Bellytimber Tavern

Bellytimber Tavern, 1501 Main Street, Richmond
Brunch Menu

Karisa: Way back in our young and foolish days, the ladies and I would frequent Bellytimber for some dancing, drinking, and dude finding (who am I kidding, this was just a few months ago...) We always had a good time, and were always successful in having fun. We even ended my last birthday extravaganza there (as loyal readers realize, after a trip to my bff Stella's.) However, I've only had one meal there, consisting of pizza at the bar, which if I remember correctly was quite good. With Kathy gone this week, we decided a return trip to Bellytimber was in order. Although with all of our late nights closing the place down, I'm really surprised we never stayed for brunch after picking up our cars.

Nostalgia aside, my brunch at Bellytimber had some high highs and some low lows. The highest of the highs - the pitcher of mimosas served with two straws. Apparently our server was kidding by suggesting we drink right out of pitcher, but Andrea and I took her up on it and thoroughly enjoyed drinking mimosas Lady and the Tramp style. The lowest of the lows - the Tofu Scramble entree; also a suggestion of our server. It was scrambled in tiny pieces with strong curry flavors. I mean, I like tofu. You can't be a non-meat eater for this long without having some some sort of acquired taste for tofu. This dish, however, was gross. Curry ≠ brunch. Perhaps if it was lunch I'd have enjoyed it, but it was curry flavored tofu with green peppers and onions served with potatoes. Maybe I'm just not cut out to be/don't think like a vegan, but I expected/craved some eggs in a "scramble." I left brunch hungry and slightly tipsy, having only potatoes and lots of delicious mimosa.

Andrea: Bellytimber is such a great name for a restaurant/bar. I've been here for dinner once and for late-night festivities on several occasions. It's one of my favorite places in the Fan. When I walked into brunch this week, there was a delicious pitcher of mimosas waiting for me and I thought I had died and gone to heaven (THANK YOU KARISA!). Despite that and some pretty cool ambiance, the food and the coffee fell a little flat and the overall experienced ended up being a high 3 for me. I liked our doughnut appetizer that came with a side of honey and I was super excited about the feta gritcakes (I mean...who doesn't love feta??) but I found them to be a little dry. For my actual meal, I just ordered some eggs with a side of hash browns. They were tasty on the whole, but the eggs were very greasy. I would brunch here again to give them another chance, but likely I'll keep coming back here for late night shenanigans or if I'm in need of a Sunday funday and save the brunching for other destinations.

Michele: I have been to Bellytimber for drinks a few times in the past. I can’t recall ever eating any food here. The bar always features some good beers on tap, and the crowd here for late night is generally lively and interesting. We celebrated Karisa’s birthday here last year, and good times were had by all.

The night prior to brunching at Bellytimber, I received a tip that the restaurant has a “make your own” Bloody Mary bar. Loyal readers may recall that I generally do not like to make my own. However, I don’t hate the process enough to order a different drink. The Bloody bar at Bellytimber is quite impressive. It featured an enormous selection of mixes, hot sauces, and pickled items. Oh, the pickles. I saw so many jars of different olives, dilly beans, and pickled asparagus. The dry spice selection left a bit to be desired. They had the standards like Old Bay and pepper, but my favorite, celery seed, was absent. In the end, I awarded myself a “Good” for the Bloody Mary.

We ordered the grit cake and doughnut holes to split as appetizers. I liked the grit cake when it came out. It was a crispy on the outside and gritty on the inside. The entire cake was a little dry, but I think that’s the way it was supposed to be. It kind of looked like a crab cake before we cut into it. I also enjoyed the doughnut holes, which arrived with honey for dipping. They were the “old-fashioned” kind, fried balls of fluffy pastry dough. The dough was fluffy and not overly sweet or greasy.

