Incline Public House: A Brunch Review

A little while ago Antoine and I made plans to meet up with my sis, Michelle, and brother-in-law, Christian, to have brunch on what happened to be Mother's day.  After reading Katherine's post on the Incline Public House and seeing their brunch menu, I knew we had to try it out.  Incline doesn't take reservations and they said (both on the phone and on their website) that they opened at 11am on Sunday, yet when we got there at 10:45am there were already people seated inside and there was a 45 minute wait.  But luckily I had my camera with me and the view is amazing, so we spent a couple minutes taking pictures and enjoying the panorama of Cincinnati.

Even though it was freezing outside, it was sunny and the view of Cincinnati was fantastic.

Sadly, all my negative comments about the Incline are about the wait and the lack of organization on the hostess' part.  Don't get me wrong, I have no problem waiting for a restaurant.  I've easily waited an hour and a half to be seated at Melt before...maybe even 2 hours.  And when Antoine and I went to brunch at Blue Moon Cafe in Baltimore, we waited easily two hours in the hot sun (and it was totally worth it).  But I do have a problem with waiting when there are multiple (we're talking easily 4 to 6) tables open, bused and set...just sitting there, empty, for 30 to 40 minutes.  A huge party was taking up all the seating (and space) in the entry way and it was freezing and windy outside.  I was definitely getting testy during our wait to be seated; the combination of there being 4-6 tables open that could have had people sitting at them, some servers just standing around, and seeing all the delicious looking food through the window made me a little grumpy.  Oh, and I hadn't had coffee yet.

But, once we finally got seated (at one of those tables that had been empty for some time) we had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed brunch!

The coffee, which our server told us was from Coffee Break Roasting Company, was fantastic!

Christian and his four beverages.  He really seemed to enjoy the Bloody Mary he ordered.

We saw a couple people with beers and tasty looking cocktails.

My sister and I were both in the mood for sweet and savory so we decided to split The Hangover Cure and the Bananas Foster French Toast.  We tend to gravitate toward the same menu items and we both love to share, so we enjoy having brunch together even more since we get to try multiple dishes.

The Hangover Cure: biscuits, fried potatoes, bacon, sausage gravy, cheddar cheese and argula topped with a fried egg.  Antoine also got the Hangover Cure, and we all really enjoyed it.  The arugula was dressed with some sort of vinaigrette which had a slight sweetness to it helping to counterbalance the richness of the egg, bacon and gravy.

Bananas Foster French Toast: French toast topped with a butter rum sauce, bananas and whipped cream, served with your choice of bacon, sausage or goetta.  This was my favorite!  I would totally get it again.  My sis and I were about ready to lick the plate when we were done.  The sauce was so buttery and delicious!  Since I ate the fried egg from the Hangover Cure (eggs make my sis a little squeamish), I let Michelle order goetta (I'm not a goetta fan) as the accompanying side.  I did try it and it wasn't bad.  Michelle said she liked it because it wasn't greasy like some goetta can be.

Christian got the Pastrami Hash: Fried potatoes with onions, peppers and pastrami topped with a fried eggs and served with crostini.  He really enjoyed it.

The food was fantastic, all of it!  Not a complaint in the group, only "mmm" sounds.  Our waiter told us that almost everything is made in-house, even most of the mix-ins for the bar, including the orange juice and purees.  So, once you get seated, expect a little bit of a wait for your food...but trust me, it'll probably be worth it.

The Incline Public House has only been open since February, so I'm sure they're still getting their bearings.  However, one of their biggest issues is obviously their hostess stand.  Our waiter told us that some evenings the wait can be as long as 3 hours.  And while I'm looking forward to returning and enjoying the view on the balcony when it's warmer, I certainly won't be waiting 3 hours, because that's ridiculous!