Cafecito Bogota
1015 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222

Brunch in New York City is like buying a metro card, you just have to do it. I mean, don’t we all need a great excuse to why we’re stumbling down the street drunk at 5 pm from a “all you can drink” mimosa brunch? My boyfriend and I enjoy getting out once a week to do just this. And I have to tell you, NYC doesn’t come up short when it comes to brunch.

This week brought us to Cafecito Bogota, nestled in the quiet Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn. For $16.50, you get two drinks (either a mimosa or sangria) and a bottomless cup of hot tea or coffee, AND your breakfast. Such a deal. They also have a selection of fresh juices made in house, today being guava, passion fruit, or orange/kiwi. I went with a guava mimosa, and my boyfriend tried their housemade sangria. The guava mimosa was a lovely change from boring old orange juice. The white wine sangria was fabulous as well, with passion fruit and crisp chunks of red and green apple. I enjoyed the fact that it was obviously made that day.

I had the Tortilla Colorada, which was a three egg omelet with corn and a harmonious mix of red pepper and paprika, topped with queso blanco. The corn was an unfamiliar but delightful addition. The eggs tasted like you would make them at home. En lieu of homefries or breakfast potatoes was a mixed green salad with a basic Italian dressing and chopped banana…AND and arepa…topped with cheese…YUM.

If you aren’t sure what an arepa is, it’s a Colombian staple made of ground corn dough. It kind of tastes like a crumpet made of polenta. There are arepa bars all over NYC, and they use it as sandwich bread. You can also buy them in grocery stores back here as well. I don’t hear much about them on the west coast, sadly. Here it was simply served as a side dish for my omelet. Delish.

Next we tried the Punta Verde, another one of their vegetarian options, which was caramelized tofu sauteed beautifully with string beans and pesto, all resting on top of an arepa. I was unsure what to expect when we ordered it, but it was a welcome surprise. It was absolutely delicious.