Need a quick review? Scroll to the bottom for my final score!

Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan. Ninth Avenue. Let me tell you a little bit about 9th Ave. First, in NYC, avenues go north to south and streets go east to west. Not what you were expecting? Sad emoticon… anyway…

Just north of the Lincoln Tunnel is where you can find the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market, notable for it’s large allotment of furniture and clothing. After a quick stint of browsing and shopping, I ended up at the corner of 39th and 9th, in front of HK Restaurant and Lounge. Bags still full from Comic Con, the sweetie and I decided to wander in and try some of what Hell’s Kitchen had to offer.

Upon arrival and figuring out how to actually enter the restaurant (thick black curtains cover the main entrance), I wandered over to the hostess and we began negotiations. Maybe not so much negotiations as much as I told her I wanted a table of two, she was confused by that, pointed to an open reservation, asked me if I was here for brunch. It didn’t take me more than a millisecond to figure out what she was offering and I pounced, insisted on that slot, and was told I could wait at the bar while the table was made ready.

Atmosphere. This place is just like any other small restaurant, it’s clean edges with mirrored and padded walls, but not for unfriendly people and definitely not a good place to learn “how” too dine in cramped quarters. That is not to say that I was cramped or that anyone at all appeared unhappy, in fact everyone was incredibly happy and upbeat and drunk off mimosas. You see, brunch at HK has one important feature, $16 unlimited drinks. The bonus is that brunch is 6 hours long. Fabulous? I think so.

The sweetie and I were given a lovely waitress named Katie and a table in the front window no more than 15 minutes after I stole that reservation. Being placed front and center for all our comic con compatriots to gawk at as they walked by was probably the best part of the day.

I ordered a gin and tonic and sadly they did not have Bombay Sapphire. Their bloody marys burned with pepper and their famous mimosas were a refreshing and smooth.

We jumped right into the brunch menu and started picking out the most delicious items. I spotted stuffed chicken breast. The chicken breasts came stuffed with cream cheese, smoked ham, roasted red peppers, capers and plated with a side of cheddar mashed potatoes to soak up all of the butter that drizzled the dish. The stuffing contents were fatty and seemed to be dressed with oil, allowing for easy separation and dipping.

The sweetie went with a more lunch appropriate dish and picked out the horse radish turkey with brie sandwich. The horse radish flavors were soft and came in the form of a delicious homemade mayo (homemade mayo is always hit or miss). The dish came with a side salad of garden greens and a delicious balsamic vinaigrette. The salad was delectable and that forced me to try their caesar salad. Unfortunately, I’ll have to add HK to my list of places that doesn’t have anchovies, very disappointing.

Prior to grabbing dessert, I opted to try one of the cheapest items on the menu, the butter croissant with nutella. The croissant was oven baked and then placed in a hot pan with butter before being sliced laterally and smeared with nutella. There were hints of cinnamon in the lower portion of the croissant which leads me to believe the cook seasoned the frying butter prior to placing the pastry into the pan. This attention to detail was found throughout the meal and it definitely brought out the best in every dish.

For dessert, this boring couple from New Jersey went with Creme Brule and an Irish Coffee. The coffee came first and was a solid 2 cups of coffee and whiskey, Bushmills Irish Honey if I remember correctly. The creme brule was great, nice and crisp yet chilled, and a good portion size to boot!

The final bill came to $78.28 plus the $16 for unlimited mimosas and $10 for a gin and tonic at the bar. Katie was a great server and was definitely on top of everything I needed. The place was well staffed, I didn’t see anyone with any problems the 90 minutes we were there and I left with a smile on my face and a bajillion calories in my stomach. Exercise time!

Atmosphere: 4/5 – It doesn’t do much to stand out, but the crowd it attracts makes that restaurant what it is.
Service: 5/5 – No complaints, the lovely hostess gave me a great reservation slot (someone else’s).
Price: $$$$/5 – Gluttony cannot begin to describe the feast I indulged in. All-in-all, the bill came to just over $100 for two people for brunch.