(upbeat music) - What's up Andrew?
- What's up Steven? - I made you a letter.
- Worth it brunch. Will you go to brunch with me? Circle. How about this?
- No. - Yeah I'll go to brunch with you. - Okay, I spent like 20 minutes on that. You didn't even--
- Waste of time, not worth it. - Tell me about brunch. - I'll tell you about brunch. Brunch is dumb. - Brunch is not dumb. Brunch is an event. It's a place where you can
extend breakfast into lunch and create a new memory. A memory that we shall call brunch. Today on Worth It we're going
to be trying three brunches at three drastically different
price points to find out which one is the most
worth it at its price. And actually, we're doing the
brunch across three Sundays. Triple the fun, triple the action-- - Prolonging the pain. - He says that, but he truly loves me. - So the first place we're going to is in fact not a brunch place. - Yes, they serve breakfast, but they serve it from
eight a.m. to three p.m. So, what do you do when you
need breakfast at three p.m.? - Isn't that a combination
of breakfast and dinner? - What? (scoffs) Where are you going here? - Brinner? Brupper? (laughing) (banjo music) - I'm Brianna. You can call me Breezy. I'm the owner founder of Homestate. And today we're going to
be eating breakfast tacos. - When you started Homestate, did you initially see it as a
breakfast taco primarily? - Yes (laughs) and queso. My mission in life was to serve
breakfast tacos and queso, because no one else in
L.A. was doing that. I was like, "This is crazy!" We opened with really bad queso. I thought we were going
to go down because, like, you know, it's a big deal. We finally got it about
a year after we opened. - So what is your secret?
- It's real cheese. Blended with jalapenos,
serranos, onions, tomatoes. It's a huge part of your
breakfast taco experience. - [Andrew] Really? - [Brianna] Because you
need to dip the taco-- - Oh.
- In the queso. It will take your dining
experience from here to like (whooshing). You have to do the Trinity. By a country mile, like our
most favorite loved taco. It's on a flour tortilla, flour
tortilla is king in Texas. We make the tortillas by hand. They're made fresh to order. We have scrambled eggs, which
are really beautifully cooked. Topped with crispy potatoes, crispy bacon, and melted cheddar cheese. - [Andrew] I like that we're having coffee as the first beverage that
we have in this episode, because brunch is nothing but breakfast. - See, this is why you're on this trip. We need to educate you. Cheers. - Start with the Trinity?
- Let's go. - The tortilla smells incredible. It's like a baby's thigh. So soft and squishy. In a good way! In a good way. - Okay, okay. Cheers. Wow
- That's so good. - That, oh
- It is, at face value pretty basic breakfast components, but with the tortilla, it's so much more. - The egg is the game changer here. It fills your mouth with
the thing that egg does, which tastes good, and is fluffy. Oh
- Aww man. - This Is Amazing. - This combination? Luscious. - [Brianna] We're also going
to do the vegetarian taco. When I was living in Texas I
was vegetarian for 12 years. For me, the vegetarian
taco was pretty critical. It sounds like a boring
taco until you try it. But it's the Blanco, it's egg whites with shiitake mushrooms and Monterey cheese. - Ohh... I love this taco as much as I love you. - Wish I could say the same. - Is it because you love me so
much that it doesn't compare? That's what I'm hearing. - Mushroom is as powerful
a flavor as any meat. - Vegetarian friends, sometimes you guys get the short end of the stick. You can't eat brisket,
you can't eat bacon, but it's okay, because
they have designed this beautiful, simple taco just for you. - [Brianna] The final taco is the Pecos, which is another favorite and
that's also really simple. It's just scrambled eggs
and shredded brisket. The brisket is cooked over 12 hours. We do nothing to it but
put salt and pepper on it. - [Andrew] Really? - [Brianna] It's just a
really good quality beef. - Nice and slow.
- Yeah, nice and-- - Love it.
