Pancakes with fresh fruit

The place: Alchemy

The wait: Even on Easter Sunday, this gastropub was packed. Our party of three arrived at 12:30pm and we were offered seats at the bar, which we refused. The stools didn’t have backs (our pathetically lazy requirement for sitting on one for an extended period of time). We were told the wait for a table would be 15 minutes, but it ended up being just five.

The deal: No prix fixe. Harrumph. But all the prices are reasonable and the portions are filling.

Delicious? Indeed. The winning dish was the supermoist Guinness pancakes ($10), topped with a generous spread of fresh fruit. The hollandaise sauce on the eggs Norwegian ($12) was just a wee bit bland, but the perfect poached eggs and oh-so-salty fries made up for it. The corned-beef hash and eggs ($11) is a man’s meal: You won’t be hungry for a long, long time after consuming it.

The service: Truly lovely. Menus were delivered with a smile, coffee cups were replenished frequently, food arrived before we got too hungry, and the check was at our table moments after we requested it.

The verdict: Go. This is one of the few Park Slope brunch spots that isn’t completely inundated with strollers. It’s also one of the only spots where the menu isn’t riddled with “organic this” and “local that.” Not that there’s anything wrong with those restos, but sometimes even Brooklynites need a break from the indoctrination.—Julia Israel