Having brunch along Purvis Street usually means digging into fluffy stacks from Clinton Street Baking Co and Restaurant. “It’s a three-hour-long wait,” we hear someone exclaim as she walks out of the American diner.
But if she ventured a few doors down, she would have stumbled upon Slate, the latest restaurant on the block – or street. Prior to the 'circuit breaker' period, this newcomer was already drawing in crowds when we dropped by to visit. And when dining in was prohibited, the restaurant chose to shutter temporarily.
Almost as a riff off the dishes served by its famous neighbours like nearby Jai Thai, the brunch menu at Slate sees a spring chicken and pancake ($25) with hormone-free poultry, and its signature Sideways Omelette ($25) that brings to mind the plump crab egg rolls popularised by Thai street vendors.
Not that there’s anything derivative here; Slate adds its own inventive twist. Golden-brown chicken is jazzed up with banana ketchup, and the omelette comes well-stuffed with crab meat, speckled with tobiko, and cooked with smoked crab fat. It packs so much crustacean flavour that we almost forget the accompanying slices of sourdough. Caper berries, briny like olives, are used in the side salad to help cut through the grease.
Other brunch offerings are also not bounded by tradition. The Lot ($28) comes with the full works – eggs, chipolata sausage, rugged strips of bacon, bratwurst, vibes tomatoes, crisp green bean salad, and some overly seasoned portobello – but the unexpected highlight comes in the form of the humble soft bun, pillowy and fluffy.
The brunch menu lacks desserts, but if you ask the staff, they might present you with the watermelon pop ($8). Skip it. The frozen fruit, which comes dressed in shiso flower and smoked sea salt, looks and sounds much better than it tastes. We’d much rather get more light bites. Try the Textures of Cauliflower ($13), where toasted florets, sharp aged Parmigiano Reggiano, and heady garlic chives pesto unfold in varying intensity depending on what you managed to scoop up.
And when the sun sets, the slate is wiped clean. Casual plates are replaced with Asian-inspired tapas washed down with cocktails made with the same oriental influence.
Not ready to dine out just yet? Slate also provides pick-up and delivery services here.
