Food for Thought: Mile End for Breakfast
Where: 97A Hoyt Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217 (map)
In 2010 Mile End, a Montreal Jewish delicatessen, was voted best deli in New York by New Yorker magazine. I’m assuming many of you have been there for lunch or dinner (if you haven’t I would be more than happy to write a review of their lunch entrées), but I did not know this local gem served breakfast. My sister was in town from Ohio and I wanted to take her somewhere impressive, delicious and close. Mile End was my first thought. We got there a little too early for lunch, but then the lovely hostess announced they had breakfast. I wanted to hug her around the waist. The breakfast there is just as lovely as the lunch.
Though the menu is small there is a mix of the strange and familiar so we still had a hard time deciding what to get. We opted for two coffees, smoked meat hash and something called a bagelach. First of all the coffee is, in my opinion, the best coffee around the law school. They French press Stumptown coffee and serve it piping hot in enormous mugs. Honestly, I know that law students are coffee snobs, but this is by far the best in the neighborhood.
Our food came relatively quickly. The hash was an impressive display of over easy eggs, roasted potatoes, onion and lots of smoked meat. It was divinely hearty and delicious. I suppose the best smoked meat in the city equal the best hash. I didn’t even need any salt, pepper or hot sauce. My sister got the bagelach, which is a half-moon shaped pastry. The best way I can describe it is as a cheese Danish, only far tastier. The pastry was incredibly flakey and buttery and the sides of sour cream and fresh peach jam were the perfect compliments.
The décor of Mile End is bright, airy and very hipster Brooklyn. The hostess is always friendly. You can watch your food being prepared as the kitchen is in the same room as the dining area. They even have a walk-up window in case you need your Mile End coffee fix, as I find I do some days. Mile End gets incredibly crowded for lunch, but the breakfast crowd is a little smaller. If you try one place around the law school for breakfast this year, I would really advise you try Mile End. It’s right up the street and beyond delicious.
No Comments