Saute (Canton)

The super short version? 3 (crispy) strips of bacon out of 5.  Their brunch is on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am-2pm, and includes Mimosas, Bloody Mary's, White Sangria and Red Sangria.  While their brunch is available from 10-2, they have a two hour limit on the tables.  Either we had an awesome server, or they don't enforce it too much if there isn't a wait, because we stayed for almost three.      

Want more details?

Color of Mimosa: 2
Flavor of Bloody Mary: 3.5
Server Recommended Entree: Breakfast Burger-4 (x2), Crab Benedict-2.5, 
Build-your-own Omelet-3.5, Breakfast Pizza-4 
Crispness of Bacon: 4.5
Atmosphere: 3.5
Service: 3.5 

It was definitely a "Girls' Brunch" this weekend and we had some of our favorite people in the world with us, lending their superior taste buds and alcohol tolerance to our mission.  When we arrived at the front, we had a period of awkwardness because there isn't a hostess stand and no one immediately greeted us at the door.  After a few minutes, we were seated in a super comfy corner booth with plenty of space for the five of us.  However, it was also right under their speakers, so while the music was mostly good, it was difficult to have a normal conversation.  Never fear though, we are not a quiet bunch!  During our time there, it looked to be mostly 20s and 30s crowd with nary a child in sight.


We immediately ordered the mimosas, and to our delight, they always bring you out a pitcher that was kept full throughout our brunch.  I'm hoping that they use fresh-squeezed orange juice because that mimosa was pulpy!  Unfortunately, it was also very orange-y.  As my sister perfectly put it, "Where's the champagne?"    


Normally, we would put how many mimosas we had before we got our food, averaging one to one and a half.  This was closer to three.  Don't judge, remember that they were mostly juice.  The menu does warn that it could take 30 minutes for your meal to come out, but our server also didn't take our orders for awhile after we were seated, so the combination made us a bit hangry*.

Breakfast Burger

Build-You-Own Omelet

The Breakfast Burger got rave reviews!  Unfortunately for Shannon, they don't carry Ranch (we know, what kind of weirdos don't carry ranch) but she still loved the fries.  The omelet was good, except that it was a little too done on one side.  

Crab Benedict

Where's the crab?

We finally had a crab eater with us, so she got the Crab Benedict.  It looked pretty coming out, but was a bit salty and light on the crab especially when the Crab Benedict costs an extra $5 to the all-inclusive price.  The Breakfast Pizza was awesome!  And huge!  I only could finish a third of it.  

Breakfast Pizza... yes, it was huge.

 As always, we got our side of bacon and it was just as magical as we had hoped.  Nice and crispy.



In addition to the mimosas, we sampled the rest of their breakfast drink wares.  The Bloody Mary had mixed reviews.  Shannon was eloquent with a "Blaugh!"  Leah exclaimed, "Holy Horseradish!"  I was more observational with, "There are chunks in my drink.  I shouldn't have to chew my drink."  It did have good flavor, just needed to be smoother.  We also tried the White and Red Sangria.  They were alright, nothing super special.    

Overall, it's a pretty good place.  We didn't like that their website prices do not match the actual price (it was a dollar more), but it is still a good bang for your buck.

Till next time,

Your H&H Girls




*The official definition for hangry is hungry + angry.  Not my word, but love its usefulness.    

   

Johansson's Dining House- Johansson's Classic Sunday Brunch Buffet (Westminster, Maryland)

H&H was on the road this past weekend, all the way to Westminster, Maryland, home of the PEEP Show (which was amazing and peep-alicious).  Fortunately, we are able to brunch anywhere we go!  And we had another special guest with us. Shout out to Mama Tricia! 


The super short version? 2 (crispy) strips of bacon out of 5.  Their brunch buffet is on Sundays from 10:00am - 3:00pm. Last seating is at 2:00pm, and alcohol service doesn't start until 11:00am.  Brunch buffet and bottomless drinks are included in the one price.  Reservations are strongly recommended and this is where they lose their first point- they kick you out after an hour and a half.  We don't like the idea of being rushed.

