Relish

225 Wythe Avenue at N. 3rd Street (Williamsburg)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 963-4546
Subway: L to Bedford Street; J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue

Living in Manhattan, I rarely cross the river in general, but I will travel for good food. While perusing New York magazine’s "Where to Eat 2007", I was intrigued by this place Egg in Williamsburg that serves delicious breakfast (housed in Sparky’s All-American during morning hours) so one Sunday morning, I got up early, picked up some friends and crossed the Williamsburg Bridge. Much to our dismay, by the time we arrived at Egg, they were no longer accepting people. Egg closes at 12pm (so they can reopen as Sparky's), and unfortunately, we missed our window.

Since we were already in Brooklyn, we decided to stay, and one of my friends suggested Relish, which was just down the road. We pulled up to this adorable, vintagey railcar diner, and I hoped it was as cute inside as out. We were greeted by a tall, lanky hipster who seated us in a cozy booth in the corner of the front room.

Inside, it did not disappoint, and I loved the counter that spanned the entire front room although no one was seated there when we arrived. As we lingered, the restaurant filled up rapidly, and the counter and empty back room were completely full by the time we left.

We were really hungry when we arrived, and no one could decide, since each menu item sounded appealing. We basically ordered as much food as we could without looking ridiculous.

Grilled hanger steak served with two eggs over easy and homefries was exactly what I needed. Hanger steak is generally chewy, but this one was served in nugget-size chunks and was perfectly cooked and tender. I requested egg whites rather than eggs over easy, but I was told that the restaurant was unable to accommodate me. I subbed French fries for homefries, and the former tasted great with the tangy red pepper sauce served with the corned beef hash. Unfortunately, the sauce did not complement the corned beef hash as well. The actual corned beef hash was fine, but I prefer mine in a smaller dice with less peppers and onions, more meat and potato.

The baked Spanish eggs were delightful and light with its spicy tomato sauce, tender potatoes and gooey cheese. Classic eggs Benedict were unremarkable, and although I enjoyed the brightness of the hollandaise sauce, a fluffier English muffin and a bit more Hollandaise sauce would have benefited the dish. The crab cake version which we also ordered had the same issues; continuing the dish’s mediocrity, the crab cake itself was just ok. Although well-seasoned, it lacked an outer crust and tasted more like its spices than crab.

The side order of cheddar grits were quite good, creamy, but eat them fast as the consistency changes quickly to congealed. Chicken sausage was tasty, slightly rubbery, not memorable. Biscuits and gravy, which I was really looking forward to, were a mess – two large biscuits covered with a layer of scrambled eggs and then doused in a white chicken-sausage gravy. After taking apart the pieces, the biscuits turned out to be decent, not crumbly, a bit fluffy, but they were good enough with the modest amount of average gravy served atop. Scrambled eggs should be light and airy. These, on the other hand, were an overcooked, dense mass.

Bloody Mary’s had an amazing kick with the addition of red chili puree, but the virgin Bloody Mary was noticeably better than the one with vodka which was so diluted that the kick was gone (yet lacked the alcohol kick as well).

Service was inconsistent, ordering was fine, coffee and water were only refilled upon request. Dishes came out in waves, but I think we may have confused the waitress by ordering so many dishes for so few people.

I still want to go to Egg.