Lunch & Brunch Menu
Karisa: In a weekend full of awesome Richmond festivals (Lebanese and Riverrock), I was really excited for the Food Truck Festival (especially since I've been known to stalk the Boka truck on more than one occasion.) However, the long lines and hordes of people made us write haikus and take refuge in Arcadia. Since I was getting hangry (hungry + angry) we quickly ordered the pastry basket and bellinis all around. I wish I'd taken a picture, but we devoured the biscuits, danishes, and other flaky deliciousness before photography was considered. Ah well.In addition to a menu full of bellinis, Arcadia has an abundance of benedict options. Who has two thumbs and loves a benedict? This girl! One of the options includes blue crab, so obviously I called it as mine. After the over cooked yolks of last week at Mezzanine, I was happy for some runny goodness to reenter my life. The crab was good. The brioche was toast-like and not at all what I expected. While the benedict didn't particularly stand out, the potatoes sure did. They were terrible. They were cold and wax-like. Ick. A great idea with a combo of standard and sweet potatoes, but horribly executed. I probably should have said something, but that would have made two weeks in row and I'm just not a complainer. Again, ah well. I'm thankful for Arcadia for saving me from my hanger, but I expected more.
Andrea: I had one of the best meals of recent memory here on New Year's Eve but unfortunately brunch at Arcadia was not as good as the dinner.Perhaps we were all a little hungry and cranky but our expectations were not quite met by our experience this week. A high point was the bellini menu - about a dozen different varieties of fruity sparkling cocktails. Many sounded good and I made a good choice to have the passion fruit and pomegranate variety. For my meal, I had the Arcadia benedict, which featured some Braveheart beef atop brioche (which actually seemed more like toasted baguette....not quite as fluffy as I was expecting). The hollandaise was tasty but the eggs were a bit underdone for my taste. The quality of the beef was a bit lost in the mix with the egg and sauce, so I can't really speak to that. I think all of the brunchers were disappointed in the home fries that accompanied all of the meals. They were a mix of sweet and regular potato but they were cooked so strangely. Not crispy, not mushy, not warm - I think someone at the table characterized them as "plasticy". That seemed about right. I was much more of a fan of my boyfriend's cheeseburger and shoestring fries. The burger came with a mustardy mayo that served as a yummy dipping sauce for the fries as well. Overall, I wasn't quite as disappointed as my brunching counterparts, but I wanted a bit more for my money. I'll likely be back, though, for dinner or a special occasion.
Michele: Arcadia was a game day decision for us. The food truck derby was way too crowded for our taste this week, so we popped into Arcadia at the spur of the moment.
For my drink I ordered the Golden Mary. It was bright orange and had a very interesting flavor. We pinpointed it to horseradish and carrots. Our waitress told us that there was yellow tomato in there. It was an interesting drink, it didn't taste like your standard red Bloody Mary, but it was still a refreshing drink.
When we first looked at the menu, I got very excited to try the duck bacon benedict. I mean, what is duck bacon anyways? Unfortunately, Arcadia was out of duck bacon, so I will have to wait for another time. I ordered the brioche and beef instead. Our waitress described it as similar to biscuits and gravy, except with brioche rather than biscuit and beef rather than sausage. The meal arrived, and it looked more like a creamy beefy soup with a cracker floating on top of it. In any case, my meal arrived in a bowl and had to be eaten with a spoon. The flavors did not really stand out to me in this dish. The small pieces of beef were small and easy to eat and had a nice texture to them. The brioche cracker on top was alright but not exactly what I expected. I thought that a brioche was like a roll, fluffy and a little sweet. There was a second brioche cracker at the bottom of the bowl that was soaked in the gravy. It was much easier to eat than the crunchy one on top. Overall I was a little disappointed in my meal. The flavors were underwhelming, and I kind of just didn't understand it. The brioche crackers were a little weird. I think I would have been more satisfied if the bread on this plate was more like the brioche that I pictured in my head. I may return to Arcadia in the future, if only to try the duck bacon.
Marin: Though we'd planned on brunching at the Food Truck Derby, the combination of heat, long lines, and chaos led us across the street to our salvation: Arcadia. Eyeing its wonderfully exhaustive bellini bar, we knew we had made a good decision. I sipped on the Lychee & Lemoncello bellini (delizioso!) and nibbled a rather tasty biscuit to start. I couldn't resist ordering the soup, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. It was cream of carrot and dill with a ginger creme fraiche, and it was delightful! Both the dill and the ginger were detectable yet subtle (as they should be) and the soup was substantial but not so rich that I couldn't eat my meal. I ordered the potato & crab omelet. I really can't complain: There's only so much one can do with an omelet. The crab meat was succulent and the potatoes were chunky and delicious, but overall the omelet - as omelets can be - was a bit dry. Also, the potatoes that came with the omelet were - inexplicable! They looked and tasted like wax. Overall, though, the food, drinks, ambiance (relaxed yet refined), and location combined to render this quite a pleasant brunching experience.
Food - Good. Blend of sweet and savory items. Michele was bummed they were out of the duck bacon. Many benedict and egg options, but the omelette that was ordered by our crew suffered from a common brunch problem - too dry. We all enjoyed our mix of pastry items that we had as an appetizer. Six pieces for $7 wasn't too bad at all!
Service - Good. Kinda slow given that the restaurant wasn't packed. Server was friendly, though, and apologetic about the lack of duck bacon.
Ambiance - Good. Great people watching from inside or out on the patio. We had a table near the door and we got a nice breeze, which was much appreciated on a hot day. Despite a fair number of people at the restaurant, the volume was very manageable and easy for us all to talk.
Coffee - Not rated. Somehow no one ordered coffee this week.
Mimosa (Bellini this week!) - Very Good. Wide selection of interesting flavor combinations. Examples: blood orange and Cointreau, lychee and lemoncello
Bloody Mary - Good. Golden Mary this week. Very interesting flavors, strong horseradish taste. Extra points for the olive in there.
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