different ideas of what constituted breakfast or brunch, and all were able to find food that pleased them. One group member was vegetarian, and felt that she had reasonable choice and came away satisfied.

The buffet is oddly stacked around what appears to be a foyer area, and I was a trifle concerned that the omelette/crepe station chefs were not set up for safe/appropriate serving - they were trying to work in a cramped area using portable camp burners (the type with a small butane cylinder screwed in), and it was clearly awkward for them... It seems strange that this is the standard set up for such a long standing institution, and that they haven't been provided with a proper work station (even if it needed to be mobile) - this was concerning from a staff care point of view.

I will probably never understand the concept of going to brunch at 1pm, and then eating foods that (in my Australian mind) don't go together, nor the idea of bottomless drinks with brunch, but that's my problem. Brasserie 8 1/2 is a lovely place for a reasonable elegant adult brunch, where you would happily take a group of friends, or a family group. Everyone will find something delightful eat.

If my tone sounds lack-lustre, it is likely more that I've come from a background where brunch happens at 10am, involves excellent coffee, one dish of food, no alcohol, whereas a buffet and/or bottomless drinks is not consistent with elegant eating (rather it is a 'cheap eats' option). It's bending my mind a bit and it's time for me to adjust!