Maxim's 22 Bistro & Brasserie in Easton, PA serves up traditional French cuisine by the plateful in the Lehigh Valley.
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| Duck Confit with Roasted Vegetable and Pomme Hash, Duck Gravy, and Poached Eggs - Maxim's 22 - Easton, PA |
I know I must have said this a million times already, but I'm really impressed by the way the restaurant scene is developing in the Lehigh Valley. It feels as if I'm hearing about the opening of a new restaurant every few weeks or so, and, because of that, my list of local restaurants to try keeps growing and growing. Plus, there's an extra level of satisfaction added to the equation if I discover that said new restaurant will be offering brunch on the weekends.
Given how much Stephen and I love brunch, it's nice knowing we'll always have some new places (or new-to-us places) to try if we grow tired of the usual restaurants in our regular rotation. Although
Maxim's 22 is hardly new to the Valley (they opened a couple of years ago), it did take us a while to get over there. Thankfully, a couple of our friends were willing to meet us in Easton for our first brunch at the restaurant (back when there was still snow all over the place!), and I think it's safe to say that we all had a lovely time.
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| Mimosa - Maxim's 22 - Easton, PA |
Since we all hadn't seen in each in quite some time, we used our reunion as the perfect excuse to start things off with a round of brunch cocktails. For the guys, that meant a Bloody Mary each. For the girls, some tall and bubbly mimosas. Delicious! The fresh citrus flavor really did help me forget that I had nearly killed myself by slipping on a patch of ice on the walk from the car to the restaurant.
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| Duck Confit with Roasted Vegetable and Pomme Hash, Duck Gravy, and Poached Eggs - Maxim's 22 - Easton, PA |
For the main show, I ordered the
Duck Confit ($14) with roasted vegetable and pomme hash, duck gravy, and two poached eggs simply because I nearly always order duck confit when I see it on the menu.
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| Duck Confit with Roasted Vegetable and Pomme Hash, Duck Gravy, and Poached Eggs - Maxim's 22 - Easton, PA |
The duck was succulent and the accompanying gravy was packed with a deep, rich flavor that truly complemented the starchiest of the roasted vegetables. Of course, the silkiness from the yolks of the poached eggs helped to add even more decadence to the elegant dish. Even though we were still in the dead of winter, eating the
Duck Confit made me think ahead to fall (*ahem*
now) and made me that much more excited about week after week of comfort food.
My only criticism about the
Duck Confit had to do with the unexpected appearance of dried cranberries in the hash. (Cranberries weren't listed in the description on the menu.) In hindsight, it makes perfect sense to add that flavor profile to the dish, but seeing as I'm allergic to cranberries, I had to be extremely careful about each forkful of food. Yes, I could have sent my food back to the kitchen and I could have requested a new plate, but the cranberries were easy enough to spot (one I figured out what they were), so they were easy enough to avoid.
Lesson learned: Just because it's not listed on the menu doesn't mean it's not in there. When it comes to allergies, it's always best to err on the side of caution and ask your server for more information.
I didn't let the Cranberry Incident get in the way of our good time, and we all lingered over our plates and bottomless cups of coffee, just laughing and catching up. Exactly what Sunday brunch is meant for.
Maxim's 22
322 Northampton Street
Easton, PA 18042
(610) 252-2622 |
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