Brunch at Rose Water in Park Slope
Sometimes you go eat at a hyped up neighborhood place, and all you wanna do after, is make like Peggy Olson and strap on the Relaxerciser. You know, because it was so disappointing and you need some satisfaction. Yea you know what I'm talking about, unless you don't watch Mad Men. That's ok. I haven't seen The Wire, and we can't all be perfect. Neither can Rose Water's brunch. The thing about brunch is that I'm rarely impressed. Woo, you have french toast and you used challah bread. It's going to be decently tasting enough. So usually I end up ordering something else... basically anything else on the 'brunch' menu that looks like it has lots of fat and could possibly exist on a non-brunch meanu.
But I don't want to shit on the brunch idea. It's great really, to wake up late on the weekends and stroll out for a comfortable meal. In the Park Slope area, most of these brunches cost about the same, and some of them include drinks. Rose Water's brunch comes with a drink, and it's a $14 dollar brunch. Surprisingly, that's about the average price around the Slope on 7th ave. A few blocks away, you see places like Sotto Vocce with a $13 dollar brunch, and a fancy place like The Stone Park Cafe with $12 to $16 dollar options. Kind of expensive if you ask me.
As for the food at Rose Water, I got some roast pork sandwich because... it looked fatty and it came with french fries. You can't go wrong with French Fries in the early afternoon. The roast pork pieces were sliced thin, yet they were still moist. It made for a tasty sandwich, although it's nothing that I would ever go out of my way for. It's also nothing to really exclaim about to others. So I'm not really sure why Rose Water is such an institution around Park Slope. I've also had Rose Water during Restaurant Week once and meh. For a restaurant that's located on a really quiet block, I'm surprised it's been a hit for so long.
Steph had some banana pancakes which were not really that spectacular either. That kind of brings up an interesting thing because sometimes we'll be at a restaurant and talk about how the food is just meh or average. Then the server comes along and asks, "How are you enjoying your meal?" or something. And what's a good answer besides, "Good, thanks"? The real answer would be like, "Well hey, I took a couple of bites already and it's just average, but what are ya gonna do? I'm just nodding and smiling to be polite but otherwise I actually don't think your restaurant is all that." Is that too much? I know servers come by to ask in order to let the patrons know they're there, and they're not ignoring the patrons. Still... such a pointless question. It's like when you're walking down the hall at work and someone gives you that fake smile or a "What's up" that's supposed to mean, "hi, let's agree not to extend the conversation beyond what's up." At least at work you could just pretend you're looking at your cell phone as you walk and can plausibly deny you saw the other person walking down the hall. At a restaurant, what do you do? Stare into space and pretend the server didn't ask the question? Or pretend you really don't want to say what you want to say?
Rose Water
787 Union St.
Brooklyn, NY 11215
718-783-3800
As a vegetarian, I'm not too fond of brunch menu (lots of eggs and carbs) as well. I prefer savory dishes for lunch. I think I would rather want my server to ask me what I think of the meal rather than not saying anything. At least I'm being acknowledged and hey, you have the right to voice your opinion, so maybe if you say some positive reinforcement about your dish, the manager may take it into account and might even comp your meal.
kim
September 18, 2009 9:06 am
I hate it when servers ask you "How is everything" and you have a mouth full of food.
Fat Fudge
September 18, 2009 9:15 am
Hey Danny, great post. I feel the same way about Rose Water. Had a very good duck confit sandwich there once and the other 3-4 times I have been there it has been only average.
More importantly, I hate when a server asks how things are because I so badly want to be honest and tell them if it is bad! Oh well, glad you were in my hood.
Aaron
September 22, 2009 12:26 pm
I'm always honest when they ask that question - not because I think they care, but just so I don't keep it bottled up inside and die of hypertension.
Server: "How is everything?"
Me: "Well, your 7 dollar coffee tastes like ass and the pancakes? My cat can make better ones."
Of course, you have to do it with a big smile to throw them off.
FN
September 22, 2009 1:55 pm
@kim,
You raise a good point, it's good to be acknowledged by the restaurant. Sometimes I think the question doesn't really lend itself to honest answers when they ask how the meal is. If you could compare the difference between the number of people who nod and say everything is ok, to the number of people who then go home and scream on yelp, it'll be an interesting number.
@Fat Fudge,
Next time we should just spit it all out and be like, 'This is food?!'
@Aaron,
Duck confit sandwich does sound all kinds of delicious...
@FN,
hahaha, you have a talented cat. I need to get one of those things. You're right though, gotta do it with a smile.
Danny
September 22, 2009 7:22 pm