I selected the Amigo con Chorizo, an omelette, for my meal this week. The dreaded “omelette dryness” hovered in the back of my mind as I placed the order. Thankfully, the first bite of the dish allayed all my fears.  The egg part of the omelette was super fluffy and tasty. Inside, the chorizo, beans, and queso blanco mixed into a heavenly combination of Latin flavors. Avocado and pico de gallo garnished the top of the omelette and added moisture to the dish. Our waitress strongly recommended the potatoes, and I’m glad I took her recommendation. They were cut into manageable pieces and thoroughly cooked. The potatoes are called hash browns on the menu, and Kathy would have taken issue with this. I don’t think that I would call them hash browns either, but as far as home fries go, these were pretty good.

Overall, I enjoyed my meal at Bellytimber. My food was better than I expected. I certainly wouldn’t be sad if one Sunday I was blindfolded, stuffed into a car trunk, and taken to Bellytimber for brunch. This restaurant probably won’t be at the top of my personal brunch short list, though. The make-your-own Bloody bar knocked it down a few notches for me. However, I know that a lot of folks really like the DIY Bloodies. If you’re one of these people, definitely give Bellytimber try for brunch as their Bloody bar is one of the best ones that I’ve seen in Richmond.

Rating: 3
Food - Good. We wanted to see more feta in the gritcakes. Nice variety on the menu of breakfast and lunch items (especially known for their pizza). We liked the doughnut special that came with honey for dipping. Karisa's scramble didn't have any eggs as she anticipated and had Indian flavors (which she also didn't anticipate). Hash browns were yummy little diced potatoes (not true Waffle House-style). Egg dishes were good but a little oily.
Service - Good. Our friendly server came over often, gave us a good recommendation to try the doughnuts and seemed to know the menu well. Negatives: our glasses were taken away without checking with us (we weren't quite done with them) and Karisa wasn't asked why she only ate half her meal (clearly she didn't like the eggs). 
Atmosphere - Very Good. Highlights of the funky decor included a ceiling fan with fish for blades, a stuffed ram with a wig and shades, a clock imbedded into the brick wall, and a large bar area. The space featured exposed brick on both sides and we rocked out to the early 90s jams that were playing for most of our meal. Unlike some other bar-turned-restaurant establishments in the Fan, it's figured out how to make the long skinny space work. Music wasn't too loud so we could carry on conversations normally. For a bar that does brunch, the ambiance really was great.
Coffee - Fair. Mugs were super cute, but we had to put a lot of additives (sugar, cream) to make it drinkable.
Mimosa - Very Good. The best part of the meal! Pitcher with two straws and a super-high ratio of bubbly to OJ = HEAVEN.Very flavorful.
Bloody Mary - Good. Great selection of mixes, hot sauces, and pickles. Dry spice selection a bit lacking. Michele did a good job making her drink, this “Good” rating goes to her.

The Camel

The Camel, 1621 W Broad St., Richmond
Menu (brunch menu not online, pictured below the ratings)

Karisa: People of Richmond - get yourself to The Camel for brunch. Seriously, you've got to go. The food is awesome. The service is great (at least in our experience.) There's live music! So why was it practically empty? My guess is that Richmonders think the same thing I did about The Camel before this meal... a music venue with a mediocre menu. In fact, discussing this brunch later, a friend said "oh, I thought you were just running out of places to go." I understand this thought, but it's wrong. In fact, I was pleased with practically everything about The Camel from the moment I arrived. Parking is easy. The place is adorable. An old door was converted into our booth. Our server was prompt, incredibly knowledgeable about the menu, gave thoughtful recommendations, and kinda cute. What's not to enjoy?

With few minutes of menu perusal under our belts, we learned of three daily specials: a veggie omelette, a meaty omelette, and a spicy tomato-y poached egg special that sounded remarkably like the Egyptian style dish I had at Aziza's. I debated between the last special and the crabcake, but the server so effusively raved about the special (and Michele committed to the crabcake) that I went for it. I had some concern it was too much on the '-unch' side rather than the 'br-' side of brunch, but took the leap. It was a wise decision. The spice was present without being overwhelming (cumin, coriander, and cinnamon, I learned... the three Cs of deliciousness.) The eggs were very well cooked, and the spinach added a fresh texture and made an excellent raft for food-to-mouth delivery. I can't quite decide how it stacked up against Aziza's, but Michele looked jealous when she had a taste.

