Picnic - West End

Ever since I saw that Picnic opened a second branch in West Village, I've been keen to try it out. On my first attempt, I had made an hour and a half's allowance to grab brunch before another appointment, but it turns out that the wait would have been 40 minutes before I could get a table, so we had to settle for somewhere else instead. A few weeks ago we made plans to go with some friends to go try it out, we made sure not to schedule anything after to ensure we could definitely have plenty of time to enjoy the food.

 

Arriving on Sunday morning, it was still completely packed, but since we had a fairly large group, we were able to grab a table with only 20 min wait. Service was friendly but it did take quite a bit of effort go wave down a waiter though.

The drink selection was extensive and the food menu had quite a few things that I was keen to try. Luckily for me, Dr L and I were able to share our meals.

 

He had his iced chocolate and I had a "Not a Cosmo" juice. The iced chocolate was rich and decadent, with both ice cream and cream floating in chocolate milk, trying some myself, I found it to be not too sweet which was great too. My not a cosmo comprised of apple, strawberry, lemon and mint. This was also refreshing and not too sweet, it went really well with my meal.

Our first dish was the signature Picnic Wagyu Scotch egg which was served with house pickled salad, béarnaise sauce, smashed avocado, hash browns, kimchi dressing and piccolo herbs. I had seen quite a few photos of this on the internet before coming and was curious but didn't expect too much, but was pleasantly surprised to note the improvements they had made on the dish compared to earlier iterations. The crumb outside was a lot thinner and the mince was meaty and flavoursome. I also enjoyed that the egg wasn't cooked through entirely and the yolk still had elements of runniness to it. As for the sides, the hash brown was crunchy and the salad was fresh. I didn't taste any kimchi in the dressing, but the avocado was rich and ripe though.

Our other dish was the Pork Bulgogi Benny, this came with sweet potato croquette, poached eggs, asian slaw, pork bulgogi, hollandaise sauce, pickles, truffle oil and piccolo herbs. The croquettes were a little burnt but still tasty and fluffy inside. The pork bulgogi was flavoursome but there was very little to go with the meal and the flavours and textures were like the ones I buy from hanaro mart. The eggs were poached perfectly though and it made for a delicious meal. I just wish there was more pork. 

Overall a solid effort, no doubt it will do well given the location and I'll be back later to try their other menu items.

Price Range: $25 - $35pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 6.5/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 8/10