As Told Over LuLu's Brunch
Last weekend my 10k training team (read: just me and my friend) wanted to go for a run (read: walk) to prep for the Monument Ave 10k. I suggested the Capital Trail, so that way we'd run along the river and enjoy a beautiful day in the city. It was a good start to the promise I made myself a night prior that I'd have a productive weekend after the chaos of Richmond Brunch Weekend. I'd workout, I'd meal prep and stop spending so much money eating out.
We walk/ran a giant loop that took us across the new Brown's Island bridge, up a ton of stairs to a looking point (not as aesthetic as you'd hope after trekking up some pretty steep stairs), questionably into Manchester and then back to the Canal Cruise docking station.
Then as we closed in on the car, we looked at each other and said, "Brunch!?" Coming off the back of Richmond Brunch Weekend, I find myself wanting to still support all of the restaurants who participated, but I also visualized myself at LuLu's and couldn't shake that I needed to be there.
I pointed us down 17th street, across Broad and into a PACKED LuLu's. I saw the Richmond Brunch Weekend Kick-off chair as soon as we walked in and yell-whispered, "How long is the wait?" And he said he always sat at the bar. I nodded, quickly thinking we'd need to head to my brunch staple, On the Rox soon. I was famished and not trying to play around with the waiting nonsense.
However, the bartender at Lulu's is insane, and I mean that in the totally-genius way who can manage a crowd flawlessly. She locked eyes with us and pointed at two seats and said, "These will be yours soon, what are you drinking?" I opted for the Brazilian mimosa, and my friend selected the tropical mimosa. They both were pineapple juice, champagne and rum, but mine was a Kracken and hers was Malibu. We both liked our respective drinks, mine was a bit harsher and hers a bit sweeter.
Before we even finished our first drink, the seats we were promised were ours. Being who I am as a person, I had secretly looked at LuLu's brunch menu prior to coming on the off-chance that we'd end up there for brunch. I had locked eyes with the scrambled eggs and lobster biscuit. Not only did it have lobster on it (I loved lobster even as a child before I realized that lobster was a fancy, expensive food), plus mushrooms, tomatoes and hollandaise over a biscuit. I mean what more could I want!?
Oh right, I also wanted the red velvet waffle.
Convincing Kim to get the waffle as a brunch dessert to split with me was an easy sell, with the pecan cream cheese, strawberries and whipped topping.
We put another drink order in shortly after placing our food order. We both wanted to try something new, so I got the lavender mimosa and Kim got the peach mimosa. I was blown away by the lavender mimosa. It was a soft and delicate flavor without being sweet. It was perfect.
Scrambled egg and lobster biscuit
Then the food came out and my head exploded. I got a MOUND of egg, lobster, tomatoes, mushrooms and hollandaise over a huge biscuit.
I whipped out my phone to snap some pictures quickly so I could dig in. Because I was two drinks in on an empty stomach, I knew future-me would want some notes to help me write this post, and here's what I thoughtfully jotted down (verbatim) as we ate our first course:
- Lu lus
- So good
- Crispy biscuit
- Potatoes with onions and peppers
- The Hollandaise sauce
- Best omelet ever
To elaborate: LuLu's brunch is so good. One thing that made it so delicious was the treatment of the biscuit. I'm fairly confident they grilled it, giving it a crispy and flavorful exterior. The ingredients of the topping was perfectly complimented by the creamy, tangy hollandaise sauce. Plus, the potatoes were cooked perfectly with onions and peppers.
The best omelet ever is in reference to Kim's Atlantic omelette, which featured lobster, crabmeat, bacon, hollandaise and white cheddar.
Atlantic Omelette
As I'm mid-way through my meal, I am see someone sit down across the bar from us, just two seats down from the Kick-off chair. He looks a lot like the mayor. I find our mayor really inspiring and relatable. I really like him. I can't stop staring. I think it's the mayor, so I take a few creepy pictures to send to a few people who would know if it's the mayor. As I'm floundering around because I'm basically brunching with the mayor, our round-two shows up, our red velvet waffle.
Part of me is mortified that I'm googley eyes over the mayor just as a second plate of food is put in front of me, but part of me truly doesn't care because I'm about to go in on a red velvet waffle. Kim takes her half as I'm still hacking away at my first course, and then she stops, looks at me and said something like, "No seriously, this."
Red Velvet Waffle
So I move on to the waffle and OMG NO SERIOUSLY, THIS. The waffle was fluffy with a crisp finish. I originally was concerned that I was eating straight butter, but as I work on the review, I now know it's cream cheese so now I don't even feel gross about how much I globbed on every bite.
When Kick-off chair walked by, I made eyes at him to see if he knew he was questionably sitting near the mayor. He thought he was but didn't notice. He also said he got both my meal and Kim's combine: the omelet on top of a biscuit. This is the kind of life-changing information I needed BEFORE I ordered, but then again, there's always next time.
Just like every meal, you get a check at the end, and my heart sank. "I said I'd spend less on eating out and I just dropped over $40 on brunch."
Kim shrugged, and then I shrugged because if I'm going to spend $40+ on brunch, this is the place to do it. It was damn delicious. And I got to rub elbows with the mayor. Slash I didn't rub elbows because I didn't speak to him. But my favorite part of brunch with the mayor is he had a friend with him who stood behind him the whole time and didn't eat. I just picture him saying things like, "Oh yeah those potatoes!" and other hype-like things the whole meal.
If I make it in life, I want a life-hype man to stand behind me cheering me on as I eat lobster and eggs.