Location: 167 Orchard Street
Cuisine: Southern (Brunch)
Items: 3 entrees 1 side dish 2 cocktails
Best Dish: The patty melt was tasty. The beef was tender and well prepared. Pimento cheese is never our first choice for a burger but somehow on his sandwich it works.
Overall: The atmosphere is light and comfortable with an easy southern charm. This a great space for drinks and small plates but the brunch needs some improvement.
Brunch
While enjoying our drinks we were presented with our first entree, “Shrimp and Grits” This Southern staple appears on more than a few menus with each chef presenting his or her unique interpretation of the classic. The Shrimp and grits here are served with broccoli rabe and a sunnyside up egg on top. Though the egg was cooked perfectly and the grits smooth and creamy, the sauce was a bit thin. It was more like a savory broth. The flavor was good but it made the dish soupy. The portion size is also pretty small for an entree. The shrimp were plump and perfectly prepared, but nothing special. On their own the components were executed properly but combined it left much to be desired.
For our next course we sampled the patty melt. The “melt” consists of a juicy beef patty on thick slices of toasted bread with all the fixings and a generous helping of pimento cheese and relish. I am not a big fan of relish or pimento but on this dish they worked really well together. The “melt” is also served with a side of crispy waffle fries. The fries were absolutely divine crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside with just the right amount of seasoning. We could have easily eaten a full basket of these fries alone. They should consider a sweet potato version, that would be amazing and a great reason to venture downtown.
Whenever we see Mac and Cheese on a menu we simply have to sample it. The Derby’s mac is rich and creamy but could benefit from a little more flavor. The taste was good but underwhelming. The menu does offer brisket as a mixing option, but that seemed a bit much for brunch. We found out courtesy of instagram, that bacon was once an option. We wish that had been available for our visit, it would have added some much needed flavor.
For our last item we sampled the chicken and waffles. You can’t go wrong with crispy fried chicken and buttery waffles for brunch. Unfortunately this dish was poorly executed. The first bite of the chicken was flavorful and well seasoned but the interior slightly under cooked. As a Popeye’s fan, we found it truly disappointing that a place charging twice as much would present undercooked chicken. I have never had a bad piece at Popeye’s. The waffle was rubbery and dense not at all what we were expecting, it was thick and bland an unfortunate combination for any item. Oddly enough the bland waffle is served with a dollop of jalapeno butter. The weird butter choice only made it taste worse. We would honestly have been better off having frozen store bought waffles and plain old butter.
The derby has only been open to the public a few short months and while its night life is bustling, the brunch crowd is unimpressed with it’s offerings. Luckily, a few months is just a drop in the bucket in a major city like New York, so there is plenty of time for improvement. Though the food may have been slightly off the service was good. The wait staff was friendly and knowledgeable, worthy of a good tip, now if only they had food worth serving.