Brunch at Cooks County: Go Get the Beef Hash with an Egg and the Top Notch Burger, Fluffiest Pancake a Bonus

I finally tried the much-talked about brunch at Cooks County in my hood and now understand what the hype is about. I know they say fancy restaurants use brunch as a way to get rid of leftovers from the week at a premium but whether there's truth in that or not, our party hardly cared. It certainly was a carb overload but it was good, very good. I think we indulged even more because it felt like we deserved it after a long week at work. I know. We always find ways of rationalizing our irrational behavior. But I digress. The beef hash with perfectly diced potatoes and a gorgeous sunny side up was my favorite. It doesn't get more classic brunch comfort food than this. Then again, crack an egg on anything and I'm pretty much sold. The crusty bread was perfectly toasted and charred on the edges.

The burger tied with the beef hash as my favorite dish. To deconstruct the burger, the patty was perfectly cooked medium rare and it was a seriously good patty, at that. The bun was fresh but did not hold up to the patty and the works and crumbled a bit but was still above average. The works included grilled red onions, tomato, butter lettuce, chocolate stout cheddar and aioli. I usually don't like the works to be too fussy but these worked very well together despite sounding quite fussy.

The fries were not the best I've had but good enough. I think by the time the burger came out, we were already carb-overloaded so it was hard to eat much. The burger tasted great later too.

The crab quiche was chock full of sweet crab meat and the side salad of greens, radishes and avocados was just what an egg-y quiche needed. Great execution.

I'm not huge on pancakes -- I'm more of a French toast person -- but these baked babies were so ethereal and fluffy that I couldn't resist having more than a bite. They were a bit thicker than regular pancakes but didn't feel heavy at all. It came with blueberry compote and bourbon-barrel maple syrup although truth be told, I couldn't really taste or smell any bourbon aroma in the syrup. But I do love me some syrup, which I happily spread on the pancake with the not-too-sweet compote.

The cheddar buttermilk biscuit was ok but not the best biscuit I've ever had. It was definitely decent -- hard to go wrong with buttah spread on a biscuit -- but I probably wouldn't order it again. 

The jelly donuts with strawberry rhubarb jam inside were good but again, by the time we got dessert, we could barely even look at more carbs. The donuts had a bit too much sugar so had to dust it off but the sweetness of the jam was just right. They were smallish, which made them easier to consume at that stage of the overload process. 

The mimosas were good and you could get a hibiscus prosecco if you're feeling adventurous. I found it too bitter so had the classic mimosa instead.

I'd like to return for Fried Chicken Mondays.