Braai
“I have had both the mini ostrich burgers and the ostrich benedict.”
“there were a few of us so we ordered the grilled octopus, lamb shank empanadas, mac and cheese, and lamb chops.”
“They didn't have any South African beer which was a bit weird but had melk tart and Malva pudding plus some amarula to top the night off!”
Braai
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Brunch with the option of $12 unlimited mimosas is pretty much guaranteed to be a win. Because even though it's considered bad form to drink a lot before noon, that rule doesn't apply to Sundays. I think it says that somewhere in the Bible. Obviously, the mimosas were not very strong, and I would have liked the option to choose which variety of "exotic juice" I got. On top of that, the service was kind of iffy, which may have been by design, but I still had like six glasses I think?
One shouldn't drink on an empty stomach, so I ordered the "vertkoek met mince," which basically equaled a South African sloppy joe. I highly recommend it. Flavorful meat with what seemed to be bits of carrot tucked inside an excellent warm and soft bun.
Summary: Drunk and sloppy.
I came here for my birthday brunch, and I was excited to try their South African take on traditional brunch items.
The experience was decent in terms of food and service. My party arrived at 11, so it was definitely still early. We were the only ones in the restaurant for a bit, and it seemed like they were still cleaning up from the previous night. Also, I think we were being waited on by someone on the prep staff at first, so he was a bit unaware when it came to the menu.
When it came time for ordering, I got the S'African Brekkie, which is apparently their take on the traditional English breakfast. It comes with eggs your way, boerewors sausage, breakfast hash, grilled tomato, onions, and toast. The meal was filling yet wasn't particularly outstanding. My scrambled eggs were a bit watery and the sausage (perhaps it's just this type of sausage) was really dry. Also, the presentation left much to be desired as the food was somewhat shoveled on only one side of the plate. I was left filled, but my taste buds weren't given the adventure they were hoping for. Similarly, my friend was disappointed with her eggs benedict when the eggs were fried instead of poached.
With regards to service, the waiters were very attentive with the refilling our (note: very affordable) brunch drinks, and, for the surprise birthday cake my friends brought, they even put on a special song for me on the stereo. Ambience, as well, was pretty good. There are a mix of high and low tables, and the restaurant has a distinct rustic feel.
Overall, a decent brunch place in terms of price but the food could be tightened up a bit to improve.
After a long trek up to Columbia in the morning and a sturdy craving for a more interesting brunch, I found myself stumbling back down the island and into Braii – well, outside of Braii, having chosen to adopt an outside table over sitting inside with a large, raucous party if 20 or so. I'm not a stranger to the solo brunch (or solo dining), so I appreciate any restaurant that doesn't have servers give me a look of pity when I say no, I am not waiting for anyone else.
I ordered ostrich Benedict to be adventurous, and while ostrich may not become my favorite meat choice, I found the dish to be flavorful and cooked well. The side potato has was also rather good, and the bread was a nice touch to hold me over for my meal. I took a glance at the dessert menu and resisted, but the options seems enticing and well reviewed.
Overall, ostrich Benedict is worth a try, but if you're not adventurous, you may not enjoy the taste. Service was good, restaurant didn't take terribly long to bring my food out, and the location is convenient – 51st just past Maria Pia and Ippudo. Would frequent again if in the area.
My boyfriend and I are locals but ended up in this touristy area of the city and were surrounded by restaurants that are supposed to be great, but had no reservations on a Friday night. So, we decided to give Braai a try, as we figured we would get a table, and we were super curious to try South African tapas. From the beginning, the hostess was honestly a complete mess. I'm not sure if it was a language barrier issue or if she was just a little off her game. There was a table open, but she led us to one bar stool to sit down (there are two of us), and told us we would move when a table was open. We kept pointing at said open table, and she was confused, saying what? No, sit here, you move when the next table leaves. Whatever, no big deal. We sit down, I order a drink. 5 minutes later she shows us to the table I was pointing at and says ohhh ok you sit there. We carry our stuff to that table. She hands us a cocktail menu, I ask where the beer list is. She points to the cocktail menu and says yes, beer there. I think, I must be crazy, because although it's hand written and complicated, I see no beers. She returns, we tell her there is no beer on that list. She says OHH beer's over there- and points to a row of beer bottles on the bar like 20 feet away. So my boyfriend squints, trying to make out the brand names to order one. I'm not even sure how patrons at the back of the restaurant would know the beer selection. I ordered a Lychee cocktail and quite honestly it was one of the worst drinks I've had in NYC. I don't think there was a bartender on this night, and that the waiters were making their own drinks.
Onto the food, we ordered the 5 tapas dishes for $42. We chose the ostrich sliders, the lamb shank empanadas, truffle mac and cheese, grilled lamb chops, and the peri peri wings. The good: lamb shank empanadas, grilled lamb chops, ostrich sliders. The "truffle" mac and cheese did not taste of truffle, and had some dehydrated sausages on top that were gross to look at. My boyfriend really enjoyed the ostrich sliders, I thought they were eh. I don't think they would be anything special if they weren't ostrich. One of my peri peri wings was so bloody inside I couldn't eat another one. Messing up wings is not easy, guys. All in all, it's a great deal for the money but the food and drinks totally miss the mark, and there's not the redeeming service to save them. Our waitress was very nice though, and we love the South African concept; just wish it was executed better.
Stopped here with my wife excited to eat some South African food. She is South African, I have visited there multiple times with her, and she was super excited to have a taste of home. Some of the items on the menu sounded authentic while others really didn't have much to do with South Africa at all. As soon as we tried to order the excitement ended. Multiple items on the menu were not available and it was not particularly late so I doubt they ran out that day, especially since it wasn't busy at all. This would bother me at any restaurant but it was even more bothersome here because everything my wife ordered, which were the more authentic items on the menu, were the items they did not have. They were out of at least three items on the menu. She ended up having to piece together a meal of various items from different listings. She ordered pap, chakalaka, biltong, and lamb chops and I ordered the lamb bunny chow. The pap (a type of cornmeal porrige) which is typically made from white cornmeal was made from yellow cornmeal here. It was also very soft and somewhat runny almost when typically in South Africa it is quite firm. The chakalaka was closer to authentic than the pap but seemed heavy on the onions. The biltong by itself, basically South African jerky, was pretty good and tasted authentic. Now the lamb chops were good and while lamb, or mutton, is commonly eaten in South Africa I can't speak for the authenticity of the preparation method. The lamb bunny chow, which is lamb curry served in a hollowed out quarter loaf of white bread was pretty good and while maybe not typically served in grilled/toasted bread in South Africa and certainly not enough curry flavor, I still enjoyed it. For dessert, we ordered the koeksisters and although I have never eaten it before my wife stated that it did not at all taste like what she expected. She said it should be more like a donut. It reminded me of the mildly sweet dessert breads of Finland and I liked it quite a lot. It was served on top of ice cream.
The wine list at Braai does consist of all South African wines and we enjoyed a bottle of mourvedre with our dinner. Afterwards we enjoyed some Amarula, which is a South African cream liqueur. They also have selection of beers but none from South Africa. I drank a Tusker beer which I believe is from Kenya.
The service definitely left a lot to be desired. Our server was nice when we spoke to him and while he was at our table we enjoyed talking to him. However, he payed us little attention after he left and never checked up on us. I had to stand up three times and walk over to him to order dessert or more drinks. The atmosphere is nice with a dim lighting and candles on all the tables. There was South African music playing and the volume was perfect so that the music could be enjoyed without interfering with conversation.
If I was to rate this restaurant strictly on the food, not on what it was supposed to be but how it tasted, I would give them a higher rating. But since they advertise themselves as a South African restaurant the lack of authenticity is a problem. Also the fact that multiple items were missing from their menu means its time for a menu change. And the subpar service is also an issue. I wanted to like the restaurant and honestly enjoyed the food and drinks but there were just too many other strikes against them.
Braai is a south african restaurant where we tried the brunch and loved it! Was I extremely satisfied with the food?- well not indeed. But the overall experience and especially exotic fruit champagne for sure made it up for us. It was quite pricy as any other brunch place in NY, so be ready 4 it. Try to give yourself sometime to enjoy limitless champagne!
Great experience here! I came for their awesome boozy brunch deal, which is bottomless "exotic-fruit mimosas" for $12 on top of your meal. Can't beat that! The ostrich burgers were insanely delicious, I highly recommend. There are only two sliders and a mini side salad, so not terribly filling but totally worth it. The fruit mimosas (peachy flavor) were good in the beginning but got progressively more juice heavy. Not the end of the world though.
Braai is South African food and the atmosphere reflected a South African theme. It was a cozy, dimly lit space with African music playing in the background. A super unique experience in general, really glad we tried it out!
My last meal in NYC was such a disappointment mostly because of the terrible service. I thought New York restaurants want you in and out? Apparently this isn't the case at Braai.
Came here for brunch right when they opened. I'm not sure why the service was so slow, when they weren't very busy. I ordered the "Huguenot Toast" aka French toast for brunch. It took a good 30-40 minutes before it came out and it was cold. For $12 this was also the smallest portion of French toast that I've ever been served. The bread must be tiny! They were also quite stingy on the rooibos syrup.
Lastly, they advertise that this dish comes with fresh fruit. Well, I sorta expected something more substantial than 2 strawberries (sliced thinly) and 5 blueberries.
I'm not a big eater by an means, so I was disappointed and left hungry. What irked me the most about Braai was how difficult it was to grab someone's attention. They just kind of looked at you, went back to doing what they were doing, and if you were lucky, come over 5 minutes later.