BrunchDTLA offers delicious brunch for affordable prices

Nestled in a food court inside a bank of Downtown apartments, BrunchDTLA — which opened in late spring — is perhaps one of the few real hidden gems in the Los Angeles culinary scene. In a time when social media and food appear to go hand-in-hand, it is surprising that the new eatery has not been receiving more hype. With its long list of diverse and delicious fusion dishes, large portions and reasonable pricing, BrunchDTLA certainly deserves the city’s attention.

Split equally between breakfast and lunch options, the menu offers a bevy of enticing Asian fusion options, including the chicken sausage and farro fried rice, vegetable Panang curry and the bibimbap (a Korean rice, meat, and vegetable dish) breakfast burrito. Also available are more traditional American dishes like the “steak, eggs and sweet potato hash,” different breakfast sandwiches, pastas and salads. The main menu contains vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. It is also complemented by a reasonably long list of specials as well as a beverage menu: Along with its diverse array of food, BrunchDTLA serves hydraulic pressed juices, coffee and tea.

Most menu items are priced around $7 or $8, fair for most dishes except perhaps the waffles — which, though deliciously sweet (specifically the Asian pear waffle with condensed milk), were too light to make someone feel full. On the other hand, the $8 bibimbap breakfast burrito is a recommended investment. The large burrito does not, perhaps, taste exactly as if someone had wrapped bibimbap the flavors inexplicably ring more true to breakfast burritos of an American stripe. But this burrito’s savory combination of beef, rice, cucumbers and fried egg can provide sustenance for the rest of the day. Even for someone who is not biased toward carbs and beef and burritos in general, the bibimbap burrito is actually a game-changer. That dish alone should put this joint on the map.

Nevertheless, a lot of what’s working against BrunchDTLA is its setting — the fact is, the quality of its food far exceeds the quality and location of the physical restaurant. The eatery isn’t necessarily hard to find — even though it is set within a small food court, a helpful sidewalk sign directs customers passing by on the street. Yet though located Downtown near the Ace Hotel, BrunchDTLA is still pretty easy to miss unless a customer knows what to look for.

The visual dissonance between BrunchDTLA’s actual restaurant and its food is indeed jarring. Where the food is warm, heavily-portioned and inviting, the restaurant itself is very bare: The only external sign of the eatery’s ingenuity being a Rolling Stone-esque mouth screaming “BRUNCH” sketched out on a chalkboard wall. Despite BrunchDTLA’s somewhat bald appearance, interested customers should still have faith and order something. The food that comes out from behind those kitchen doors will not disappoint. In fact, this is some of the best brunch food that Los Angeles has to offer. Not only are the dishes tasty, they are also original. The flavors are enhanced by the daringness of the dishes themselves, a quality few restaurants can claim to have.

Located in a food court among the colorful and eclectic Santee Court Lofts, BrunchDTLA is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends.