Months back I purchased a Groupon for Gigi Restaurant and Lounge's brunch. I'd never gone, but their menu looked decent and the price was right. Months passed, and finally I asked J. if she might like to join me for some kidless brunch, she said yes. So two Sundays back J. picked me up in her car and we began wending our way from my neighborhood to Gigi's 3rd and Market address. We hit so much traffic, you wouldn't believe it. At first I thought it was just one street, and a result of a bus accident (I saw two buses in the distance and made the leap), but once that set of gridlock should have dispersed, we were even more immersed in non-moving traffic in an area notoriously difficult for finding parking spaces. We had been in the car, I kid you not, for an hour. In ideal traffic conditions it would have taken us 20 minutes, max, to get to this part of town. In the end I came to the realization (with a little help from my phone) that the reason so many streets were closed off and cars were simply inching was because it was Philadelphia's Gay Pride Festival/Parade day. I love the gays, but damn them. In the end we 'secreted' a parking space (by that I do not mean a parking space came through our pores as much as I began chanting when we saw one open up a few car lengths in front of us ... and no one took it), and finally arrived at our destination. The parade was over at this point, but festive celebrants wearing everything from many-ballooned orange hats to skimpy blue underwear promenaded past us and our outdoor table. So, the air was festive ... but the staff was harried. First we were given dinner menus. Then we finally ordered bloody marys to be told they had run out ... before seeing another server walking by us with bloody marys. So we inquired again about the bloody marys and now they had more. The bloody marys were awful. Really, really awful. Thin tomato juice, the only additional spice seemingly tabasco. Perhaps they didn't have time to make a real batch so they improvised, but seriously ... they were really bad.
J. and I both ordered the eggs Chesapeake, which came on English muffins and crab imperial with a bearnaise sauce on top. The crab element wasn't overly full of filling, and the eggs were generally cooked well - though I don't really like it when there is still clearness to the egg white, even a little.
J. ordered a coffee, which didn't come and didn't come and didn't come. Then it did. She said the coffee was not so great.
So, my conclusion: the food itself was good and the menu had promise. The service was not so good, but perhaps that was a result of the parade crowds (though yelp would suggest otherwise). And stay away from the bloody marys.
J. and I both ordered the eggs Chesapeake, which came on English muffins and crab imperial with a bearnaise sauce on top. The crab element wasn't overly full of filling, and the eggs were generally cooked well - though I don't really like it when there is still clearness to the egg white, even a little.
J. ordered a coffee, which didn't come and didn't come and didn't come. Then it did. She said the coffee was not so great.
So, my conclusion: the food itself was good and the menu had promise. The service was not so good, but perhaps that was a result of the parade crowds (though yelp would suggest otherwise). And stay away from the bloody marys.
No comments:
Post a Comment