Brunchinée: Weekend Roundup! Babe goes Aussie and Babes Cover Brunch At Havana Central!

Bloody Ol' Brunch @ The Sunburnt Calf

After that terrible monsoon we experienced on Friday, NYC was fortunate enough to have a perfect weekend weather-wise. Saturday the sun was shining brightly and the signs all leadto BRUNCH. (I don't know about you guys but BRUNCH thoughts fill my head as soon I wake up on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Yep... it is an obsession but hey nothing too bad to obsess about huh mate?)

I wake up, showered, danced a little in front of the TV, got dressed, threw on my aviators and off I went to enjoy an Australian ENDLESS BRUNCH at THE SUNBURNT CALF located on 226 West 79th Street (btw Broadway and Amsterdam Ave.) After the success of BONDI ROAD and THE SUNBURNT COW, owner Heathe St. Clare opened this third restaurant in 2010 in the UWS which has a bar, 2 floors of seating and 4 flat screen TVs. (We hear they are opening THE COW BK in Brooklyn, NY this August so lookout for that!)

PLEASE NOTE: The Sunburt Calf only accepts cash so make sure you hit that ATM up before coming here!

Upon my arrival I am greeted with a lemon drop shot, just the way I like it. I was riding solo (cue the violins) so I decided to sit at the bar and "chew the fat" (Aussie expression that means to engage in conversation) with other patrons and some of the workers. The friendly bearded bartender passed over their menu to me which is a very simple menu with delicious options with an Australia twist to it. Their ENDLESS BRUNCH is only $18 and includes any brunch item (please note that 2 items on the menu are an additional $5), all you can drink moomosas, moo marys, fosters, screwdrivers and greyhounds. Here is a link to their menu: ENDLESS BRUNCH MENU.

I ordered a screwdriver while I perused the menu and then decided on ordering the Barrier Reef Benedict which is the fancy Aussie way of saying poached eggs over crabcakes in smothered hollandaise sauce. Oh yes! This entree comes with some crispy homemade french fries and some salad on the side. The crabcakes are crunchy and all ingredients just mix so well together. I ate slow, enjoyed some more drinks and before I knew it I was all done mate. Check the pics below. The lighting inside THE SUNBURNT CALF is reddish which is why I left some of the pics with that effect so you can get the full vibe of the place.

Saturdays are their less busy day fyi, in case you wanted to avoid any Sunday crowds. Great little spot especially if you are looking to get a lil boozy. After you are done with your meal, you are invited to stay awhile at the bar area if you would like to continue on with your drinking. Most brunch spots do not do this so if I were you I would take advantage of this but remember if you get too obnoxious they have the right to kick you out so don't get too too crazy haha.

Upon my exit I was given a parting gift, another lemon drop shot. I took it like a champ and continued on my Saturday.

Thanks mates! Had a great ol brunch!

Babes Guest Tweet/Report LIVE @ Havana Central for Father's Day Brunch!

"Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad."

This past Sunday it was Father's Day, a day in which we celebrate all of those amazing fathers in our lives. I am lucky enough to say that I have a wonderful father that has always provided for my family and has been there for me every step of the way. I celebrated him on this day and dedicated my brunching to him. (Cue the "AWWWW".)

As you may or may not know our friends over at Havana Central invited us to guest tweet/report our entire brunch experience and how could we decline such a great offer!? Upon our arrival we were greeted with warm smiles and great hospitality. The babes felt right at home.

Last time we were here for Mother's Day, we failed to mention that Havana Central offers a bottomless glass of either champagne, cherry bellinis or mimosas for only $15 with your brunch. You better believe the babes jumped on this deal. You are only given one option so we opted for the bellini and the mimosa and then swapped. Havana Central also offers other drink options such as, red or white sangria, bloody marys, mojitos, and tropical fruit bellinis (mango, passionfruit, guava, pineapple or blackberry).

Mimosas and Cherry Bellini

We started off with an appetizer which has become a babes fave, the stuffed plantain baskets which are four plantain baskets filled w/ chicken sofrito, rope vieja, beef picadillo, and shrimp sofrito w/ tomato-mayo. Drooling yet? I know I know....check out the pic below! And this is JUST the beginning....

The LIVE band arrived at 1pm and that is when the brunch fiesta kicked up a notch plus the babes had a few mimosas and bellinis in the system already so this helped set the tone. WEPA!

It was time to order our entrees and although sometimes you may be tempted to order from the regular menu, we stuck to the brunch menu which has delicious options of classic brunch dishes with a Latin twist.We ordered the Huevos con Churrasco which is two eggs any style ( I chose overeasy), a tender juicy skirt steak served over white rice, onions and potatoes and the other babe ordered the Hungry Man's Cuban Breakfast which includes an arepa, 2 eggs any style, 4 oz piece of skirt steak, chorizo, pancakes, and Cuban Hash. Oh yea....those are two hellava plates! Warning: This is not for the weak. Check them out below:

Huevos con Churrasco

Hungry Man's Cuban Breakfast

And if that isn't enough for us to enter into a food coma, we topped it off with some dessert. Normally we never make it to dessert but this time around we just had to! We tried their Churros con Chocolate Caliente, traditional donut-sticks served with Havana's signature chocolate and caramel dipping sauces. Our waiter suggested we order it with some ice cream and we did just that. This took me straight to heaven and then back down to earth. I am a sucker for sweets!

We want to THANK Havana Central for allowing us to cover their brunch. We had a great time. You can buy brunch but you cannot buy good service, ambiance and great food packed into one. If you are ever around the area stop into Havana Central they will take good care of you! Tell them the babes sent you!

We took some video to capture the ambiance: