Omotesando: Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant

Summary: NY style breakfast/brunch

Hailing from New York, Clinton St. Baking Company & Restaurant is known as the “king of brunch” in its home city. What started as a humble bakery by chef-husband & wife, Neil Kleinberg and DeDe Lahman is now a legendary eatery with their own devotees and ever snaking lines down the block.

The restaurant has gotten highly acclaimed awards under its belt like `New York’s number 1 breakfast spot’ by Lonely Planet and `Best Pancakes’ by New York Times.  

It serves simple and wholesome breakfast foods such as pancakes, waffles, eggs Benedict, French toast and breakfast plates, as well as a variety of other foods like sandwiches, soups, burgers and salads.

Ridiculously long lines tend to scared me off, so I haven’t been able to drop by despite it being on my ‘must try’ list for a while. However, I recently realised that they allow for reservations during the evenings, so despite being a place famous for breakfast/brunch, I was undeterred and decided to drop by for dinner. 

Frankly speaking, breakfast is my most favourite meal of the day, and I am perfectly contented to have breakfast any time of the day. 

The cafe was about 7~8 minutes walk away from Omotesando station (Hanzomon Line), and I managed to find it with relative ease (using Google Maps, of course).

From the outside,the cafe looked bright, cheery and happy. The store front is painted bright red, so it stood in stark contrast to other basic coloured buildings in the area. 

Inside, their glass counter had some baked goods on display - muffins, biscuits and cornbread.
I am not sure if it is because it was evening time (7.30pm), but I thought the selection was very limited for a bakery.

I had to wait for a bit while the staff looked for my reservation on their paper list. I was a little worried that they had accidentally missed out on my reservation because they had to ask for my name again, and were looking through their list and whispering among themselves while I loitered around their corridor.

Thankfully, it seemed that everything was sorted,  and the staff informed me to head upstairs.
I was really relieved, because throughout the entire time, their staff had absolutely not a hint of a smile on their faces, making me feel like I was some kind of unwelcomed pest.

After heading upstairs, I was pointed to my seat and I sat down.
My date was running late that night, so I had some time to look through their menus and to survey my surroundings.

selfie because mirror and i was bored

The interior of the eatery was quite basic - to be honest I was not impressed at all. 

It felt like it was designed without much thought and concept in mind - kind of like those cheap franchise chain cafes you can find in every corner of Tokyo.  

Especially from where I was seated, I could see their service station and that little stand in front of their chalkboard wall made it look like a typical fast food joint. 

Shame - because they worked so hard to decorate their chalkboard nicely with a Christmas theme.

(and what is with that emergency button in the middle of their chalkboard???)

I suppose that Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant is meant to be a no-frills american style family diner - though I really expected a better dining atmosphere especially when you are setting your prices at a premium. 

From what I saw on their website. it seems like dinner time menu isn’t much different from day time menu, notwithstanding the jacked up prices.

My date arrived, and she got Clinton Street Baking Company’s famed Pancakes with warm maple butter with blueberry at my suggestion. 

I have heard a lot of hype about this pancakes, so being a pancake researcher, I definitely wanted to try it out. 

pancakes with warm maple butter (blueberry) 1600yen

The pancakes were topped with blueberries compote and with homemade maple butter on the side.

Very simple food presentation. 

The pancakes were very dense and moist - a little bit chewy too. 

Taste wise, it didn't have much flavour on its own, but the sweet and tangy flavour of the bluberry sauce, and that amazing maple butter made it from not-too-bad to quite good.

However, I could not make myself finish it despite the delicious toppings as I became quite bored with its taste halfway through the meal.

I definitely wouldn't call this the best pancakes in Tokyo - if I am comparing similar types of pancakes, I would say that Bubby's pancakes is equally, if not better than what I had here. 

Anyway, we also ordered their Fried Chicken Dinner & Waffles – I know it might sound weird, but this American soul food (African American) pairing of chicken and waffles is A-MA-ZING.

Crispy fried chicken, fluffy waffles and sticky maple syrup - the perfect balance of savory, sweet and heaven. If you haven’t tried one, you are missing out on one hella of good time.

The moment this arrived at our table, we both quickly abandoned the pancakes and dove straight into this beast.

fried chicken dinner with waffles 2000yen

I am not sure if the volume is different from lunchtime, but this would have cost me 1500yen during the day time.

Thankfully, they were quite generous with their fried chicken. If I am not wrong, we had five pieces of fried chicken on our waffle. 

The chicken was cooked well - not too greasy, well seasoned and tender on the inside. 

I quite liked this dish - but who wouldn't? Fried chicken, waffles and maple syrup. 

It's made with everything awesome. 

I wouldn't say this dish was exceptional, but you don't get many choices for waffles and fried chicken in Tokyo. 

While Bubby's had better fried chicken, the waffles here were better - fluffy and good.  

On the menu it states that they use honey-tabasco sauce for the waffle, but I wasn't able to taste the spiciness..

Nonetheless, the Fried Chicken & Waffles came with their heavenly maple butter, so we quite enjoyed our waffles. 

halfway through our meal

I also ordered a cappuccino, and my date had their unsweetened iced tea. 

 

cappuccino 650yen

unsweetened iced tea 600yen

My cappuccino was decent, but I wondered how my date's unsweetened ice tea was.

It didn't really look special to me- not sure if this is worth 600yen. It might be really good, high quality tea, but when they serve it together with that small capsule of gum syrup (typically found in chain cafes), it really cheapens its look. 

They should have served it in its own tiny jug or creamer.

Overall, my date and I thought their choice of plates and cutlery were very uninspiring.  

No offence to 100yen stores, but the plates here really looked like what I could get from those stores. 

Service was also very uninspiring - no smiles, tired voices and overall lack of interest in their customers. I suppose its what to expect in a cheap family diner in Japan, but definitely not at a place charging us over 600yen for drinks and 2000yen for our waffles...

To be honest, I really am not sure what the hype was about for this restaurant. 

While the food I had was good, it was definitely not mind-blowingly amazing. I felt that I could find similar alternatives at other restaurants, while enjoying a better atmosphere, service and perhaps cheaper price.

I might come back if I have a very specific craving for fried chickens and waffles, but recently I have come to notice the existence of MOJA THE HOUSE, another cafe serving the same combination so I might not be coing back here depending on how good their chicken waffles are.

Address: 5−17−1 Minamiaoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062

〒107-0062 東京都港区南青山5-17-1 YHT南青山ビル

Phone: 03-6450-5944

Hours: Mon - Sun 8am - 10pm (last order 9.30pm)

Website: http://clintonstreetbaking.co.jp/