- Slow and low. - Yeah
- That sounds awesome. - What more do you need in life than egg, brisket, and flour tortillas? - Cheese on top maybe? (upbeat music) You know, I do have to stand
a little bit corrected. This is way more than breakfast. I'm eating slow roasted brisket-- - Can we talk about the brisket? - Can you talk about
the tortillas some more? - Can we talk about the egg? - It's perfect with just a
little bit of sauce on that. - Oh, thank you, that's
what best friends do. Here you go my friend. Has anybody ever told you that
you take really large bites? (laughs) - Oh God!
- What'd you think? - We did that wrong. We should have got two tacos each. - But that's why you eat brunch at, you know, 11 a.m. then you've got the rest of Sunday to just nap. Brunch and nap. Brunch fact! Brunch is speculated to come from men who used to hunt in the U.K. They would need to get their nourishment so they would eat breakfast and lunch combined into one large
meal, with an adult beverage. - Adult beverage and hunting? Sounds like my kind of day. - Alright Governors, let's go hunting. - Ugh, I haven't eaten yet. Shall we combine breakfast and lunch? That's nonsense. Let's call it brunch. - Sounds way better. - Can I enjoy an adult beverage during? I wouldn't have it any other way. - So we're done for today. It's time for our little nap. Next week we're going to A-Frame. - And what do they do there? - Stacks on stacks on stacks
on stacks on stacks on-- (upbeat music) - Alright, my name is Roy. Welcome to A-Frame. We serve pancakes on the
weekend, all you can eat. If you look around, this is an old IHOP, so it makes sense to
serve pancakes in here. We gutted this whole
thing out and we saw these beautiful beams and everything. Right at the time we were creating A-Frame I was going to Hawaii a lot. So, I was like, channeling
the spirit of the island. We were serving Korean
Hawaiian inspired food. For the first two years
this was that restaurant. And then we decided to open for brunch. Personally and professionally you avoid what's right in front of you. Finally confronted, you know what? Ding.
(laughs) We're an IHOP. We made it an all you can eat brunch. I like to use a really strong,
stable, buttermilk recipe. Just straight up classic, your grandma wouldn't be mad type of pancake. And then from there, we add toppings. You get two pancakes per order, per stack and all you have to do is raise your hand and it just keeps getting filled up. - [Andrew] Why also bottomless drinks? - [Roy] Now, we tried to think of like, how can I make places
that everyone can access? So that's what the all you can drink is. We have a michelada,
it's like a spicy beer. It's like a Bloody Mary
and a beer had sex. A Dos Equis Lager, a
mimosa, and a bloody Mary. - Cheers. Mmm.
- Oh yeah. - I'm going to eat more than you today. - Ha!
- Ha! (laughing) You ate breakfast. You made a mistake. - That's called priming your stomach. - Alright, let's- pancake number one. - [Roy] Right off the griddle, hot, we lather them with a lilikoi butter. This is a passion fruit butter that we make into compound butter. - Excited for this one,
because it's sweet. - Yeah.
- Okay. You're going double dog.
- Yeah. When you eat a stack of pancakes you eat the whole stack at once. - Uh uh.
- Really? - Yes!
- You separate pancake-- - You eat the first one.
- No! - Alright, I'll do your style. Cheers. This is going to be a great day. Excuse me while I eat more. Woo, nuts, on pancakes.
(laughs) Texture of that together--
- Is that a great combination? - Yeah
- Yeah. - It's fluffy and nutty. - Yeah. I'm fluffy--
- Ever have a fluffer-nutter? - You're nutty. - Actually could use
a little syrup for me. - No, no, no, no, no, no. - Oh yeah.
- Syrup's too rich. - No.
- I'm a purist. Pancake number one down. Let's go for the next one. - [Roy] We have the banana
macadamia nut butter. We make a macadamia nut pesto with banana. Then we serve that with whipped cream. - [Steven] Banana macadamia nut. - Macadamian.
- Macadanian? - Macadamian?
- Macadamia. - Alright.
- This is fun. We're having fun at brunch, let's eat. - So banana, oh, excuse me.
