Clinton Street Baking Company
4 Clinton St (E. Houston/Stanton), LES

…and it was delicious! Clinton Street Baking Company is one of the most popular brunch destinations in the entire city. This little bakery & cafe has them lined up for their amazing baked goods and egg dishes. We just sauntered in (yes, we saunter!) at 7 pm on Friday night and enjoyed a heaping stack of their famous wild Maine blueberry pancakes. Their signature item is a pile of large fluffy discs cooked with so much butter, that the edges are slightly crispy. The blueberries from Maine make a difference and are super sweet. This ain’t no compote. We can honestly say they are the best we have ever consumed. We had complimentary doughy biscuits, and coffee to round out the brunch experience.

I couldn’t commit fully to brunch, so I had an excellent skirt steak with ramps and a fresh Asian flavor. What put the wife over-the-top with baked ecstasy was that the generous people of this fine establishment handed us an unassuming brown paper bag on the way out that contained a perfect breakfast in bed for the next morning. It was the surplus goods from the day what included an herb & cheese scone, cranberry scone and crumb muffin! If there is one thing Spud loves better than her cravings, it’s free baked goods! So, as she likes to say: “Hustle your buns people!” over to Clinton Street Baking Company. Whether it’s brunch, lunch, dinner or snack, you won’t be disappointed with this true winner.

Soul Flavors
354 Grove Street, Jersey City

Soul Flavors is a Jamaican eatery right on Grove Street with a great menu. All the comfort foods are here: fried chicken, bbq chicken, chicken & dumplings, mac & cheese, ribs, and chicken & waffles, but only on Saturday & Sunday. It’s BYOB so four of us marched in there with the jug size of Carlo Rossi Rosé Zinfandel – pure class all the way. We ordered the jerk chicken, chicken & dumplings, crab cakes, with mac & cheese and mango/carrot slaw as sides. The mini biscuits and corn bread as starters are a must. Everything was down-home good and satisfying, although no one expected the weather to be so warm, as it was one of the first hot days of the season. Luckily, the Carlo cooled us off and we had a blast. I would definitely return on a weekend for chicken & waffle brunch.

Brownstone Diner and Pancake Factory
426 Jersey Avenue, Jersey City

I usually don’t include diners in this blog since my other blog, Diner Cakes, is solely devoted to the subject, but this diner is exceptional – and in Jersey. We had two of their specialty pancake wraps: Country Breakfast Wrap = Scrambled eggs, pork sausage, potatoes and american chz rolled into a large pancake and Downtown Pancake Wrap = Scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese and sour cream stuffed into an over-sized pancake. They were delicious, especially the Downtown whose creaminess perfectly balanced the doughy pancakes. Considering that the Brownstone’s motto is “need pancakes!”, we also tried the German with apple compote and the and the Honky Tonk with peanut butter chunks and bananas, which were of course very good. While we only had pancakes (and grits), you could just tell that the other items on the book-size menu were going to be interesting and delicious. This place is a great find, and if you don’t believe me, you can ask Guy Fieri, because he visited here on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
No pics, but check out the video clips.

Taqueria Downtown
236 Grove Street, Jersey City

It’s easy to miss this little converted house on the corner, but you’d be skipping out on some great, cheap authentic Mexican food. Taqueria Downtown offers all the standards: tacos, tamales, tortas, enchiladas, as well as a weekend brunch. The decor is East Village kitch with old books and I even saw the old 1970′s white handheld football video game I used to have. Order at the counter and they bring the food over in the dining area or back patio. We had awesome fish tacos ($3 each!) and pork tamales ($2.50 each!). The fish, probably tillapia, was pan fried and moist with all the authentic toppings. The tamales were rich and smoky. If this place was across the East River from Manhattan, we’d be here weekly… at least.