rocking horse cafe

A bit of a college reunion this past weekend in New York... we gathered for our good friends' wedding on Long Island. It's not often that you attend a wedding and you know both the bride and groom so well, but we were lucky enough to know both of them and were witness to their relationship through the years. We ate Indian buffet at each meal, danced barefoot, and posed for the obligatory photos. You know, wedding stuff.

A few of us went out to brunch on Sunday at the Rocking Horse Cafe, which came recommended for good nouveau Mexican dishes. Chelsea, on a Sunday morning, was quiet, probably on a break from the night before. The RHC was a welcome haven from the dreariness outside, a colorful haven no less, conjuring up scenes from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The walls were coated in hot pinks, fuscias, and azure blues- a sure way to jolt awake any sleepy diner before their AM caffeine.

Most of us ordered the prix fixe brunch ($14.95) which consisted of a cocktail/juice, coffee/tea, and your choice of a brunch entree. We were starved after a long morning train ride back from Long Island, and basically tore into the chips and salsa.

The dunkability factor of the salsa was low in comparison to the massive size of the chips; it arrived in a small shallow bowl. I'm a staunch advocate for huge pails of salsa at Mexican restaurants, don't you agree? It was finely pureed, and reminded me of pasta sauce. Anyway, it was good, and I was famished.

I took these pictures really quickly before we ate, since my fellow brunch companions all looked glassy-eyed from hunger.


Migas- scrambled eggs with tortilla chips, chorizo, sauteed zucchini and onion, with roasted tomato salsa. Mmmm, egginess. The egg/tomato combo is one of my favorite flavor duos. I would have preferred for the chips to have been broken up more, and then scrambled INTO the eggs. This was more like an egg and tortilla chip salad, though I still found it delicious.



Huevos Rancheros- a tortilla topped with refried beans, fried egg, chihuahua cheese, with red and green salsas. Look much like the Mexican flag? This thing came smothered; that's what I appreciate about Mexican food- it's really quite indistinguishable what is underneath all that melted cheese and salsa, but after cutting into the amorphous shape, it's (mostly) always flavorful.


Huevos Beneditos- poached eggs on sweet corn cakes with chipotle hollandaise and a side of hash browns. The hollandaise, upon first inspection, reminded me of Velveeta, but it tasted much better. We were a bit dismayed at the portion size here, after just a few bites, Mr.S's plate was clean. The combination of the sweet corn with the rich egginess was great, just not enough to satisfy a hungry bruncher.



"Croque Senor"- chipotle pulled pork sandwich with poblano peppers, avocado, melted cheeses, and a side salad. Most impressive dish of the morning. It definitely required the aid of a fork and knife since it was just plain grande. I suppose the side salad was only there to offset some of caloric value of the sandwich, which was dripping in cheese, pork, and avocado. Not such a bad thing for the tastebuds, but healthnuts may easily call this a heart attack on a plate. I don't particularly participate in this school of thought; bring on the meat!

Brunch in general tends to be quite filling, and after all the cheese, beans and sour cream, we were a happy, satisfied bunch, especially after a weekend of eating nothing but spicy curries, chickpeas, rice and naan. Though it's billed as contemporary Mexican fare, the dishes at RHC are still incredibly hearty, and a good deal for the wallet.