East Pole: Awesome in food, interesting in experience...

After adding East Pole (133 East 65th St. New York, NY) to my "restaurant to try list" over a year ago, we finally had time to check it out, and I can't say "it was worth the wait" as the saying goes. 

Upon entering the restaurant, it was extremely crowded with a lot of brunch traffic coming and going. I guess crowds show a good sign that the food is good, since the service was definitely lacking. Our waiter was extremely friendly and funny at first, but he was way too busy thinking of his next joke instead of listening to our questions and our order correctly. After our few questions about the menu and after ordering, he made a point to add in a joke at the end. I appreciate jokes and enjoy them, but I would rather have my order correct! Also, when I asked him if a certain dish was good and worth ordering, his response was "of course it's good", instead of giving me some type of objective opinion and kind of made fun of me with his tone of voice. It was not very appreciated. 

First try was a fail, because when he brought our drinks to the table, one of them was wrong. Strike two, and a fail, he forgot we ordered banana bread for the table and when we reminded him of it later, he turned it around on us, telling us that since we ordered it so late, it would come out with the entrees instead of apologizing for his mistake. Perhaps East Pole is under-staffed and he was overwhelmed? Not sure, but these few things were pretty annoying! 

Sicilian Blood Orange Mimosa &
Spicy Maria (Grilled Jalapeno-Infused Tequila, Market Tomato Juice)

As for the drinks, they were typical brunch drinks, nothing TOO special. My fiancé was excited they had blood orange mimosas on the menu since typically normal orange mimosas are only offered at restaurants. The Spicy Maria Bloody Mary wasn't spicy, which was a little disappointing. It was made with Grilled Jalapeño infused tequila, and I could barely even taste the jalapeño flavor in this drink. It would have been nice if they put a jalapeño slice on the drink as a garnish to add to the flavor and make it a touch spicier!

Pumpkin Waffles, Vanilla Butternut Puree, Candied Pecans, and Maple Butter

One of our friends had the Pumpkin Waffles for their entree and I was lucky enough to try a taste of them! They were delicious and sweet with the true pumpkin flavor in them. They were very fresh and flavorful and topped with vanilla butternut puree, which was almost like a frosting. MMM!

Full English Breakfast -
Two eggs any style, chipolatas, bacon, mushrooms, and beans

Our other friend had the Full English Breakfast which looked decent. I didn't try it, but the chipolatas and the bacon she said were delicious! 

Maine Lobster Sandwich - Garlic scape, and avocado relish

My fiancé and I shared two entrees which were on the lighter side when it comes to brunch entrees, which was kind of nice to finish the meal not feeling stuffed to the brim. The Maine Lobster Sandwich was tasty with chunks of lobster pieces, served on a roll and topped with a very fresh and chunky avocado relish. The avocado relish was almost like a guacamole, but better because it had  pieces of avocado in it, rather than being pureed and was mixed with the ingredients that usually make up guacamole. Luckily the lobster flavor wasn't lost due to this relish and both went very well together. It was served with a salad which was perfectly dressed with a light marinade.

Smoked Salmon Crostini -
Ricotta Cheese, capers, red onion

The Smoked Salmon Crostini was very refreshing and a lighter version of lox on a bagel. A nice helping of lox was placed over top toast that was spread with ricotta cheese, capers, and red onion. The ricotta cheese was a nice compliment to the smoked salmon because it it sweeter than regular cream cheese and was a nice contrast to the salty capers and onions. This dish was the fancy version of lox on a bagel! This dish was also served with a salad with a nice light marinade.

Starter of Banana Bread and apple butter

The banana bread, which was an afterthought to our waiter was one of the highlights of our brunch! It had a nice crispy crust with a soft center that was filled with delicious banana flavor. I would have to say that it was the best banana bread I have ever had. It was served with apple butter, which was also delicious, but almost not needed because the bread was so good on its own! I definitely would recommend ordering this for the table, because you won't be disappointed.
When we were all done eating, the waiter asked us if we wanted to see the dessert menu. While everyone else hesitated at this question, I showed interest in seeing the menu. When the waiter brought the dessert menu back to the table he only brought one, and put it in front of only me, which was strange because I had to share it with the whole table. He also told us that the restaurant was out of ice cream, so all the desserts with ice cream couldn't be served, which was MOST of them! A little while later the waiter came back and dropped the bill off at the table without asking if we wanted to actually order dessert, and without asking if we wanted another round of drinks. We felt a little rushed and pushed out of our table by this action, when meanwhile the whole restaurant was pretty empty at this point with no one waiting to be sat. When he gave us our receipts to sign, he dropped them off at the table without pens and then said he would be back with them, which was icing on the cake to his lack of customer service throughout all of brunch! It became a joke, and every time the waiter walked away from the table, we could not help but just shake our heads and laugh about how strange the service was.
When we were done at our table, we actually had extra time to hang out with our friends before they had to be somewhere, and ended up ordering drinks at the bar, which we would have done at our table if we hadn't been rushed to get up!
I am not sure if I would return to East Pole for brunch because of the busy atmosphere and lack of service. I did enjoy the food, but there are plenty of places in the Upper East side with delicious brunch fare. Perhaps I will have to try East Pole out for dinner, and hope that the service is better at that time of day!