Want more details?

Color of Mimosa: 2.5 
Flavor of Bloody Mary: 4.5
Server Recommended Entree: 2 (Buffet)
Crispness of Bacon: 4.5
Atmosphere: 3.5
Service: 1.5

Poinsettia, Mimosa, and Bellini

If you click on the picture of the menu, you will see why we were so excited at first.  Mimosas?  Yes.  Bloody Mary's? Yes. Various things being mixed with Champagne?  Hell yes.  All single liquor rail drinks are also included in their buffet price.  This should have been the paradise of all bottomless brunching.

  

Tequila Sunrise

Bloody Mary

         

The Mimosa was a great shade, but it had a watered down taste.  The Poinsettia and Bellini both got good reviews.  The Screwdriver and Tequila Sunrise were also tested.  Analysis?  If you're suffering from scurvy, this is the best place to go!  (i.e. too much juice, not enough booze) The one shining star during brunch was the Bloody Mary.  In short, Bloody Mary= bloody perfect!  It had just the right amount of spice that snuck up on you.   

Mediocre Mac and Cheese :(

Shannon summarized the food the best when she said, "It tastes like food from a catering place.  Not bad, but not worth a special trip."  They have an omlete station, which is always fun.  And we were surprisingly pleased about how crispy the bacon was! Sometimes it gets limp in those warming trays.

The worst part of our whole meal was our server.  How bad could it be when its a buffet you wonder? Especially since he didn't have anything to do except for provide us with our drinks.  While he was pretty to look at, it would take 20 minutes to get a drink.  We started ordering our next round as soon as he brought out the previous one since there was such a lapse.  At first we thought maybe it was restaurant policy or something.  However, when observing other tables, they had multiple drinks that were being refilled often. I would rather discuss the perfect ratio of orange juice to champagne with a troll than have bad service from a Greek god.  

Overall, it's a place to get brunch.  It looked to be geared more towards families and not professional brunchers.  Is this what you get when you venture out of the city?  If so, long live Baltimore!

Till next time,

Your H&H Girls    

No Idea Tavern- Blackout Brunch (SBIC)

The super short version? 4 (crispy) strips of bacon out of 5.  Their "Blackout Brunch" is on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am-1pm, and includes Mimosas, Bloody Mary's, Natty Bohs, Hawaiian Punch Slush and Orange Slush.  They definitely put the blackout in that brunch!  

Want more details?

Color of Mimosa: 3.5 
Flavor of Bloody Mary: 4
Yumminess of Screwdriver: n/a
Server Recommended Entree: 3.5 (Breakfast Burrito-3, Breakfast Sandwich-3.5, French Toast-4)
Crispness of Bacon: 2.5
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5 

The name Hungry and Hungover has never been more apropos than it was this weekend.  We were definitely feeling the effects of the previous night (who can resist a karaoke competition at The Hippo?!?), and were STARVING for something greasy and carby.  Fortunately, we wound up at the perfect place to take care of all our needs.  If we were living the ritzy life last week, No Idea Tavern would be on the other end of the spectrum.  And it was amazing in all its diveiness!  The menu is limited, but definitely served its need.

Let's start with our beloved Mimosas and talk about the magic of our server, Jeremy.  As soon as we sat down, Jeremy brought over waters.  He might have gotten the hint that we needed hydration from the fact that we were still wearing our sunglasses inside.  We ordered our first round of mimosas, and they were brought over just as quickly. The mimosas were a little more orangey than is preferable, but still delicious.  

 And yes, even though she never reads this, we had a special guest this weekend, which means we got to try three of their entrees.  We ordered the Breakfast Burrito, the Breakfast Sandwich, the French Toast, and a side of bacon.  The special of the day was homemade corned beef hash, but they were out of it by the time we got there.  I'm assuming it's as amazing as it sounds!

