Two weeks ago, Miss Niss had the pleasure of joining the Boston Brunchers at Beat Brasserie, formerly Beat Hotel, in Harvard Square. We’d just received our first few feet of snow in Boston. Since then, we’ve received a few more feet of snow and as I am writing this, there is another foot of fresh snow falling outside. Enough, already!
Snow storms cause me to crave comfort food. It’s a safe assumption I’ve been eating plenty of comfort foods these days. High on my list of favorite brunch and comfort foods are pancakes.
Beat Brasserie satisfied my pancake craving with uniquely savory pancakes. I shared Wild Flower Honey and Lemon Pancakes with my fellow Brunchers. I liked that they were fluffy, full of flavor, and offered something new to the girl who usually opts for chocolate chips. There actually is no brunch entree with chocolate on the menu, which is a little disappointing and surprising to me. To get my chocolate fix, I ordered a hot chocolate.
Hot chocolate is served in an individual pot. This makes a cute presentation and keeps the extra chocolate hot until I’m ready to drink it. The hot chocolate tasted like real chocolate, melted with milk.
My table companions and I shared everything we ordered. In addition to the pancakes, we ordered a coffee cake, an omelette, an eggs benedict, and a bowl Azteca. Beat Brasserie must change their menu often, because I don’t see the exact dishes we ordered on the menu anymore.
We enjoyed this thick slice of a berry coffee cake; now there is a pumpkin coffee cake on the menu.
I believe this was a mushroom, spinach and fontina omelette, but now there is a tomato, mozzarella and basil omelette on their menu. Their new omelette sounds better than the one we had two weeks ago. I am a picky egg eater, so I don’t always chose them when I am out for brunch. This omelette appealed to me though so I gave it a chance. When I cut into the omelette to share it, I cut through a big chunk of spinach and was excited to see so much of it. After I gave out pieces of the omelette, I was surprised that I had also given out almost all of the spinach, as it was concentrated on one half rather than spread evenly throughout. The eggs seemed too liquidy to me; I’m not sure if it was just too cheesy for my taste or if the omelette was lightly cooked. I like my eggs completely dry and cooked so long they start to brown. This omelette was either too cheesy for my liking wasn’t cooked as long as I’d prefer. Others may love a super cheesy omelette. The fries were delicious, nicely crisped and seasoned.
Not photographed, the girls I dined with voted the Braised Short Ribs Eggs Benedict their favorite entree of the day.
We were seated in a prime spot near the stage. I enjoyed the live music, and appreciated it was loud enough to liven up brunch, and not too loud that you can’t have a conversation.
Beat Brasserie has an eclectic collection of savory dishes. If you love savory brunch, this is the spot for you. I prefer a sweet brunch, but am tempted by their dinner menu. The Earth Bowl and Thai Bowl are calling my name!
This meal was provided complimentary. All opinions are my own.
