I came by for Sunday brunch a few years ago with a chum and definitely enjoyed it, so I was pretty pleased when I recently received an invite to a baby brunch at Bloom. Depending on your perspective, Bloom is either intimate or almost bordering on claustrophobic - it's a VERY small dining space. During normal business hours, they can't fit more than maybe five tables in there, and for this private event, they squeezed in one larger, long table to accommodate about 10 to 15 people. It's small. I remember thinking when I came here for brunch that it was reminiscent of an NYC establishment, both in terms of interior decoration and limited space. I really don't know how you'd fix that beyond tearing down the low wall that separates the entrance walkway from the dining area, but it is what it is.
The baby brunch was held this past Saturday, and to their credit, you could tell Bloom had experience hosting events like this. There was probably two or three servers who were always nearby though not oppressively so, and one woman managing them who popped in from time to time for any minor troubleshooting. I got the impression that they didn't have a ton of help in the kitchen, which resulted in VERY minor delays with bringing out all of the food at the same time, so that meant that, say, after the first person was served with an entrée, the last person was served with one about five minutes later. Not egregious though. Everyone I interacted with there was very pleasant and professional.
Truly befitting a mom-to-be, Bloom boasts a pretty impressive mocktail list (they also had a rose prosecco on hand, but I think that was from the party organizers, not Bloom itself). They actually brought out samples of each mocktail for the guest of honor to try, and by virtue of my seat right next to her, I was able to take a nip of most of them. My favorite by far was the butterfly pea margarita - great presentation and very tasty. Definitely on the sweeter side (one or two other guests were more tepid on it as a result, which meant I got to pretty much take ownership of them). The only one that I wasn't crazy about was the pomegranate Moscow mule, which I thought tasted like a leather suitcase (maybe the combo of ginger beer and something tart? Not sure.)
The food is very solid, which I definitely remembered from my prior visit. There's a strong Korean influence throughout, but if you're not crazy about that particular genre there's more than enough options to tap dance around it. We actually got personal samples of all of the brunch apps except for the octopus, which was a nice touch. My personal favorite surprisingly was the kale salad; I think the miso dressing kind of gave it a subtle sushi flavoring vibe, which I was into. A close second was the rock shrimp, which was probably the most mainstream option in many regards, but still excellent. I can always get down with wasabi aioli. For the entrée, I opted for the Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon. It was a LITTLE tough to cut up (the muffin or whatever bread was underneath seemed a bit overcooked, and a sharper knife would have helped considerably) but it was still very tasty and a solid portion and presentation. I'm not sure how I ended up eating dessert as well, but we each also got a thin slice of cheesecake with blueberry compote. The bottom crust was a little thick but otherwise this was a great palate cleanser to wrap up the meal.
Definitely a cut above a lot of the restaurants along Bloomfield (which could obviously apply to a few towns). I wouldn't come during as busy time, but the quality isn't debatable. read more