📍Stowaway, New York City

My weekends need to include brunch—this time I chose Stowaway. I saw some influencers discussing how they sell individual pancakes so my interest was piqued. I love pancakes but I don’t want that as my whole meal so either I need someone to split that with me or I’ll end up ordering too much. One pancake seems just right though.

It was a sunny Saturday morning. I walked up to the door, up a few steps, and inside. There was a counter right in front of me so I asked the person if I could sit at the bar area. She politely informed me that there was a waiting list for about 30 minutes. I was in no rush so I agreed. She took down my name and phone number on a scratch pad. She told me she would call me and I had to ask her to clarify. I’m used to waiting as a walk-in but usually, it’s all automated and text-based. Stowaway is not. It’s refreshing.

I walked outside and a few blocks away to Paloma Coffee to get coffee. It was a sunny day so it was a nice walk. I got to Paloma and ordered. I got a little snack too because why not? I had no sooner finished my snack than I got a call that my seat was ready. I hightailed it back, coffee in hand, and got seated on the counter.

The counter is pretty small with seating for 5. It functions as a bar, take-away counter, and just about everything else. The entire space had maybe 6-8 other tables. Some of them were real tables and others were barrels with stools or a seat around a ledge. They maximized the space inside. It felt cozy. Every seat was full.

Between arriving in the late morning and waiting for a seat to become available, it was past noon. It was time for a beer. A simple Nargansett to sip on with brunch sounded fun and it was. I won’t describe it, you’ve had it.

I ordered a Fried Chicken Biscuit. It comes with a hash brown. The hash brown is in the classic shape. It came deep-fried with a heavy seasoning. Salt, garlic, and paprika are visually abundant. When I picked it up, I could feel the seasoning on my hand. I suspect it was done similarly to how Nashville-style hot chicken is spiced. I appreciated the attempt to spice up the hashbrowns from the expected flavor.

This was a large and soft biscuit. It is baked for this sandwich to match the size of the chicken. It eventually crumbled a bit but held together pretty well for the first half of the sandwich. I had to switch to a fork and knife towards the end. It comes with what they call a bread and butter aioli. I certainly got some of the sweetness and turmeric flavors from it.

The dark meat chicken was cooked beautifully. It was a classic double-dredge Southern style with strong adherence. As big as this sandwich was, the chicken was consistent the whole way through. The breading had these craggy bits delivering crunch to every bite. Every bite remained juicy. I cannot overstate how rare that is in a really large sandwich like this.

Keep the good times going. Stowaway continued to be busy. Two people sitting next to me at the counter were throwing back shots. The wait time for a table was coming down, at least based on what I could overhear. Despite how busy it was, I was never rushed. I saw someone else order an Irish coffee so I decided to get one also.

Making this Irish Coffee was a journey. As he started making it, he realized he was out of drip coffee. So he asked if it was ok to do an Americano, to which I said sure. Then the whiskey he typically uses was out so he had to substitute it with another. This wasn’t the Irish Coffee on the menu but delightful nonetheless.

The main reason I came. The pancake. The Fried Chicken Biscuit was so big, I should have suspected this one pancake would also be massive. It was big plate-sized and thick. It comes with maple syrup in a container that is served on top of the pancake it’s so big. The molasses butter on top was a rich, burnt caramel-like spread bringing good intensity to the pancake. It has this classic buttermilk/Bisquick-esque flavor. It brought out nostalgic, comfortable feelings with each bite. Truthfully, I took half of it home and I enjoyed it again in the evening.

📍Stowaway
159 Greenpoint Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222

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