Yes, those are tator tots!  Our love of tots is infinite.  Shannon's opinion of the Breakfast Sandwich was, and I quote, "This saved my life!"  The Breakfast Burrito was good in a "oh god, I need food" kind of way.  We both put Sriacha on everything, but we do that regardless of how much we like the food.  The French Toast was yummy too.  The bacon left a lot to be desired in terms of crispiness, but it's still bacon, and bacon is inherently good.  It took about a mimosa for us to get our food.  

Back to the magic of Jeremy, my mimosa was empty at 11:06am and full by 11:07am.  I love that kind of service!  We did a few rounds of mimosas, then ordered the Bloody Mary's like the good brunchers we are.  They were good, and thankfully we didn't detect any fish guts ;)  After that came one of the things I have learned to love about Baltimore- Natty Boh's.  This is the first place I've heard of that offers beer as part of their bottomless option.  While chatting with one of the best bartenders we've met, George, we learned that they also offer Slushes, and he was more than happy to give us a bit of everything.  

Did not end that way.

Started innocently...

Overall, we had an amazing time at brunch this week, and definitely recommend this place!  This is the type of place you can drag yourself and friends into being only semi-conscious and having difficulty with the sun.

Till next time, 

Your H&H Girls  

   


     

        

Alchemy: Modern American Eatery (Hampden)

The super short version? 4 (crispy) strips of bacon out of 5.  They only bottomless option is Mimosa, but trust us, they are worth it!

Want more details?

Color of Mimosa: 5 
Flavor of Bloody Mary: 0!
Yumminess of Screwdriver: n/a
Server Recommended Entree: 4 (Avenue Benedict and Breakfast Crepe both earned 4s)
Crispness of Bacon: 4
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 6 (yes, we are aware it's out of 5)

      
This place is classy!  As Shannon says, "It's not the type of place where you can reek of ale with sunglasses still covering your eyes."  Also, the chairs are higher than the booths.  We don't know why, but it was mentioned several times from the people around us. Everyone was warm and friendly when we arrived and we were seated right away.  While we did make reservations, the place did not fill up until after 1:00PM.

If you want to guarantee some... let's say "afternoon delight", this is definitely the place to take your special someone.  Shannon said that she felt like she couldn't be her most silly self, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing because she needs to be reigned in at times.  The occupants looked to be anywhere from 20s to 40s, but no children until later afternoon. 



Let's talk about our server for a moment.  Travis, you now have two new best friends.  Being able to discuss the right shade of mimosa, the recommendation of the chocolate chip zucchini bread, and the fact that our mimosa glasses were never empty?  You get super star status for that!  Plus, the shade on that last mimosa you made for Shannon?  Priceless.  
At Alchemy, they make the mimosas at the table by adding the champagne and orange juice right into your glass.         

Shannon's favorite shade!

Alright, now that I have waxed poetic about our beloved mimosa, I'll tell you about the food.  We started with the chocolate chip zucchini bread.  Heaven, pure heaven.  It was warm, buttery, and homey.  And disappeared quickly.  

Before

2 minutes later

On the recommendation of Travis, we ordered the Avenue Benedict, the Breakfast Crepe, and of course, a side of bacon. 

The Avenue Benedict inspired a new term - "farmy fresh."  The hollandaise sauce had mustard seeds in it, but you couldn't really taste them.  The Breakfast Crepe was savory and delicious.  Shannon would have preferred a little more sauce, but it was still great.  Our only compliant about the bacon was when we ran out!  It was crispy without us having to specify.            

The people around us all cleared their plates, and we would have too, except for our brush with heaven (aka Zucchini Bread).
   

We had this wonderful meal full of yumminess, and decided that true brunch professionals would need to sample the Bloody Mary. <cue the suspenseful music...>


  
Gorgeous aren't they?  Unfortunately, that's where the happiness ends.  Now, I will put the disclaimer out that Shannon and I don't like crabs.  Blasphemy in Maryland, I know.  However, neither of us are native to Maryland and feel we deserve a free pass. 

