Cafe Orlin

On Sunday, G and I met up for my first NY brunch as an actual resident of the city.  I was pretty excited, and I asked her to pick a place somewhere between her apartment in Brooklyn and mine in Queens since obviously, I have yet to discover the city's foodie gems.  She chose Cafe Orlin in the East Village, and we arrived and grabbed a table outside to enjoy the sunshine.

Everything sounded good on the menu, which was full of your normal brunch fare with a few Middle Eastern touches, but I went for one of the brunch specials:  poached eggs over a potato cake with greens, smoked salmon, and a yogurt dill sauce.

It proved to be a delicious combination of flavors and the potato cake had been cooked to perfection to achieve just the right level of crunchiness.  The real victory of this special, though, was that I got to add my choice of a breakfast cocktail (I went for the bellini) and the combo clocked in at only $20.  G went for an egg white omelet with fontina, tomato, and spinach with homefries, salad, and toast on the side.

Just look at that photogenic spread.  We downed it pretty quickly, all the while looking rather pleased with ourselves.

 We chatted about my move and G's recent acceptance to her dream grad school program, and then I ducked inside for a quick look around.  Even if the weather doesn't allow for you to sit outside and enjoy brunch al fresco, fear not, for the inside is cozy and inviting, with lots of exposed brick and a small, intimate feel.

If you want to go for brunch, Cafe Orlin serves it on Saturdays and Sundays from 8:30-4pm.  From what I understand, there's usually a line (we actually got really lucky and didn't have to wait to be seated but I don't think that this happens too often), so it's best to arrive early if your hangover will let you get out of bed at a decent hour.  Just throw on some sunglasses and try to sit outside so you can keep them on.....no one will know.

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