Jane Restaurant

After partying together on Halloween, a bunch of friends decided to continue the party on Sunday morning (more like late afternoon) at Jane on Houston. I’d walked by the restaurant many times on my way to Soho, but have never actually eaten there because the lines for Sunday brunch were always so long. Luckily, I wasn’t the one making reservations on Sunday and just had to show up. Since we were a large group, we were seated on the lower level, which had six or seven long tables for large groups. After we were seated, the waitress brought a huge bread basket to our table with some strawberry (or raspberry) butter:

The white bread was delicious and the cranberry bread was even better – hints of sweetness with crunchy bits of walnuts in every bite. The raspberry butter was a little too whipped (something more dense would’ve been more delicious), but it tasted okay with the breads.

I read a couple of reviews beforehand, and knew exactly what I wanted (French toast! French toast! French toast!), but after finding out that someone sitting next to me was set on French toast, I went with the country breakfast:

I forgot to tell the waitress that I wanted my breakfast served HOT because when it came to the table, it was completely cold. I guess that’s what you get for going to a breakfast with so many people! My grits (below the ham steak and biscuit) were barely lukewarm and I was forced to send the breakfast back. The waitress came back with another breakfast, and even though that one was hot, the eggs were overcooked and not properly seasoned.

In addition to Sunday brunch, you also get a free drink (I choose the bloody mary):

The bloody mary was actually really delicious – lots of horseradish and even a pickled green tomato! I’d say it was a step below Public‘s bloody mary.

Lou, who sat on one side of me, ordered the Benedict Jane:

The Benedict Jane comes with poached eggs, crab and crawfish cakes, spinach, and terragon hollandaise as well as a side of home fries. The crab and crawfish cakes were too breaded, not flavorful (or hot), and too greasy for my tastes. The poached eggs were very good, but the dish in its entirety was too heavy.

Nick, who sat on the other side of me, ordered the vanilla bean french toast:

The vanilla bean French toast was made with brioche bread, creme brulee batter, and Vermont maple syrup. The bread was unevenly dipped into the creme brulee batter because some pieces were completely soggy and other pieces still had bread that hadn’t been dipped at all. However, this dish was probably the best one I tried during brunch and if I went back, I’d probably order this to share (the pieces were quite large).

Samira ordered the Caesar salad, a lunch item:

As I was going over the menu just now, I noticed that the salad came with “the best dressing” – I’ll have to follow up with Samira to see if it really was the best.

Samira also ordered a raspberry Champagne cocktail:

The Champagne cocktail comes with fresh raspberries, and a little raspberry puree.

Sona ordered the salmon scramble:

The salmon scramble comes with scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, chives, imported Italian mascarpone cheese – it looked delicious, but I didn’t have a chance to sample the dish.

Pri and Natasha ordered the roasted shrimp “ranchero”:

As well as mimosas:

The ranchero came with baked eggs, Vermont cheddar, black beans, avocado, flour tortillas, chipotle salsa (Pri got the dish without shrimp, Natasha ordered the dish as is).

Neerav ordered the eggs Florentine:

Neerav didn’t have any huge complaints about the dish’s taste, however, he also mentioned that his food was cold.

I think overall, the meal would’ve been a lot more enjoyable if the food was served hot and it wasn’t so heavy (afterwards, I had to walk off brunch in Soho). The music was also too loud for a dining room (it was so loud that when we asked the waiter to turn it down, he couldn’t hear us). I’m not sure I’d return to Jane for a large group meal, but I would definitely give them a try for a small group dinner (4 or less).