The happiest little brunch place on Earth...

{Image taken from Penelope's website: http://www.penelopenyc.com/}

Penelope, a little brunch place in Murray Hill (often called Curry Hill because of the Indian restaurants in that 'hood), is my little piece of heaven. The food is not that cheap breakfast-wise, but then again, I don't think $3 eggs at our local diner is that common in the rest of the city, or the rest of the world, for that matter. But, the eggs aren't that great either. Penelope is yummy brunch food -- fresh eggs, fresh bakery bread, tea or coffee in mugs that don't match each other. It feels like home, there is no other way to describe it. And it's not only my little piece of heaven, judging by the long line to get a table most Saturday and Sunday mid-mornings.

But it is a place I wanted to take our guests to while they were here because it is not a place you would ever find in Spain. We actually made it there on a weekday, and it was closer to afternoon than morning, so we missed breakfast by a hair. We had to 'settle' for lunch; and I was pleasantly surprised lunch at Penelope wasn't half bad at all.

Kike and Paki both got chicken clubs -- I had wanted them to be a bit more daring, but they seemed to order chicken wherever we went. I don't really get it, considering how diverse the food in Spain is... but I figured since they couldn't really imagine what the different kinds of things America had to offer would taste like, I suppose they thought chicken would be the safe bet... And these chicken clubs happened to look, and as I understood with my limited Spanish, taste fantastic as well. I got the chicken pot pie. Oh, how I love chicken pot pie. I think currently it is my number one of top five things I love to eat... And this one did not disappoint. The chicken was lovely in tender, in a creamy and flavorful filling, with loads of veggies too -- butternut squash, asparagus, peas, mmmmm.

Kike couldn't really find the word in English to describe the feeling he got from Penelope, but I think after a few giggles and perplexed looks at each other, we agreed 'cozy' would be the most appropriate word. So the happiest little brunch place on Earth is cozy too, or at least that is what I think he said. LOL.