This Cookshop NYC Brunch Review is one of our many restaurant reviews. Visiting NYC? See all our posts tagged NYC.
Cookshop is just one of many places to go out for brunch in NYC, but because breakfast is one of our favorite meals and we do a decent job of it at home, making pancakes, waffles or omelets, we don't go out for it all that much. It's also a function of the better brunch places often being crowded, no reservations type places, or if they take reservations, you have to plan a week or so in advance to secure a good time. I'd heard good things about Cookshop, and managed to make a reservation for us for a recent Sunday.
Cookshop Location, Hours and Reservations
Cookshop is located at 156 Tenth Avenue at 20th Street, in Chelsea. It's about a 10 minute walk from the 23rd Street/8th Avenue subway station (C and E trains). Marc Meyer and his wife Vicki Freeman opened Cookshop nearly 15 years ago; they're also the team behind Rosie's, Vic's and Shuka.
The restaurant is open weekdays for breakfast 8-11:30am, lunch 11:45-4pm, and dinner 5:30-11pm, while weekend brunch is served 10am-4pm, and dinner 5:30-11pm on Saturday and 5:30-10pm on Sunday.
While reservations are available via OpenTable, there can be some additional availability available by calling the restaurant directly that is not on OpenTable.
The Scene
It was a very good thing we had a reservation: the restaurant was jam packed, and some sad would-be brunch guests were being gently turned away.
Guests ranged from twenty-somethings to retirees and from couples to families. Given that it was packed, the place was pretty noisy, so if you're hoping for a quiet or tranquil ambience, it's not for you.
Brunch Menu and Food
After being seated we were given brunch menus, and asked if we wanted any drinks or coffee to start with.
My husband chose a cappuccino, made with Brooklyn Roasting Company coffee: very strong and delicious.
Both my husband and son chose the Egg Sausage Sandwich, although we asked for our son's to not have the jalapeno sauce, since he doesn't like spicy things. Unfortunately there was a mixup and his came with the jalapeno sauce, which we had to scrape off. I tried a bite of my husband's, and frankly, the jalapeno sauce was the main interesting part of the dish, which otherwise was very standard.
The potato hash was good, although my husband wanted some ketchup, and it took two requests before he finally received a small serving of ketchup.
I liked my dish, the Huevos Rancheros, much better. All the flavors worked together well, and it was very satisfying. Still, I would have loved either some fresh avocado or guacamole with it.
Our favorite dish that we tried was an order of beignets, made with DiPalo's ricotta cheese and served with a little spiced applesauce. Again, if I were to make improvements to this dish, I would provide more of the spiced applesauce, and to really elevate it, I'd swap out the spiced applesauce for some homemade lemon curd, which I noticed comes with the gluten free pancakes.
The Verdict
Overall, I liked Cookshop but I think my husband and son probably ordered the wrong dish, as I just wasn't impressed by the Egg Sausage Sandwich, and neither were they, even apart from the fact that our request to leave out the jalapeno sauce on our son's sandwich wasn't honored. The restaurant did kindly comp his dish, so full marks for service recovery.
I was satisfied with my Huevos Rancheros and we all really liked the beignets, so I think we'll return to try some of the other brunch items.
Recommended Posts
Maison Kayser NYC Brunch Review
Review: Lounge at Restaurant Daniel NYC, 2 Michelin Stars
If you enjoyed this, join 200,000+ readers: follow TravelSort on Twitter or like us on Facebook to be alerted to new posts.
Subscribe to TravelSort on YouTube and TravelSort on Instagram for travel inspiration.
Become a TravelSort Client and Book 5-Star Hotels with Virtuoso or Four Seasons Preferred Partner Benefits