Good Enough to Eat

Today I ventured to the upper west side to have brunch with one of my friends at Good Enough to Eat. I initially caught wind of this restaurant in last week's Page Six Magazine, which did an article on the "100 Best Brunch Spots in New York." Good Enough to Eat was one of them.

The plan was to meet my friend outside the restaurant at 10:30 a.m. A block away, I could see that there was a LONG line outside, and I have to say: I hate waiting on lines. Briefly I thought about going somewhere else, but decided to wait it out. Luckily, the line moved fast.

Good Enough to Eat is a tiny restaurant with a farmhouse theme and cow paraphernalia placed throughout. Diners sit close to each other, which is not unusual in New York City, but claustrophobes beware. There are lots of great choices on the menu - the apple pancake (one large pancake filled with apple slices, topped with apple-raisin compote, a dollop of sour cream and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar) and the deep south eggs (three scrambled eggs with biscuits and sausage gravy) caught my eye, but I ultimately decided upon the pumpkin french toast (homemade pumpkin bread topped with a pear/cranberry compote), while my friend decided upon one of the specials: Aaron's quesadillas.

Given how crowded the restaurant was, the service was fast, so we didn't have to wait long for our food. However, I was ultimately disappointed with my choice. I tasted the french toast before I put maple syrup on top, and it tasted faintly of pumpkin. However, once I poured the maple syrup on, the french toast tasted well, like regular french toast. Also, the fruit compote was apportioned sparingly - a few pear pieces, and all of three cranberries.

My friend's quesadillas, however were fantastic. Served with a side salad of mixed greens and a mild salsa sauce, the quesadillas consisted of scrambled eggs, cheese, green bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and chorizo. A taste of the quesadillas had me wishing I had ordered those instead.

So ultimately, the pumpkin french toast wasn't for me, but Good Enough to Eat has lots of great items on the menu and you can be sure that I will be back to sample them.

Good Enough to Eat
483 Amsterdam Avenue
(Between 83rd and 84th Streets)
212-496-0163