Our two words to describe this drink are "Fish Guts."  We tried to like this, we really did.  Shannon was a champ and finished her half; I wimped out after a couple sips.  We tried adding Sriracha to it, because Sriracha makes everything taste better.  Nope, then it was just spicy fish guts.

As we stated earlier, we had a really good meal there and next time we will just stick with the mimosas.  Or maybe those amazing looking dessert martinis the table next to us had.

Until next time,

Your H&H Girls       

Bistro Rx- Pajama Brunch (Upper Fells Point)

The super short version? 2.5 strips of bacon out of 5.  They have bottomless Mimosas, Bloody Marys, and Screwdrivers from 9am-2pm on Saturdays and 9am-3pm on Sundays.


Want more details?

Color of Mimosa: 3.5 
Flavor of Bloody Mary: 4
Yumminess of Screwdriver: 4
Server Recommended Entree: 2.5 (Burrito a 3, Biscuits and Gravy a 2)
Crispness of Bacon: 3.5
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 2* (see the note lower about the super server)

Recommend making reservations for brunch because the place was busy! We came here for their Pajama Brunch on Sundays and while we were super excited to wear our pjs, (give us any chance to wear comfy clothes in public and we will take it) only the servers were participating.  There were a couple of families present, but it was mostly the 20s and 30s crowd.  We had previously been here for dinner and were amazed by the quality of the food.  My steak had been cooked to medium-rare perfection!

Unfortunately, that was not our experience this time.  Everything had started out so promising.  We were greeted warmly at the front door and shown to our reserved table.  We ordered a few minutes later and on suggestion from our server, who will remain nameless at this time to protect his identity, got the Biscuits and Gravy, the Breakfast Burrito, and a side of bacon.  Biscuits and Gravy?  Yes, please! Pig, cream and carbs?  Perfect.  And who can resist a burrito?  Not Shannon.  And of course we ordered the bottomless option, starting with our favorite, mimosas.  There was only a slight snafu in the form of an innocent question regarding the availability of tator tots, and a condescending answer that their restaurant is not an elementary school cafeteria.  Fortunately for him, he quickly brought back our mimosas and Shannon was sufficiently redirected.   

Love it being served in champagne glasses!

Let's talk about their mimosas for a minute since that is why we are all here.  We both thought the taste was good, but Shannon thought they were a little more "orange-y" than she prefers.  Lots of bubbles though!  
     
At this point, service was going okay.  And then the creamer debacle happened.  You know that feeling when you haven't had coffee yet and you are getting kind of desperate?  Well, we were brought our coffee right away, and I requested creamer, because that's how I roll.  We waited for about 5 minutes and watched our server not bring us creamer.  Then the super, amazing, wonderful server in the next section over noticed our mimosas were running low and refilled them for us.  We asked him for creamer and he went and  brought it right to us!  He was awesome!  Our server remembered to bring us creamer 11... yes I timed it, I prefer accuracy... minutes after we had requested it. 




Our food took about a mimosa and a half to get to us.  That is the official timing method of Hungry and Hungover.  It looked really good.  Though the "side of bacon" was three strips.  It was semi-crispy, but still delicious as most bacon is.  

As far as our entrees go, too salty was the consensus.  We both wound up pouring different types of hot sauce on them to try and counteract, but alas, it was not as successful as we had hoped.  Which really bummed us out!  Like I had said earlier, we had been here on a previous occasion for dinner and had an incredible meal. 


     

After two mimosas, we each felt it was our duty to try their Bloody Marys and Screwdrivers.  It was quite the hardship, but these are the things we do for others.  The Bloody Mary was great, really good flavor.  The Screwdriver was strong and the perfect way to finish up brunch. 

Overall, it wasn't bad.  The drinks were good, but food counts a lot the morning after the night before ;)


Till next time, 

Your H&H girls