The Hungry Russian

Watty & Meg
248 Court St, Brooklyn 11201
(At Kane St)

It was Sunday morning and we were starving! We set out with the intention of having brunch at Buttermilk Channel. I was already having visions in my head of fried pork chop goodness with those insanely delicious cheddar waffles but my dreams were shattered once we arrived at Buttermilk Channel. A minimal one hour wait! Damn you Beyonce for totally blowing up that spot! We put our names on the waiting list and were told that they would call us once a table becomes available. What the hell am I supposed to do for an hour besides chewing my arm off from hunger?! What else but going for a walk to explore more new restaurants! After walking around for about 30 minutes and peeking at various menus, we stumbled upon Watty & Meg. I took one look at the menu and they had me at crayfish and lobster.

Quinoa, Kale & Avocado Salad: Being constantly on the lookout for a good salad and having a deep love for avocados, it was only natural that my eyes would notice this salad on the menu. The salad arrived in a rather interesting presentation. It was segregated into three parts: the kale, the quinoa, and the avocado. I wasn’t exactly sure how to eat this thing so I started out by trying each part individually. The kale had a nice light vinaigrette dressing to it. It had a pleasantly refreshing typical vinaigrette flavor but it was nothing out of the ordinary. I then proceeded to the avocado which pretty much resembled guacamole. It was well seasoned with just the right amount of salt, it was creamy, and it was simple and tasty. Finally I made my way over to the quinoa. Unfortunately the quinoa was as plain as you can possibly get. Bland and flavorless. I normally love quinoa but whenever I prepare quinoa at home, I will usually use a chicken, beef, or vegetable stock in order to give it some flavor. It was clear that this quinoa was made with plain water. The few strips of mango that were on top of the quinoa and the shaved almonds helped a tiny bit but overall the quinoa was completely blah. Not being overly thrilled with this salad, I decided to try something. I combined the the kale, the quinoa, and the avocado. The result was definitely more flavorful but it was still nothing to write home about. This is a great salad if you’re looking for something with very healthy ingredients however it greatly lacks in the flavor department so I cannot really recommend it.

Wild Mushrooms & Goat Cheese Omelet: My friend is a huge fan of mushrooms and cheese but then again so am I. It was this particular dish that drew her in. I watched her take the first bite and moments later I could tell that she wasn’t very thrilled so of course I had to give it my own taste test for confirmation. The omelet itself was ok but once again nothing really spectacular. I found that it not only had a very small amount of mushrooms but a very small amount of goat cheese as well. A more generous amount of these ingredients, in my opinion, would have increased the flavor of this omelet. The omelet was served with Gruyere au gratin potatoes which I found to be the tastiest part of the dish. The Gruyere cheese flavor was well pronounced along with a nice hint of rosemary, making the potatoes creamy and tasty. It was around this time that we received a phone call from Buttermilk Channel letting us know that our table was ready. I was ready to throw down some cash and make a run for Buttermilk Channel but we were too far and I felt compelled to give Matty & Weg a fair review.

 Lobster, Corn & Crayfish Fritter: After I got over my heartache of having to decline Buttermilk Channel, my dish had arrived. I saw large chunks of lobster which is always a site that makes me happy. The lobster was definitely very fresh, very tender, slightly sweet and just delicious but it was the fritter itself that totally threw me off course. The fritter contained corn as well as the crayfish but it’s flavor simply did not work for me. It was way too sweet, almost dessert sweet. The corn that was inside the fritter only served to make it even more sweet. On top of the fritter was a warm curried tomato salad with free but the curry flavor seemed like a huge contrast when compared to the fritter. One moment I felt like I was eating dessert and then the next I was eating something savory. As for the crayfish, it completely got lost in the sweet flavor of the fritter. I had to separate the lobster chunks from everything else in order to really appreciate the lobster itself. I don’t think that the crayfish served any purpose on this dish because if you were not told it was there then you would never know of its existence. I hate to say it but the only thing I really enjoyed was the lobster.

French Fries: You could have stuck these French into the previous quinoa salad because they were ridiculously salty! I’ve never had to brush off salt from fries before. On top of everything else, they were over-fried to the point that I could have probably stabbed someone with them. Thumbs down on the fries!

Espresso Bean Panna Cotta: After having read some of my previous reviews, you probably realize by now that I always have dessert and sometimes I actually hope that perhaps the dessert can save the meal. Since I love espresso and I love a good panna cotta I decided that this would be my last ditch effort to have something really good at Watty & Meg. Redemption at last! The panna cotta was served in a coffee mug, topped with fresh whipped cream, and something that reminded me of corn flakes. The panna cotta itself was smooth as silk with a nice coffee flavor. I would have preferred a more pronounced coffee taste but it was still good. The cream on top was unsweetened which worked very well with the sweetness of the custard and the crunchy flakes added a nice texture contrast. Along with a great latte, this dessert was surprisingly great and I would definitely recommend it.

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I am somewhat torn about Watty & Meg because after brunch I did some further research and noticed that they had very good reviews regarding their dinners. Would I come back here for brunch? I don’t know but if I did come back I would definitely skip on the items I reviewed, minus the panna cotta and latte of course. This might be one of those spots that I recommend to people to drop in for some dessert and coffee but so far there just wasn’t anything outstanding about the food.  Perhaps dinner is totally different. Don’t be surprised if I end up at Watty & Meg eventually to give dinner a shot!