Brunch at Rosemary's Thyme

So it wasn't dinner, but it was a meal out nonetheless. In my three years here in DC, I've noticed that just about every restaurant does their own version of brunch. Rosemary's Thyme is no exception. Although it is a Mediterranean restaurant during the week, their brunch consists of the normal fare, Eggs Benedict, pancakes, Bloody Mary's etc. Heed this wise advise: just because a restaurant offers brunch, it does not mean you would actually want to eat it.

I was meeting some friends, and we'd decided we wanted an easy no fuss kind of place. Rosemary's Thyme has ample indoor and outdoor seating, so we figured late on a Saturday there wouldn't be much of a wait. We arrived at the 18th street eatery around one in the afternoon. After 10 minutes or so of standing around, the hostess led us back through a very crowded patio to our table. The tables and chairs outside are gigantic. Big heavy wooden things that take up an incredible amount of space, making it difficult to maneuver. Once we were seated though, the four of us had plenty of space to spread out around our massive picnic style table with benches.

Our waiter was on the ball. Possibly the most redeeming thing about the experience. He brought us nice tall glasses of ice water as soon as we were seated, along with some heated bread with butter and strawberry jam. I ordered an orange juice which was delicious, perfect on a hot day. It tasted fresh and was brought out promptly.

The menu had all the usual suspects, Eggs Florentine, sides of ham, breakfast potatoes, English muffins. I decided to split the French toast (which comes with potatoes and a "fruit garnish") and a side of strawberries with my friend Ladan. I will not be shy about telling you what a disappointment it was. I was imagining warm soft gooey French toast with a substantial egg batter and lots of syrup and powdered sugar. What I got was dry, coldish, stiff bread with a little pot of syrup on the side. The French toast was bland and lacking all of the luster that French toast should promise. As for the $5.55 side of strawberries, it was a plate with a small mound of unappealing, old soggy faded looking strawberries. The potatoes were cold and powdery. It looked and tasted like they had been cooked weeks in advance, and then dusted with a flavorless orange powder. So in short, the food was not good.

There were 2 other people at the table. Julia ordered Eggs Florentine and a side of Andouille sausage. She seemed happy enough with her meal. No complaints anyway. And Hilary, who ordered eggs scrambled hard, with bacon and sausage. the bacon was reportedly burnt and the sausage was unanimously rated "too spicy".

Overall, the service was good. Quick, friendly, and efficient. The food was sub par. The bill for four without any alcohol ended up being around $60 with tip. High for the quality of the food, but not outrageous compared to comparable restaurants in the area. The ambiance was average. The one bonus is the location. Right on 18th and S, very central. I would give brunch at Rosemary's thyme a 3 out of 10. Which in my rating scale equals 1.5 stars out of 5. I would probably not come back here for brunch unless it was absolutely necessary.

Rosemary's Thyme is located at: 1801 18th Street NW. Phone: 202/332/3200 Hours: Monday: 5pm - 10 pm. Tuesday - Thursday: 5pm - 11pm. Friday & Saturday: 11Am - 12 am. Sunday: 10 am - 10 opm

Rosemary's Thyme Webpage