(laughs) Banana and pancake is
the classic combo for me. A soft fluffy texture
with a soft mushy texture that goes so well together. - We need a Wimpy bite. Cheers. The thing you just said about, you know mushy and soft together? That's what's happening
in my mouth just now. - [Roy] Then we have the
pineapple orange guava, which is, almost like a jam. - Can I feed you a bite? Let me know what you think about that. It's not quite like the others. It's a little more tart and it's got that pineapple acidity to it. - Feels like I'm on Hawaii,
like lying in the sand. The world is passing by me. - And suddenly some fruit
falls from a tree and lands in your mouth, right?
- Yeah. - [Roy] And then we have
the buttermilk chicken. Which is our buttermilk pancake with a mochiko rice flour fried chicken. Kind of Japanese style,
Japanese Hawaiian style. - Woo!
- Now I kinda feel like we've finally arrived at brunch. - You're a smart guy Andrew. That's why I bring you on these. - Thank you. - You're so charming and smart and what a great--
- I'm gonna eat it. - This is the way to do it.
- Yeah. - Start with the sweeter ones. Then when lunch comes
around, 11 a.m., 12 p.m. you go to the chicken.
- The rest of the lunch hours? This is the first time we've had the buttermilk pancake on its own. It's beautiful. - Did you eat it with fried chicken? - I didn't have it together.
- You made the mistake. - Do it.
- Here. I'll give you some of mine. You have the fried chicken
off a fluffy pancake. The dynamic duo of friendship. - I think we have a
special treat for Adam. (uplifting music) - [Steven] Matt, thanks for driving. - [Steven] Appreciate it. Allowed me to enjoy a drink on the show. What'd you think?
- What did you think? - Dude, that was so good. Unlimited pancakes.
- Yeah. - Come on. Come on! Pancakes are delicious. Brunch Fact! Dude, I have to pee so bad. - That's not a brunch fact. - Those mimosas in water glasses. (laughs) - If I tickle you, will you pee? - Brunch fact! Brunch was popularized in
America most likely because, as actors were traveling from the east coast to the west coast, they would stop by Chicago
for a mid-morning meal. Planes couldn't fly, you know,
all the way across the coast. So they would stop in
the middle of the country and then finish the flight at the end. - Wow, that melted my brain. - Melted your brain? - Melted it like butter on a pancake. - So we've had breakfast tacos. We've had all you can eat pancakes. And finally, we're on
the way to the last spot. - Next week--
- I'll see you next week. - The ultimate brunch. - Seafood, champagne, no caviar. (upbeat music) - My name is David Codney,
I'm the executive chef of the Peninsula Beverly Hills and you are here to dine with
us for our Sunday brunch. We like to do things that are just fun, a little bit different. More of the old school nod at
to how brunches used to be. It's done with a modern twist. You know, we like things
where it's slower paced, people can walk through at their leisure. Hence, the champagne, so you can just sit there and have fun. And if you don't like your family, you can always drink a little bit more. - I think brunch is
like the ultimate way to like, win somebody's heart, right? - I would agree. First dates, family time. And when it gets awkward,
you just eat more. We feature, for our Sunday brunch, many, many, many, different items. We have jumbo shrimp cocktail, oysters, snow crab claws, Peruvian based scallop ceviche, house smoked salmon. We do a taramasalata, which
is a Greek cod roe dip. We also have braised pork
belly, lamb pastrami. It's usually done with a brisket,
but we use a leg of lamb. So we cure it and brine it for three days, and then we smoke it for 4 hours, and then slowly roast it overnight. - [Andrew] Lamb pastrami, that's
not a typical thing, right? - No, it's a little twist,
everything's a twist. The lobster waffle is probably one of our signature dishes. It's basically a play on
chicken waffles if you will. The batter is Yukon gold potatoes, a little bit of flour, some magic, some love, and buttermilk. And then on top we do very acidic bernese. I think a lot of bernese are very muted and the just become very fatty. But you have this rich potato waffle. You have lobster that's very light. And then we just want to air
it out with everything else. There's an art to eating a buffet. You always want more
than what you can finish. If you leave fat and happy, I'm happy. (laughing)
That's the whole point. - [Steven] So, there will
be plenty of food for Adam. - [David] There will be
plenty of food for Adam. - [Andrew] I think we're ready to do it. - [David] Great. Crush it. Crush brunch. - [Andrew] Crush brunch isn't a phrase that I expect coming out
of a place like this. - [David] Free flowing. Crush it. - [Andrew] Free flowing. Crush it. Thanks for dressing up, for once. Ooh, that's (beep) smooth. - We need to crush this brunch. So I think we need a game plan here. I think we should--
- Maybe we should cheers the-- - Maybe uh, the lamb.
