sharkmom

I am putting final touches on trip to NYC next week. We are looking for a wonderful place to have brunch on Sunday. The gold standard is the Four Seasons in Chicago. Any suggestions that would equal that experience?

concernedposter

The Rainbow Room.

GoTravel

Why break with tradition?

Try the Four Seasons New York on West 57th Street. It is a power broker lunch place by weekday.

wantsomesun

The Palace, the Parker Meridian both come to mind.

I would also try menus.com and chowhound for alot more suggestions.

doug_stallings

Sorry, but the NYC 4 Seasons, while a high-powered breakfast place, just doesn't give you enough to justify $40--$50 per person.

For an indulgent Sunday brunch, you might consider Asiate in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The brunch at Artisinal is also one of my favorites, and if you wanted to do something unusual like fondue, it has the best in town. Many people like Balthazar, and the breads and baked goods there are unusually nice. In most cases, you can have an upscale, top-notch brunch in NYC for about $25. You'll definitely need to make your reservations this week because it's getting busy in the city.

lizziea06

On a related note, I really hate that menupages.com doesn't have "brunch" as a category.

I really like these other, more casual places for brunch, if neighborhood isn't an issue:

Aquagrill (Soho)
Five Points (E. Village)
Sarabeth's (UWS)
Balthazar (Soho)
Goblin Market (Soho) - just started brunch last weekend.

mclaurie

What is it about the Four Seasons Chicago that sets the gold standard for you?

sharkmom

Beautiful setting, excellent service, large choice of traditional breakfast food, wonderful carving station, many different intersting ethnic choices, delicious sweets and all of it very well prepared. MMMMMM good.

GoTravel

My favorite is Blue Ribbon.

mclaurie

If you're looking for a big buffet brunch, there aren't too many (good) choices in NYC. The Rainbow Room is a gorgeous setting to rival any, but since Anthony Bourdain's famous expose of the brunch practices there in his book "Kitchen Confidential".....

Brasserie 8 1/2 is one option that's good and not outrageously priced.
http://tinyurl.com/naqww

Cafe Botanica in the Essex House restaurant is another with an appetizer and dessert buffet but you order the entree off the menu. $75/person!

For that price, if I were a visitor to NYC, I'd either go the River Cafe or do one of the brunch cruises.

Barbara Carroll does a jazz brunch at the Oak Room of the Algonquin that's very NY.

mclaurie

I also like Doug's reco of Asiate. Haven't tried brunch there (yet) but lovely spot and very good food.

mdn

If you're looking for a breakfast buffet, don't know many places. But I'll second some of the places mentioned already to get a great brunch off the menu.
1) Sarabeth's (I like the one inside the Whitney Museum)
2) Five Points
3) Balthazaar

The hotels mentioned: Mandarin, Palace, Parker Meridien... ave good food in general & should offer a huge spread like the one you describe. Being a local, I rarely go to the hotels for brunch & stick to restaurants which I find to be less stuffy.

lizziea06

Sarabeth's doesn't take ressies, which is a huge pain for a group. I love it, but I used to live around the corner so it wasn't as inconvenient.

doug_stallings

None of the places I've recommended do brunch buffets, and that's not really the NYC brunch tradition. We're more sit-down types of people.

I can't recommend the Rainbow Room for brunch, and I can't for the life of me see why anyone would pay $80 a head to eat there, but then I'm not looking for that once-in-life-time experience.

If you want an ultra-touristy, over-the-top brunch experience, I'd choose Tavern on the Green over the Rainbow Room any day. But I think it's a sit-down meal. I'm not recommending it, mind you, but it's there if you want that kind of experience. The food quality there doesn't even set a brass--much less gold--standard.

Gekko

Brunch buffet? In New York? I don't think so.

My favorite brunch is good</b, on Greenwich Avenue. It's not an opulent, over-the-top hotel brunch -- the food is too good for that.

Enjoy!


(Sarabeth's, on the UES or UWS, is also excellent, but very crowded on weekends.)

coldwar27

I had a lovely brunch at the Boat House in Central Park.

pianogirl

I second the Boathouse recommendation. We ate there last saturday, yum!

earl30

maybe some don't like buffet brunches, but some of us do, including a small group my wife and I belong to. the one at aquavit is excellent, but we haven't been to the new location. the rainbow room one is expensive but worth every penny. i doubt if those who say the food is terrible have even been there for the brunch. i have not been there for dinner, so i have no basis of comparison. another really good one is brasserie 8 1/2. our group did sunday brunch at the four seasons hotel and spent well over $100 a person. it was alacarte and not very good. two of us had to send cold eggs back to the kitchen.

lizziea06

I don't think anyone is saying they don't like buffet brunches, just that it's not really a NY thing. Actually, aside from the delis, there aren't many buffets in NY in general. There are so many excellent a la carte places, so just providing perspective vs. other cities.

earl30

what do you mean it's not a new york thing? they are all over new york. besides the ones i mentioned there are lots of them in many hotels just like in other cities. there are jazz brunch buffets and cruise brunch buffets. i've also been to them at halcyon, the water club, utsav, the top of the marriott marquis, cafe botanica, and the grandest of them all at the old plaza hotel. that just names a few. there's a lot of difference between spending three hours at a brunch buffet and being rushed through ordering alacarte at a regular brunch.