A Bright Brunch at Mamey

The best way to get up to speed with loved ones, in my opinion, is through Sunday brunch — so my latest outing with friends led us to Mamey at the THesis Hotel. Now under new culinary guidance, Chef de Cuisine Raul Zambrano transported us to a tropical oasis filled with vibrant flavors.

After raising our glasses of bottomless mimosas ($40 per person; two-hour limit), we began our culinary journey with complimentary cheddar jalapeño cornbread sticks and two petite banana nut bread loaves plated with a cup of seasonal fruit ($13). Perfect for sharing a sweet bite or enjoying with coffee. (Tip: you must coat it in the honey butter!) Keeping it light, we dug into the refreshing watermelon salad ($18), a mix of greens topped with juicy pickled watermelon, agave feta, pomegranate, and a light cilantro mint vinaigrette.

A true measure of any brunch is the avocado toast. Mamey’s ($17) balances the dollop of bright green avocado with queso fresco, pickled onions, and scallions over two slices of Sullivan sourdough. We opted to complete it with fine slices of buttery smoked salmon ($8 extra; $6 for a soft-boiled egg). The ahi tuna in our poke bowl ($19 base +$9 with tuna) was equally fresh, seasoned beautifully with furikake on top of the sushi brown rice and quinoa.

The heavyweights of the meal were the Chicken & Waffles ($21) and the Happy Eggs Steak ($18). The former’s sweet and savory combination nicely coupled crispy fried chicken with spicy pineapple rum syrup. As for the steak, it was superbly cooked and topped with two sunny side up eggs and bright chimichurri, with fried yucca on the side. After a few more rounds of bubbly, we made our way up to the third-floor terrace where we sipped margaritas while taking in some afternoon sun.