Back to Brunching at Catalyst

Each and every time I enjoy a weekend brunch out somewhere in the city, I am reminded how much I love it. There’s little better than sitting down to enjoy a long, lazy brunch, with both sweet and savory flavors, in the company of others who appreciate great food in just the same way that you do. Prior to brunching at Catalyst a couple of weekends ago, I hadn’t joined the Boston Brunchers in ages. It felt great to be back!

I had been to Catalyst on just one occasion previously, and remembered the food to be quite tasty. This brunch was no different! Along with my positively delightful company of bloggers, we were treated to a wonderful array of complimentary dishes from the brunch menu. One thing about the Catalyst menu that I really appreciate is that it changes every week. Many of us had looked at the menu before arriving and picked what we wanted to eat, only to find that many of those items were no longer available. But it didn’t matter, the offerings that morning were still pretty outstanding.

I started with a the Mimosa of the Day – seasonally made with apple cider. And of course, a big mug of coffee, and very strong coffee at that! Our first appetizer was the Spicy Maple Syrup Wings, which were served with a wonderfully creamy blue cheese dip. They were very flavorful, if not particularly maple-y, but paired with the blue cheese I quite enjoyed them. Off to a good start!

The next appetizer was the Skillet Coffee Cake with Cinnamon-Walnut Topping. It was a nicely crumbly coffee cake, pretty standard by my tastes but certainly flavorful and a good accompaniment to the strong coffee.

The Chocolate Chip Scones with Dulce de Leche were exceedingly buttery and light. Quite the treat! I find many places do scones wrong – sometimes too tough, other times too dry, frequently bland – but these scones were spot on by all accounts. Plus, anything slathered with dulce de leche is pretty high up in my book.

Renee ordered the Pork Belly Poblano Hash, which she shared with everyone, and it was fantastic. There was plenty of well-seasoned pork and potatoes. The whole dish was wildly flavorful and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

For the entree, Renee, Rachel and I all decided to share 3  dishes, for 3 times the tastes. (I love sharing!) I ordered the Mushroom Mozzarella Omelette with Dripping Home Fries and Housemade Ketchup. The omelette was perfectly cooked, and the mushrooms very flavorful, though I found the mozzarella to be a bit too plain to pair with it. Even still, the dish was delicious – and the potatoes! I really loved the potatoes, which were crisped to perfection, and mixed with plenty of tender, nearly-caramelized onions. The housemade ketchup was also fantastic – I wish they sold it to go!

Rachel ordered the Poached Farm Egg, Beef Tournedo and Parmesan Cheese Grits with Chipotle-Lime Hollandaise. This dish was outrageously amazing. The grits tasted basically like whipped butter, and both the fork-tender beef and the poached egg were completely perfect. The hollandaise rounded out all the flavors, and one little bite with each of those components was easily my favorite bite of the whole meal. It was SO GOOD.

Renee got the Pulled Chicken, Potato and Pecorino Cheese Frittata which came with an Arugula Salad and Pickled Onions. The frittata was well executed, but rather plain, and I think we all agreed it was the most average of all our dishes. We joked (but it wasn’t really a joke) that the greens were the best part of this plate – they were lightly dressed and really tasty!

Someone at the table also ordered this giant Buttermilk Biscuit, which was flaky and buttery and exactly how a buttermilk biscuit should be. I had a little taste just to say I tried it.

Dishes not pictured included a burger served on a brioche bun with some really good fries (and homemade dipping sauces), and also the french toast which I definitely photographed, but must have forgotten to upload the photo… It was a bit like a crunchy funnel cake – panko crusted and very thin and crispy, so extremely sinful with all of it’s sugary fried goodness, but the couple of bites I had were to die for. All around, a fantastic meal. I can’t wait for the next one! (**Updated, here’s a photo of the french toast!!**)