Esme

Got there around 11 am on Saturday morning and there was no wait to sit. The waitress, who was less than friendly, took our order and the wait began. It took about 45 minutes for my husband and I to get our food. I ordered fried eggs with pork belly and potatoes – no toast bc of a gluten allergy. Not only did my eggs have a hair on them, there was toast! But I was so low blood sugar and hangry that I removed the toast and hair and ate it. It took me 10 minutes to flag down someone to get me hot sauce and the waitress didn’t check in at all. All in all the staff was rude, inattentive and messed up my order, I was served food with a hair on it (GROSS) and the actual food was just ok. Verdit: I will NEVER be going back.

What a lovely place for brunch in Greenpoint — phenomenal food for reasonable prices (albeit with a bit of a wait). My friend and I went here around 1:30pm on a Sunday, and our wait was only about 15 minutes. Esme is small, but with a crisp, modern design, and the massive windows in the front let in plenty of natural light. My friend ordered the savory French toast, which was even better than it sounds: two massive slices of French toast with tomato-​roasted kale, poached eggs, and (what I think was) parmesan cheese. Tomatoes and kale go great together, and the large slices of bread made this a filling, but not overly heavy dish. My dish was also excellent — eggs benedict with (yes) pork belly and roast potatoes. Oh MAN was this delicious. The pork belly was cooked perfectly such that it was tender, but not too rare, and the hollandaise sauce had the right hint of tabasco sauce to complement the egg. And these potatoes, whoa! They were crispy and so well-​seasoned, possibly the best brunch potatoes I’ve had a looooong time. With two dishes and a coffee, the bill came to around $ 24, so all things considered, not bad at all for a delicious meal in BK. Can’t wait to go back!

my girlfriend and I love this spot for a nice date night dinner. their whiskey cocktails are my favorite. also highly recommend their brunch — the savory French toast is unique and delicious! all of this is topped off with great service, every time. we love Esme!

Esme is only a block away from me, and I couldn’t be happier! It’s my favorite restaurant in Greenpoint with amazing menus for brunch, lunch and dinner. The ambience is perfect for a nice date night with great cocktails (try the mango jerk!), as well as a larger catch-​up with friends.
I particularly love coming here for brunch, and recommend the blueberry pancakes, fried chicken sandwich and savory french toast. The prices are reasonable for the amount and quality of food served, and the staff is always very accommodating and polite.
I’m a little nervous about this place getting even more popular with longer wait times, but they deserve it!

I was not expecting to even like this place. I guess I was having a bad day. I wasn’t in the mood for anything remotely heavy or meat-​centric. I wanted something fresh, raw, and wet, or at least seasonal. My husband urged me to give it a try and we ordered a bunch of appetizers. I wish it was appropriate to give a standing ovation at restaurants.
Recommended: Potato Leek and Pear Soup, Beet Salad, Celery Root side dish, and Winter Salad.
Winter vegetables can feel boring but oh man. The lightly-​dressed celeriac with currants and peanuts over celeriac purée? I’d never thought to put those flavors together and the different textures made it one of my very favorite dishes in Greenpoint. I could have had a gallon of that potato-​leek-​pear soup, and the grapefruit/​bitter green salad was the perfect complement.
Also to note
— décor and music selection was just enough to add relaxing ambiance without feeling like we needed to yell. I feel I could bring my trendy sister-​in-​law here as well as my aging parents.
— service was friendly, professional, timely and not overbearing. A+
— we paid $ 60 for a huge dinner for two — not cheap but compared to its contemporaries in the neighborhood, very reasonable.
My only suggestion would be to add more non-​alcoholic + decaffeinated options. Mocktails that are simply your (probably very delicious) cocktails sans booze are just way too sugary for me and unbalanced. Your teetotaler customers also want to enjoy an non-​water beverage! As for herbal teas, nothing beats a cup of peppermint, hibiscus, ginger, or fennel — and Belloq is a great local supplier.
We’ll definitely be back!

Starting to become our local brunch spot. The pork belly benedict is superb. Bloody mary on point. The old bay potatoes are yummy. Overall, it hits the spot. I went a couple times a while ago for dinner and remember it being not too shabby as well. Overall a great spot if you’re looking for a casual solid meal in the neighborhood.

Great neighborhood-​y eatery in Greenpoint. The staff is super nice and non-​judge-​y about our food issues (no peanuts, no gluten, etc.) We went on a Wednesday for lunch and the place was empty — seriously, no one was there. So service was totally on point.
— house bloody mary was delicious
— veggie burger (no bun thank you very much) was good as well — I mean, as well as a veggie burger can be…
— fried chicken sandwich is delicious, though you’d probably want to share it with someone who orders a salad — it’s substantial and a bit heavy
— beet salad was delicious, but most are, aren’t they?
— the big salad is BIG — we had it with chicken and it was good.
Would definitely come back…

I really wanted to like this place. The atmosphere is great — cool and comfortable décor. The staff were friendly.
The menu promised so much but delivered so little. I had the handmade sausage and it was very reminiscent of a hockey puck in terms of shape and consistency. The pancakes were decent but nothing to write home about. My sister had the biscuits and gravy and she literally had to glaze them with hot sauce and not sprinkle but shower them with salt and pepper to extract any hint of flavor they may have had. Don’t think will be back here unfortunately.

