Breakfast nomination #10, TriBeCa in Brunstfield

Breakfast nomination #10, TriBeCa in Brunstfield 

Nominated by Kerr Henderson 

Originally reviewed on April 3rd, 2016 

His score: 5/6 

My score: thank fuck there's a good American restaurant out there to beat the shit out of Bruno's 7-7 pish

He ate: Original Brooklyn breakfast (pancakes w/ sugar and maple syrup) (£7.95) with 2 added scoops of ice cream (£2.50) and a banoffee pie snow blizzard milkshake (£4.50) 
I ate: Manhattan Grand Slam breakfast (full cooked breakfast) (£9.75) and a Summer Cooler smoothie (£3.75) 
Total cost: £28.45

The saddest man to ever
drink a milkshake

Our pros: really friendly and attentive service; very bright and well decorated restaurant; lots of choice on the menu for brunch; brunch served until 5pm; lots of American-themed food across all menu and drink options, and it felt like a more authentic American-themed restaurant than past places we'd been to *cough cough*. 
Our Cons: a tiny bit crammed where we were sat and the full cooked breakfast seemed a little overpriced for what it was. 

Our experience: When we first walked in it seemed like every single table was taken and we started cursing ourselves for not seeing if we could book a table in advance - which has so often been our downfall in the past. 
We stood for a couple of minutes wondering if anyone was going to approach us but eventually someone did and they were very polite and explained to us that they would just wipe down a nearby free table then seat us, and that even though they did actually have extra seats downstairs, he didn't want us to be seated down there by ourselves with no others customers in there yet. 
I wouldn't have minded that though, being the anti-social bastard I am I would've quite happily had us have an entire room to ourselves to munch breakfast in. 

My favourite picture of Gary, possibly ever

Despite a small squeeze to get into our table with two other sets of customers on either side of us (with me trying not to accidentally sit on their breakfasts as I squashed past them with my big posterior), we felt quite content when we sat down and took in our surroundings. 

There's a lot of New York themed décor on the walls - photos of famous NY landmarks; subway signs; red rick walls with painted information on them and even half a taxi cab stuck to the wall that I stupidly failed to get a picture of before leaving! 

I wouldn't go as far to say that this place was strictly an authentic American diner, as I don't think that's what it's trying to be, but it is certainly an authentic American themed restaurant and we loved the sheer volume of options for brunch (and other meals) that ranged from seemingly average UK breakfasts to proper American style food, such as sweet pancakes and French Toast etc. 
They also had a huge range of milkshakes, smoothies and hot drinks and though I usually have tea with my breakfast, I had to opt for a cold smoothie due to the humidity (or my hot flashes...) making me feel like I would burst into flames if I let a hot drink touch my lips.

 During our visit the music in the background seemed to have a late 90s/early 00's feel so we found ourselves listening to a lot of Will Smith (Men In Black), Robbie Williams (Rock DJ) and Justin Timberlake (Rock Your Body) which was certainly an interesting experience and actually fit quite well with the surroundings. 

It seemed like the staff were all happy and enjoying their jobs. Every member of staff that dealt with us was polite and friendly without being overbearing, and genuinely seemed happy to help us. 

The only minor gripe I had was that I felt my full cooked breakfast was quite a bit on the expensive side, also my bacon was a bit too salty and crispy for my liking but other than that, Gary and I both agreed that our food was nice, the environment was lovely and the service was great compared to past experiences so perhaps the price was justified in terms of the entire experience. 

Also, my breakfast came on a huge plate and I had difficulty finishing it so the portion sizes for both of us were more than adequate, and the staff gave us a good handful of complimentary Jelly Beans with our bill which we found the room to scoff, despite the odd flavours making our experience a little more like food Russian Roulette (seriously, one of the Jelly Beans was spicy, ugh). 

I would strongly advise anyone looking for an American-themed meal, particularly breakfast, to choose this place over Bruno's 7-7 Diner (which is by High Riggs/Lauriston Place). TriBeCa offers a huge range of choice, quality food, a warm and welcoming environment and a great level of customer service, and I guarantee you will find none of that at Bruno's unless you catch them on a rare day where they decide to actually take some pride in their work. 

TriBeCa made a pleasant change from some of our past experiences and we both left feeling happy and content with our experience so we would both 100% go back, especially to try out their lunch and dinner menu. There are so many options, I feel there is something for everyone at TriBeCa. 

Also, from Mon-Fri, 8am-11am they offer a bagel with one topping and unlimited coffee refills for just £3.95. And if you're a student, you can get 50% off your bill on Tuesdays between 5pm and 10pm - so definitely well worth checking out if you've got a student ID. 

What’s next: the Waiting Room in Morningside, nominated by my mum.