More Chicago Brunches - Longman & Eagle, Polo Cafe

By Lu

My Easter Brunch Spread

Sorry..sorry... I know, it's been awhile since my last post. However, It's still sooner than the last time Ri wrote, right? LOL. It's a family tradition to throw the sister under the bus (in good fun, anyway). She probably wonders why she has tire track on her face.

Spring is here in Chicago, and with Easter commenced the brunch season, it sounds just right to write about more brunch places. That way, you can get ready for Mother's Day and take your dear mom for some fancy brunch, or just a plain good one.

I cooked up a storm for Easter by the way. I tried to make a really nice spread for my American family here, especially for my Dad, Dale, who has been sick. You know me, when I started cooking, I couldn't do it small; so, I made it all. I made two different Quiches, Mini Caprese Salad, Chopped Salad with avocado, Egg Rolls (my dad's favorite), Filet Mignon Sliders, Cranberry and Orange Scones, Butterscotch Bread Pudding, and Carrot Cake. I didn't bother baking and glazing my own ham though. I thought, why bother with ham. Everybody seemed to enjoy it. Like my mom, Cherryl, said...if anyone was hungry, it was no fault of mine!

Anyway, enough about me and my brunch. I'd like to share two nice brunch experiences I had lately. My friend, Sandrine, and I have a birthday tradition of taking each other for brunch and movie to celebrate our special days. This year, she took me to a popular Chicago restaurant called Longman & Eagle. Longman & Eagle is located in the Logan Square area and it has been a talk of the town due to its good food! They used to only do Sunday brunch, but since it's so popular, it is available daily now. They don't take reservation usually;  however, they are doing a special Mother's Day tasting for $65 per person with three different seating times.

Inside of Longman & Eagle

The place itself is very unassuming from the outside. The restaurant won their first Michelin star in 2010 if I'm not mistaken, and it didn't look it from the outside. The inside was very clear cut. It exemplified the artsy movement of culinary establishment - quarky looking staff and the bar was in full swing at 11 o'clock in the morning. We were carded to go in. It was the first time ever I got carded for some eggs and bacon. One thing that stood out for me, the host was very very nice and personable. Plus, he was rather cute. He checked my ID, and he wished me happy birthday. It was so sweet. I liked the place instantly. See, I like places like this better than the stuffy three Michelin star ones. I prefer the personable service and still get great food than the stuffy restaurants. It must have been because my blood is red instead of blue. It's okay. I like people talking and smiling at me like a human being a lot better than being treated like a robot.

The menu wasn't overly big nor small. It was enough and we didn't take long to decide. We also didn't have to wait for long for a table though the restaurant appeared so packed! I definitely wasn't complaining about the wait time but I did get worried at the beginning to see the waiting crowd. I ordered a Mimosa plus the Sunny-side up duck eggs with duck confit hash, ramps, Yukon gold potatoes and black truffle vinaigrette. Sandrine went with fried chicken, waffles, served with sweet potato and pork belly hash. I loved the food! My hash was the bomb and the duck eggs were perfectly done! I compared the chicken and waffle to the one at Table Fifty-two and I was confused and couldn't decide which one was better. This one had a little edge by serving it with the sweet potato and pork belly hash which was superb. However, it is really hard to beat Art Smith's fried chicken. I think Jared Wentworth, the chef at Longman & Eagle, and Art Smith should do a fried chicken throw-down! What do you say?!

Fried Chicken, Waffles, and Sweet Potato Pork Belly Hash

Sunny side-up Duck Eggs with Duck Confit Hash

Polo Cafe

Moving on to the next brunch place, Tina suggested Polo Cafe to be our next destination for Renegade Food Club. She saw this restaurant being rated number 1 at Trip Advisor over Alinea even at one time. Well, it's a little absurd as they're obviously in different classes; yet, it's worth a try. We went there just yesterday and Polo Cafe is located in Bridgeport, by Chicago Chinatown. From the outside, the place looked even worse than Longman & Eagle. At least Longman & Eagle just looked unassuming. This place looked run down. The inside definitely had that old Chicago look to it, and it was weird as they had all these dolls for sale. Anyway, after we got passed the dolls, we sat down and ordered a pitcher of Bloody Mary. I didn't have any but my friends that had it said it was pretty good and balanced between the alcohol and the spices. It didn't have that much fixing on it like with the olives, celery, or the side car of beer. It was pretty straight forward Bloody Mary.

Inside of Polo Cafe

One thing that stood out from their reviews was their Crème brûlée French Toast. Almost everybody in our party wanted it. So, we decided to order two of the French Toasts to share amongst the nine of us. That way, we can order other stuff on the menu for us to try. I ended up ordering the sea food omelette though I had a hunch that I wouldn't like it. Two of the girls ordered the breakfast burrito. Tina ordered the Bacon Bun which was french roll or croissant piled high with scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon and cheese. Sandrine ordered the Pope Benedicts which was a rendition of Eggs Benedicts served with sausage links (which I  thought was weird), Basil Hollandaise and a picture of the Pope himself. Kelly ordered Chilaquiles - a breakfast nacho piled high with tortilla, avocado, tomato based sauce that was quite spicy and topped with sunny side up eggs.

The Crème brûlée French Toast

The Bacon Bun

Chilaquiles

The French Toast was to die for. It was very very good! Plus, it's definitely huge! It was french bread that was formed and baked in a tin to form a cup. In the cup part, they filled it with fruits and whipped cream. There was a caramel or burnt sugar syrup on the bottom that was definitely the  brûlée part. There was no custard however so some of us protested the name of the Crème brûlée French Toast. However, it was still so good. I want to come back for more!

The Pope Benedicts

The rest of the food were okay and it's comparable to any other breakfast places. I think the Bacon Bun was great and the Benedicts too. The Chilaquiles also had a great balance of flavors. The omelettes I wouldn't order again. They're a tad dry and there was nothing special about it. Also, the potatoes were just meh. BUT - like I said.... and let me say it one more time,  Crème brûlée French Toast!

The chef came out to greet and thank us for coming. He's a middle aged guy with tiny pigtail and he's super personable. He talked to us for a bit and we heard stories on yelp of how nice he was to his patrons. There were people who ate there and late to see a play, he actually drove them to the theater so they wouldn't be late. Wow...talking about the five star service. Then, the table next to us was celebrating a birthday, he came and sang like he was Pavarotti himself. We couldn't help to stop and listen because it was pretty cool!

Despite some of the so so dishes on the menu, I could see why this restaurant got the high star ratings online. Our server was nice too though he didn't do too good of a job taking order. I asked for spinach addition to my omelette and he didn't get that. Matt ordered an omelette with spinach and blue cheese; but, he got goat cheese instead. Rebecca asked for swiss cheese in her burrito and she didn't get that either. However, overall, it was okay. They comped some of what we ordered, which was decent considering the screw-ups. All in all, we had a great brunch to start off Cinco de Mayo and Derby Day.

Well, hope the info here is helpful if you're thinking to take your mom for a brunch in Chicago. I think I covered several brunch places in my blog. Do go back and take a look. After all, Moms deserve the best!

Longman & Eagle
2657 N. Kedzie Ave, Chicago, IL 60647
Phone: 773-276-7110 (no reservations)

Polo Cafe 

3322 South Morgan Street   Chicago, IL  60608

(complimentary lighted parking at 3330 South Morgan Street)

773-927-7656