It takes quite a bit to stand out in Brooklyn, but after eating out every night for a month it is a fact that my two best meals have been at Esme. Directly on the G, brilliant construction of taste and a knowledgable staff. I personally couldn’t ask for more. Highly recommended.

My friend and I went here for their Thanksgiving dinner offering. It was easy to make a reservation via email and we were promptly seated.
As this was a special Thanksgiving Day meal it probably doesn’t make much sense to review the details of the dishes other than the presentation and taste was excellent.
The service was very good overall.

Very nice sunny Sunday, the big windows in the front brought in lots of natural light, felt very homey.
I didn’t have the pancake or egg dishes, typical of brunch but had a veggie burger.
I know, veggie burger out of all the other delicious sounding dishes, BUT it did not dissapoint.
The exterior was crispy, inside nice and moist, the green onions that came with it just balanced all the flavors.
My friend and I arrived around 11:15, by 11:45 the place was pretty packed.
I am still new to the area so I need to explore what other options are out there in terms of brunch but for now Esme is a good spot… that being said, I did give it 4 stars but i don’t know if I would wait for a table if the wait time was 30min+.

The best pancakes in Greenpoint.
Order the short stack with blueberries & a side of bacon.
You’re welcome.

delicious food! portion sizes are fair (not too large, not too small). Amazing vegetarian options on the menu. Drinks and wine are also delicious.
Recently I had the squash risotto & crispy polenta. Both were cooked to perfection and flavors were amazing.
Came back for brunch with friends, and it was amazing. Everyone loved it. Pumpkin spiced beignets were delicious to share. The biscuits with gravy and (vegetarian) sausage with poached eggs was amazing. Unlimited coffee refills, perfect brunch atmosphere!

Ah Esme. Another super mediocre restaurant in Brooklyn which hipster-​esque beer of the day guzzling population cannot get enough of.
1. Gazpacho — unbalanced, under-​seasoned and drowning in olive oil. You should try using salt. Really. It is not hard.
2. Pork belly — this is not 2009. You don’t get an award for putting pork belly on your menu, sticking it under a salamander to crisp the skin and transferring it into the oven for «roasting». In 2015 you are expected to figure out how to cut the pork belly so half of what on a plate is not just fat. You know what’s also expected? Usage of salt with *every* component. Not olive oil. Salt. For $ 11 app you should do better. After all, it is 2015. A
3. Steak… which Esme colorfully calls «Bavette». With a name like this it must be pretty awesome. It has to be Prosciutto of streaks. Just hear how it rolls of the tongue… Baaaaveeetteee. Alas, no, it is nothing but Prosciutto … of the Cotto variety (also known as the cooked ham). Ladies and gentlemen, in the Untied States «bavette» is known as the flap steak, something most likely to be used in stir fries because cooking flap steak properly so it is not chewy is something that stumbles the most seasoned chefs — the kinds that are absent from Esme kitchen. So instead what you do get here is a piece of chewy meat, nicely prec-​cut to hide how small it was for $ 27. We would have forgiven that had the steak was properly seasoned and properly cut (you should give your kitchen staff that as a take home puzzle to solve). Alas, that’s not the Esme way.
4. Potatoes… They were the side dish of (3). They should have been a main course. Because they were actually perfectly seasoned, perfectly crispy on the outside and perfectly roasted inside. That’s why this place gets an extra star. Without those potatoes it would have been a single star dump.
P. S. Lim (dry_​wine (chardonnay)) = 0 unless the choices are [ «chardonnay», «chardonnay» ]
P. P. S. Wine list blows donkey balls.

Wow just wow. I’m scared to give a review because I don’t want this place to get too crowded. On a Sunday afternoon we were quickly seated in this lively spot. Thanks to Unilocal this brunch spot caught our attention. The space is rustic and industrial. Friendly hip staff. Nice variety of seating at the window, bar or tables.
The menu is to the point. Had a buckwheat waffle with sausage. Modest portion but fairly priced. Great waffle. Sausage was the flat type so no crispy skin and slightly tough.
Shared the yogurt parfait. Whoa! I suspiciously wondered if they had tricked me with a big pile of cool whip or something. Never had I ate such light and fluffy yogurt. It was so good! A must try.
Wife and father had the pork belly eggs Benedict. Now I’m not usually a big fan of this but this was something else. The flavors were so rich and the hollandaise sauce wasn’t overbearing. The pork was incredibly done.
Can’t wait to try this place again. Worth the trip from LIC. Would like to try walking across the Pulaski next time !

