Mon Petit Cafe

...is located in Midtown East at 801 Lexington Avenue. Brunch is served on the weekends. Your choice of entree plus coffee or tea for $13.95. I had the Croque Madame and chamomille tea.

And there was room for dessert - 3 french macarons ($10) - vanilla, pistachio and hazelnut...delicious!

The Standard Grill

is the casual restuarant in the Standard Hotel in NYC's Meatpacking District at 848 Washington Street.

"A" had the eggwhite omelet with home fries ($9) and I had the 2 poached eggs with sourdough toast ($8). We both had lemonade ($4 each) which was extremely tart.

And for dessert we shared the Baked Alaska ($8) with raspberry sorbet and vanilla ice cream - the best part of the meal!

5 Ninth

is the name and address of this restaurant located in a brick building located in NYC's Meatpacking District.

"A" and I went there for brunch.

"A" had an egg white omelette with ham and a mixed green salad ($14) and mimosa ($10).

I had the Croque Madame with duck egg and mixed green salad ($13) and orange juice ($3). We shared a mixed berry cobbler with cinnamon ice cream for dessert ($9).

The food was very good and the building is narrow, old and quaint.

I want to return to try a sandwich because the matchstick fries looked so good when they were served to neighboring tables.

Just Like Mother's

is a Polish restaurant in NYC's Forest Hills section of Queens. Located at 110-60 Queens Blvd. this unassuming restaurant looks a little dated, but the food is very good. On the weekends the daytime crowd is a mix of singles, couples and young families. In the evenings the demographic is a little older.

"T" and I went for Sunday brunch. We both had fresh squeezed orange juice and shared an appetizer of 5 Silver Dollar Potato Pancakes with applesauce for $7.50. These were actually regular size potato pancakes - much larger than silver dollars. They were nice and crisp on the outside.

"T" had one egg with Polish kielbasa with kasha and whole wheat toast for $6.95. She said the kielbasa casing was difficult to chew.

I had the Polish Style Poached Eggs over grilled Krakus ham covered with dill gravy with home fries and whole wheat toast for $8.25. It was an interesting twist on eggs benedict. The sauce was lighter than hollandaise and I like dill. The ham was thin and tasty.

Then we shared a small serving (3 pcs) of Apple Fritters for $6.25. It was a good thing we didn't order the large (5 pcs) because these fritters were even bigger than the potato pancakes! Each one was topped with cherry compote and dusted with powdered sugar. They were piping hot and delicious.

We will return to try other items on the menu.

Eating and Shopping

is a great combination. And you can do both a 202 - the Nicole Farhi restaurant/store located in NYC's Chelsea Market at 75 Ninth Avenue. One side has clothing, accessories and home furnishings. The other side is a full service bar and restaurant.

The restaurant is furnished with an eclectic assortment of mismatched tables and chairs.

We started brunch with Cinnamosas ($11) - cinnamon, Proseco and apple cider. There was a foam on top with a generous sprinkling of cinnamon - it tasted like a spiked apple pie.

"J" had the Full English Breakfast ($13) - two poached eggs, bacon, stewed vine repined cherry tomatoes, home fries and mushrooms. "A" had the egg special ($17) - two poached eggs in tomato sauce with chorizo and onions. I had the French Toast with bacon ($12) - 3 fluffy slices of sweet french toast with maple syrup and crispy bacon.

Permanent Brunch

...is located at 95 First Avenue in NYC's East Village. They serve brunch all day long.

"C" and I started with the Chicken Liver Pate with Bagel Chips $9 and the Biscuit with butter and blueberry jam $3.

"C" had the Cobb Salad with chicken on a bed of bread croutons $11 and a rasher of New Braunfel Smokehouse Comal county peppered bacon, texas $3.

I had the Baked Eggs with braised short rib ragu, duck fat fingerling $14.

And we had just enough room to squeeze in dessert - the Daily Donut $6 which was cinnamon beignets. Our only complaint - there was not enough powdered sugar on our beignets!