Pascalou

Sunday brunch at Pascalou on the upper east side was unique, tasty and reasonably priced. I think my favorite part of our experience was where we sat in the tiny restaurant. In the main floor dining area (there's additional seating upstairs), there is a booth that is a few steps above all the others, with seats acing the front of the restaurant so you can see the other diners and have a nice view out the window over everyone's head. We had reservations (recommended, particularly for brunch) but I don't know if we lucked out with this table or it was specifically requested.

The prix fixe brunch menu ($14.95) includes an entree, drink and dessert. It offers a good variety of standards like Eggs Benedict and omelets, as well as some more 'fusion' style offerings like the crab dumplings I ordered.

The dumplings were Thai-style and served with a peanut sauce (which is why I ordered them in the first place). I was even provided chopsticks. The one-inch diameter dumplings were served in a bowl with plenty of the sauce (enough for me to spoon out extra sauce to enjoy on its own). The salad on the side (which came with each of our meals) was nice with mixed greens but was nothing special. Oddly they served what appeared to be Pringles chips as a garnish for the salad.

Our dessert options were orange sorbet served in an orange peel and chocolate cake. I tried a bite of the cake, which seemed dry, but rich. The sorbet was definitely prepared well in advance, portioned into the orange peel and frozen, which made it hard to handle on the plate. I ended up eating it using a fork to hold the orange in place while I attempted spooning out the sorbet. Tasty, but a bit of a challenge to eat.

Overall this was a great place to dine for a casual Sunday brunch. The service was friendly, the price was right, and the food was unique.