9.21.08 - Brunch at Beast

I took a personal day from work with the expressed intent of going to brunch at Beast with some friends. I get two personal days a year and one went to Beast today. Was it worth it? You bet. Here's a short write up, menu from memory.

It's a four course affair, replete with your choice of coffee (french pressed Stumptown) or juice (fresh squeezed OJ, no less). I opted for the coffee. I'm usually an espresso purist but this cup o' joe fit the bill perfectly. No need for sugar or cream. You can also get a mimosa ($5) or wine pairings (!) for $20.

We indulged in:

- Brown butter crepe with whipped cream, marionberries and bacon with maple-bourbon sauce
- short rib hash with duck fat potatoes, poached egg and mustard grain hollandaise
- three cheeses with greens topped with sherry/balsamic vinaigrette
- stumptown coffee ice cream on hazelnut pastry

Highlights:

- The crepe dish was quite tasty, but could've been a bit warmer when it hit our table. A bite of crepe, berry, bacon and whipped cream all together was delish.
- Short rib hash was quite tasty, too. As my dining partner Margaux remarked "the mustard hollandaise isn't too overpowering and compliments everything really well". Well put my dear.
- The three cheese course (a hard english, a camembert and another soft cheese) was fun. the greens were good and accompanied by a few venus (?) grapes and a candied apricot. The apricot was bomb. My favorite cheese was the hard english cheese. Lots of crunchy bits inside, the mark of a good cheese
- Normally I'm not a dessert guy. Give me something fried and salty instead. This was Awesome. Capital *A* well deserved. The coffee ice cream had a nice, rich coffee taste, which for some reason I often find lacking in said dish. The hazelnut pastry was a layered square containing chocolate. It was just really, really good.
- Service was solid, too. We got a fresh change of silverware with each dish. The knives were Langiuole and the stemware (for wine pairings or your juice) was Riedel. Kudos.
-It's a comfy feel inside. I liked the communal seating (there's just two tables inside. one = 10, the other much more). the all lady kitchen crew plated and washed dishes in view of the diners.

It was a fun brunch and now I just gotta make it out there for dinner! Worth checking out

$28/person