In this ongoing series, Ann Lemons Pollack investigates brunch options in St. Louis—and an occasional breakfast joint for good measure.
Something for everyone? YaYa’s Euro Bistro’s Sunday brunch comes pretty close, except for those folks overwhelmed by variety. Sure, there are omelets and roast beef, but we’re talking pizza and baba ghanoush, too. Happily, it doesn’t feel like one of the Aren’t-We-Fabulous brunches, though, and no one bats an eye at children. Plenty of multi-generational tables were holding forth on our most recent visit. Note, though, that it’s too busy and a tad too snug for children to play in the aisles.
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Our server, who checked in with us frequently despite this being mostly self-service, pointed out that YaYa’s is big on local products and the breads and smoked fish were all prepared in-house. She also served up a delightfully spicy Bloody Mary and a nice dry mimosa.
The French toast is made to order in the kitchen, the only item that isn’t on the buffet tables. Cinnamon swirl bread, nice and tender, is the base, sauced this particular week with a peach sauce and a dribble of crème anglaise. Very rich, even though it’s only a total of one slice of bread; it’s a good dish for the table to share.
Wenneman Meats of St. Libory, IL, supplies the very commendable bacon and sausage. Thick-cut bacon remained crisp on the warmer, along with the moist, tasty finely-ground link sausage. Biscuits and gravy for the down home touch sat near the more worldly eggs Benedict.
For the Benedict, eggs were poached right on the line, placed on English muffin halves kept warm on an electric griddle, the hollandaise sauce being added when the egg was on the diner’s plate. Poaching that way is a great idea. The only quibble was the terribly tough muffin half. Save your calories for the egg, Canadian bacon, and the hollandaise.
On the other hand, the pancakes kept warm in a chafing dish were great survivors. Tender and light, there were both regular and blueberry cakes. Maple syrup and a peach sauce were on hand.
Thinking lunch-ish? Set off separately on a tall table were crispy pita strips with a wonderfully silky baba ghanoush and some equally smooth hummus, both don’t-miss items. Beyond several green salads, bowls of large marinated artichoke hearts and mixed Greek olives, consider the seafood. There’s plenty, well beyond the cold shrimp. Two kinds of mussels. Poached calamari. Gravlax, made in-house. A side of house-smoked salmon preened near the Benedicts. The pastas were particularly notable. Both of them were rotini, one vegetarian and one with meat and neither with a tomato sauce. The vegetarian, made with mushroom broth, was robust and satisfying, although the pork belly-laced pasta was almost as good.
Desserts nestled on the bar, each of them carefully cut in small squares to make sampling easy to rationalize. Among the choices were a first-rate flan, not overbaked to rubberiness, lemon cake, brownies, cheesecake, baklava, and an apple bread pudding, the only one that wasn’t up to par, with its dense, almost chewy texture. All of them were very fresh, something that doesn’t happen everywhere. Coffee is good, if not remarkably strong.
YaYa’s is wheelchair accessible through much of the dining room and bar, but it will be extremely close quarters to get to the buffet and some displays will be at eye-level or perhaps higher. Still, we’ve always held it to be a very recommendable spot from that standpoint. And service goes beyond the norm – the executive chef was going into careful, elaborate detail about what was in a number of dishes for a concerned diner.
At $24 for an adult buffet, it’s good value for the money.
