gutfud – the food, es ist gut

One can hardly use the movie Dude, Where’s My Car as an accurate historical reference, but the fact that the characters banish their nemesis to Hoboken still instills the impression that this city is not a pleasant place, shibbies or not.

So imagine my surprise when I arrive in the wee hours of the morning and find the city so be everything a 30-something, slightly hip, DINK could want. In fact, I felt out of place for lacking the three key items noted on nearly every woman there.

•  a small dog
• a small child
• a slightly balding, but seemingly nice, husband/male partner.

But no big, I was only on vacation.

Our first food stop was the Elysian Cafe for brunch, conveniently located near the Elysian Fields park, a great place to bring your dog, child and slightly balding husband/partner.  We were a little worried about the small squabbling child with us making a bad scene, but apparently the folks at the Cafe are used to it. In fact, they even have a children’s special. NO, not children to eat, more like happy hour for kids.

The building itself is special – a fully restored historical structure from 1895. It’s really beautiful, to the point that I don’t understand why people want to sit outside, when inside is full access to the oranate woodwork and detailed ceiling carvings.

On order: mimosa and bloody mary for the ladies, pink lemonade for the little one. Then steak, eggs and fries in one food order, and the child’s plate of grilled cheese and salad. And we ate the salad.

The Bloody Mary? Damn good. It had a nice bite of horseradish to it. I loved it. Too bad I wasn’t the one who ordered it. I got the mimosa and plenty tipsy off it. Each was about $4, due to happy hour brunch prices.

The eggs and fries were good, but the steak was meh. A little thin and chewy. The little one ate about half his grilled cheese sandwich, and we ate the other half, toasting the fact that there was still a few days left to celebrate National Grilled Cheese Month in April.

I’m still impressed such an elegant place is so friendly to kids. Just look at the monster we had in tow.

Must be a Hoboken thing.

Elysian Cafe
1001 Washington St
Hoboken, NJ 07030
www.elysiancafe.com