The Breslin, Chelsea

Ah, The Breslin.  So many free tables, yet still a wait.  Why?  On a rainy cold Tuesday even.  Perhaps our presence swung the balance away from the fratty Northface guys who seemed to be in great abundance, so we had to wait.  Or perhaps it’s standard practice to feature table after empty table, yet comment on how “unusual” it is that we got a table “this quickly.”  Yah thanks, snarky waitress.  Also, you’re a waitress!  We were seated in the upstairs section, which is cool – I guess.  Except for that drippy pipe.  At least there’s another bar, and you’ve somewhat of a view.  On our way upstairs we walked past a very large table, feasting on what looked to be a whole pig.  I must have missed that on the menu.  Instead we dined on the mussel soup with curry butter toast,

the onion and bone marrow soup with parmesan

toast (they like toast points, apparently),

a Caesar salad,

a pear salad, and a burger.

Oh yes, and the Kingdom Come, pictured here

(whiskey, orange,

tea,

lemon, and

an egg white).  A little light, you jest

?  Yah, perhaps not the best

choices for this sort of joint, but on the other hand a salad if done well can be a good indicator for the restaurant as a whole.  The Caesar salad, was in fact, great – thanks in no small part to the

anchovies.  This time around, our burger was well-done, and I have to say that it wasn’t a bad decision on J’s part.  I found it a little more palatable.  OK, so I finished it for him.  I was having a big girl day.  In any case, this may seem like a negative retelling of what was admittedly a great meal (the mussel soup is divine), but it isn’t.  At Eats Meats West, we just wish fewer restaurants lived up to their hype.  Take it down a notch, The Breslin.