After we became sad we were full, we stuck around a bit longer to chat, have another drink, and hear the band. Unfortunately, once we started focusing on drinks we realized the coffee was not up to par with the rest of the meal. My first cup had a lot of grounds at the bottom of the mug (not Greek/Turkish style) and while the second cup was drinkable, further cups were truly awful. Bad coffee aside, everything else at The Camel was very enjoyable. So go Richmond, go to The Camel for brunch. You're welcome.

Michele: I’ve been to the Camel countless times to see music and drink super delicious beers. I have never eaten anything there. When I saw the poster up in the bar a few weeks ago advertising their Sunday brunch with a band, I became intrigued. To be completely honest, I did not have high expectations for our brunch at the Camel. I expected to have an ok meal, and then watch a cool local band. Well, I’m pleased to report that our brunch at the Camel this past week thoroughly exceeded my expectations.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen the inside of the Camel during the daytime. It’s kind of cool in there. The two booths up front are great for watching people inside at the bar and outside on Broad St. The Camel clearly has a set of regulars that like to sit up at the bar for brunch. Who can blame them? The Camel always has lots of delicious beers on tap. I imagine you could get a beer to drink with brunch, but they also have the standard brunch cocktails at pretty reasonable prices. In addition to my standard coffee and Bloody Mary, I ordered a plate of sausage stars from the appetizer menu. With Karisa as my only brunching partner this week, I had the entire plate to myself. The sausage stars consisted of ground sausage in a spicy sauce and whole green olives inside crispy little wonton cups. These little stars packed a spicy punch, and the wonton dough tasted a little sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed them. The Bloody Mary was quite tasty, too. I drank two of them, although I did have to add a dash of sriracha to my second drink.

After much hmming and hawing and asking our handsome waiter lots of questions, I ordered the crab cake with eggs over easy. The chef at the Camel makes the crab cakes with very little, if any, bread in there. Seriously, it is all crab, and it is huge. The potatoes were cleverly hidden underneath the two eggs. I got a little nervous when I saw the large potato chunks, but they were cooked thoroughly and tasted great. The Cajun remoulade on top of it all added some sass and moisture to the entire plate. The sauce was the exact same color as the perfectly runny egg yolks. It all mixed together into a creamy, rich dipping sauce for my potatoes and crab cake. I ended up taking home about half of the crab cake and four leftover sausage stars. I put the crab on a salad, heated up the sausage stars in the toaster oven, and had a great little dinner on Monday night.

After finishing our meal, Karisa and I stuck around for about an hour to listen to the brunch band. We had such a lovely Sunday afternoon. I will most certainly come back to the Camel on future Sundays. I would absolutely eat brunch here again, but I’m also pretty excited about making this place a regular Sunday Funday stop after brunch elsewhere.

Rating: 4

Food - Very Good. We loved the food. Seriously loved it. Karisa's dish had the right amount of spice with flavors that melded together perfectly and Michele got sad she was full; always a sign of a good meal.
Service - Very Good. In a city with generally poor restaurant service, it's a breath of fresh dining air to have a really fantastic server. Ours was helpful with dish selection, quick, knowledgeable, and funny, with the perfect amount of table interaction.
Atmosphere - Good. Definitely a music hall, but one clearly committed to restaurant service. There's a divider between the venue section and the restaurant that's opened when the live music starts. Exposed brick in the main area, and upcycled items everywhere.
Coffee - Fair/Poor. The coffee was definitely the worst part of the meal. Karisa's first cup had a ton of grounds, but the second cup was better. All subsequent cups were barely drinkable and required significant doctoring (got to get that caffeine fix!)
Mimosa - Good. $4 for a pint and $12 for a pitcher... what can go wrong with Tropicana and cheap sparkly?
Bloody Mary - Good. Whole green olives for a garnish, celery seed and other coarse spices. Had to add a dash of sriracha to the second drink. At $5 apiece, it’s easy to keep track of your bar tab.