Brunch at Roberta's

Starting off the meal with a Hara-Kiri, Roberta's version of a bloody mary. Sake instead of vodka, and a pepperoncini garnish instead of a stalk of celery or olive skewer. The sake makes for a lighter, sweeter and smoother drink, but I much prefer the traditional version. I did like the extra large square ice cube that floated in canning jar.

Dan and I wound up splitting an order of Bane's fried chicken and a guanciale and egg pizza. I forgot to take a picture of the chicken before I started eating. When I remembered, my hands were already chickenified, plus I was holding a baby, so a photo was not going to happen. The chicken was incredibly moist and juicy, and came with a yummy buttermilk biscuit and a gently dressed, small bibb lettuce salad, but for $14, I want more than two small pieces of chicken. And some sort of potato, preferably mashed or au gratined, thank you very much. The pizza could have benefited from a tad more guanciale, but boy was it delicious. Just like you'd dip your toast into a sunny side up egg for breakfast, you could smush around a piece of the pizza crust in the yolk.

Schnitzel!

This is currently my favorite thing to eat for lunch in the wasteland that is Midtown. It comes from a truck called Schnitzel & Things. They recently won the Vendy award for Rookie of the Year. Congrats, guys!

Here we have a pork schnitzel platter with a beet and feta salad and Austrian potato salad. A couple lemon wedges and a pesto mayo round out the meal. The cost? $8. This is a great deal. Most delis around here charge you $8 for a pre-made sandwich that's been sitting around for 6 hours. The schnitzel is the size of a small country. The pizza places around here charge over $3 for a slice so I repeat, this is a GREAT DEAL.

If you time your visit to get to the truck right when they've parked and set up, there's not much of a wait. Don't bother dealing with a knife and fork; the best way to attack the cutlet is to pick it up with two hands and chomp away. Sometimes the meat can get a little tough (a by-product of a very thinly pounded cutlet), but the crust is always delectably crisp. I've also tried the veal but pork is my go-to. For my sides, it's hard to stray from the beets and feta but I rotate in the potato salad and sauerkraut. I strayed from a mayo as my condiment once and paid for it big time! The ginger, scallion and garlic relish was an oily, flavorless bust. Mayo is the way!