Coolest drinks, the most delicious food, yummiest dessert, best customer service and gorgeous presentations.
Esme is going to be our new favorite restaurant in New York from now on.
My husband and I have high expectations and this place was exceptional!

Word of mouth, including a direct recommendation from a friend who lives in the area resulted in our visit to Esme (pronounced Esmah, not Esmay as we were informed upon arriving). This place was up our alley off the bat — rustic, cozy and best of all, open seats at the bar!
Luckily we were running a little behind schedule on this Sunday afternoon. Our new friend Chris, the bartender, informed us that early in the day the brunch rush can be quite overwhelming as patrons line up outside before the doors are opened. We were happy to arrive after the rush so we could chat with our new pal while he served up some awesome cocktails — Bloody Mary for me, which was made just to my liking and a Johnny Jump Up for my other half; scotch, cider and cinnamon (think drunk apple pie in a glass). As if the drinks weren’t enough to win us over, then came the food…
The menu was filled with all of our favorite adjectives; smoked, crispy, drunk… alright, maybe drunk wasn’t on the menu, but we were on our way there by the time we left, thanks to Chris! There isn’t much left to say about this spot, all four thumbs up on the brunch, but if you’re like us, make it an early afternoon brunch to avoid the rush, cheers!
Esme on Unilocal seems to have fairly unanimous praise of the food and service, sans a few sour grapes who didn’t have a happy time, but take our word — the food is great and Chris was awesomely friendly behind the bar.
Check out the menu on Esme’s website; if you’re counting your pennies then you’ll know what to expect. Fair warning; the dish descriptions may cause mouth watering and feelings of hunger — we would love to come back for dinner!

Esme been on my bookmark list for a while. I don’t know why I did not come here sooner!..
Creative cocktails, well-​prepared food and clean, scandinavian design — it is definitely one of the coolest neighborhood spots around.
I tried two cocktails so far — Zelda Fitzgerald & Autumn Garage #2, both were well-​crafted, but Autumn Garage #2 is my new favorite, for sure! The balance of bitter, spirits & citrus is undoubtedly perfected here.
Starters are pretty amazing — pork belly, crisp, rich, with apples & cabbage was delish and disappeared from the plate rather quickly. (I can never say know to pork belly, for the record). Beef Carpaccio with mustard seeds and sorrel — very light and refreshing.
For main, I had branzino (love that fish!) with lentils & leeks, it was done well.
And desert — dessert was nothing but fantastic. Small cup with creamy sweet panna cotta, which made my evening.
Loved it, will come back again !

Unique cuisine in a convenient location right on Manhattan Ave. Esme is right down the street from me and I’d been looking for a reason to stop in given the high prices.
Dropped in late on a weekday evening for a double date. The décor is beautiful and service on point. I liked that the waiter didn’t rush us once and let us take our time with the menu.
Drink menu was creative with a great selection. Surprised to find arak in one of the drinks which was absolutely delicious! My husband and I both had the burger which was pretty good, but nothing out of this world amazing (especially with Reynard and Brew Inn’s burgers around the corner). I would have thought a place like this would have a grassfed burger but I guess that’s why it cost $ 14 instead of $ 18. The portion size was pretty good and I absolutely loved the fries!!!
Our friends each had the roast chicken and the duck entrees and were also impressed. The price tag on these bad boys were a bit steep. And honestly this is Greenpoint here, while its getting swankier I am sure the regulars and locals aren’t too pleased. And come on, for $ 25 you’d think the salmon could at least be «wild». Maybe it is, but most places would show this off.
I would love to try brunch here and definitely would come back with the right group. But I think there are other places in the hood which could offer more.

Was brought here for dinner by an in the know friend. It was valentines so we had to wait a bit, but that was part of the charm. The bar and host were cool, attentive, and definitely on point without making too much of it. The service was very like that, excellent, but chill. But now let me get to the food. The beef short rib is out of this world. They brought out some purple mustard (which I’d never had) when I asked for some. Good root vegetables too. We all ordered the same thing.
Came back a week later for brunch with some foodie friends. They loved it too, had pancakes and pork belly and other weird things. This time there was a kid involved, and they handled that with aplomb too. (Thank you Esme). I had the veggie burger which stands out, if that is your type of thing. Yummy capuccino. The donuts with pear and custard as an app. .. . sooooooo good. And good to order straight up, while you peruse the menu. Some sort of romaine salad with almond brittle was delicious, gently dressed in distinctive vinaigrette. Balanced is the word that comes to mind.
I look forward to being back.