Sunday Brunch at American Tap Room

I love brunch.  Brunch is hands down, my favorite meal and sadly, it generally is only available on Saturdays and Sundays.  At brunch you can get breakfast and lunch foods paired together as a mid-day treat, embellished with fantastic beverages like mimosas and bloody marys.  Seriously, what is not to love?!?

Given that at this point in my life I have two young children, I don't get to frequent brunch very often because it interferes with pool visits, birthday parties, and nap time.  Total bummer.  But this past weekend, the kids had a sleepover at their Grandmom's house so we got to go to brunch!  I could just hear the mimosa calling my name when I woke up on Sunday morning (in a quiet house - which was a treat unto itself).

We decided to go to American Tap Room in Clarendon for brunch because we work nearby and have often wondered what it was like.  So off we went for our highly anticipated, much coveted brunch experience.

We had to wait for a table (about 15 minutes) since it was prime brunch time (around 12:30pm on a Sunday) -- not bad at all considering if you head to Eastern Market for brunch you could find yourself waiting about 30 min to an hour.  We went to the bar and ordered a drink (don't judge - it was after noon and it was brunch!!).  I got a mimosa and my husband ordered a bloody mary.  My mimosa was delicious but from what I was told, the bloody mary could have been a bit more spicy. 

I hear you mimosa, and I'M COMING!!!

We were quickly seated at our table (in an oversized chair that was comfy but a little unwieldy) and I ordered the eggs benedict while my husband ordered the carolina pork hash - we agreed to share our order because we honestly wanted a little of both.  I am no fool though, and I knew that I had to order the eggs or I would get nothing of those because my husband can put food away really quickly.

The eggs benedict were fantastic.  Perfectly poached eggs, the right amount of hollandaise sauce - yum.
  

Break the yolk!  Break the yolk!

 My husband absolutely LOVED the carolina pork hash.  I tasted some and it was good but apparently for my husband the very idea of bbq for breakfast was the hook, and he could not get enough.  I swear when I wasn't looking, he licked his plate clean.

Bar-be-Que for breakfast, a special treat

It was about this point in the meal, while I was sipping my mimosa and chasing it with coffee, that I realized that we were listening to crappy 'house' music.  My husband maintains it was not 'house music' but some version of pop, but either way, it was distracting from an otherwise relaxing brunch experience.  It was just a weird mix.  I would expect this type of music at a bar at 11pm, but not really at brunch.

Regardless of the music, the waiter came around with a dessert tray and we were hooked.  We had to have the dessert equivalent of what was described as an "Irish Car Bomb" - something about a brownie made with Guinness topped with Bailey's flavored ice cream.  It was really, really good.

Couldn't wait to take the picture, had to get that spoon in there!

It was a great brunch experience at American Tap Room and I will be definitely be going back to try their dinner menu with fried pickles!