- No the waffle lobster. - You want to lead with
the waffle lobster. - Yeah, it's one of the
few things we can pick up. - Cheers. - Mmm.
- Oh yeah. - There's like chunks
of potato in the waffle. There's this delightful cream on top. - Chicken and waffles,
you think you've reached the pinnacle of life when you try that. Mm mm. - Lobster and waffles, yeah.
- Yeah. - Look how fat and juicy this shrimp is. I don't think I've ever had a shrimp that fat and juicy in my life. - Mmm, want somebody to stop talking? - Holy (beep).
- Feed them this shrimp. Because it fills your mouth. - Yeah, cop a shrimp in their mouth. - While on the same theme here, come on! - Come on.
- This is next level! - Oh yeah.
- Mmm. (slurps and coughs) - (laughs) Easy there big fella. - Just trying to crush this brunch. - Let's do the lamb. - Cheers. No joke, wow!
- Holy (beep) that's crazy. - That lamb is so tender to bite into. - You know what the best part of bunch is? You get delicious seafood, the best of breakfast--
- Mm hmm - You get a beautifully carved lamb. And then if you want to, you just have a donut right after that. This is a really good donut. (laughing) Everything's really good. - Can I have some? Ah man! - What'd you expect?
- Oh! - (laughing) Yeah! It's a really good donut. (laughing) - That was like biting into cream cheese. - Is that the pork belly?
- No, no - I didn't, I actually
didn't get pork belly. - Uh oh.
(classical music) Wow.
- That was so soft. It's like mashed potatoes. It's like pig Jello. - You know I dream about that. - Pig Jello?
- Yes. - (exhales) Thank you.
- Oh, uh. - Top off?
- You're here, yeah, why not? Brunch is when you wanna
become a Greek god. Feeding yourself, like grapes, like this. - Mm hmm.
- Shoving donuts? - I think more than anything else brunch is about taking your time to eat just, whatever you want. I kinda get it now.
- You feel it? Do you feel the love? The good times? The memories that you'll never forget? - Uh, yeah. (laughing) I love brunch. (laughing) - Were you wearing a belt earlier? - Yeah, I had to take it off because of the uh, constriction. - Alright Andrew, which brunch was the most worth it at its price to you? - My favorite brunch spot was HomeState. Because, if you want a low impact brunch, you can have it there. And if you want to ball hard and dip your breakfast taco into a cheese pool, you can do that too. Actually, no. A-Frame is my Worth It winner. - What?
- Sorry. Uh, no. HomeState is my Worth It winner. - (laughing) No, you
can't, you can't go one way and then go the other way
and then go the other way. - The problem is that
breakfast tacos are such a good savory breakfast food, and pancakes are such a good sweet. It's really hard to choose between them. - I gotta say, my worth it winner, I mean, you know who I'm gonna pick. A-Frame. That macadamia nut pancake. Oh my gosh, I'm still dreaming about it. Adam?
- Adam? - I win.
- You don't win. - This is the first time on this show he picked something with me. Shout out to Belvedere though. - It was great.
- Seafood lovers out there, That's your spot. Next time you see us we might be in Japan. (laughing) - [Andrew] Cut the tape. - [Steven] Sorry to the editors, oh yes!
Roy Choi is GOAT
A-Frame should be in my city....
/u/whosdamike /u/notanotherloudasian /u/hotzonekill you guys down?