Benchmark

…now about the food…
…southern punch, merited an encore…
…house cured bacon… required another round as well…
…the omelette, excellent!
Think we found another Brooklyn Brunch go-​to…

After we told the waitress (brunette, long hair) that we had certain time restraints, she brought out dinner 18 minutes before we had to leave. No drinks were offered, a steak came out grey/​burned that was ordered medium well. The tuna was cold, as if it came out of the fridge, seared quickly and presented. Another waitress (blonde) was very nice and tried hard to fix the above issues. As some of the food was good, we wanted to warn the chef/​manager of the issues. He was arrogant, rude and thought that as he was in business for 7 years, his quality is beyond criticism.
There are other choices in Park Slope. I will never return.

I liked sitting outside for brunch. It was a nice atmosphere and the service was good. Unfortunately, the food was only okay. The crab cake for the benedict had too much filler and did not taste much like crab cake. I would have rather them combine the crab meat that was in the two pieces they gave and made one nice crab cake. The biscuits in the biscuits and gravy were also not memorable.

This restaurant just dump multiple buckets of used cooking oil/​fat/​compost onto the street at 10:30pm. The entire 2^nd street now stinks. Terrible manner and was that used to cook?!

Great experience at Benchmark!!! Came here on a Friday night with a table of 6, they were very flexible with our reservation time which was nice. Our waitress was very attentive and took our drink orders right away.
Unfortunately they were out of the first bottle of wine we asked for, but on to the next. We started with the burrata, wedge salad, and pulled duck confit appetizer. Everything was very delicious, great start to the meal!
Next, I ordered the ahi tuna which same with a side of mashed potatoes and mushrooms, my dining companions ordered the scallops with risotto, and lots of steak. We also ordered the side of Brussel sprouts and fries. OMG the French friessssssssssss you MUST order them if you go. SO GOOD. The Brussel sprouts were way too big for my liking so I’d pass on these next time.
DESSERTSSSS were seriously amazing. I think we ordered everything on the menu but I was IN LOVE with the cookie dough egg rolls HOLY COW WANT THIS RIGHT NOW, the Chocolate dessert was also amazing, the bread pudding, and the housemade gelato was to die for.
Def recommend checking this place out !

«This place deserves 6 stars
Why is everything so good?»
We come here almost by default, everything is always so delicious
Best brunch in town!
Truly fell in love with the place as it matches ALL my criteria for a favorite, go to restaurant.
1) good coffee
2) cozy and romantic atmosphere and décor
3) attentive and friendly staff and wait service
4) not noisy, music that fits the atmosphere
5) Excellent bar drinks and cocktails
6) fair prices
7) variety of menu items to want to try
8) flavorful and delicious food (crab cakes were fantastic and burger was very juicy) with quality ingredients and great combinations
9) delicious dessert (strawberry bread pudding)
10) satisfying portions
Be back here over and over
Looking forward to seeing this place in the summer as there is gorgeous outdoor eating space.
I presume this place gets crowded. We came early for brunch but by lunch time, the place was filling up on a Monday.

3^rd times not a charm. Mother’s Day dinner review.
Opentable reservation on Friday got us a table outside under the tent. (Earlier you made the res, closer to the inside you got.).
Foie gras always good, pineapple a tiny bit over peppered. Short rib trio — meat was tender with good accompaniments. Scallop starter good but a tad overcooked. Bone-​in rib eye lacked flavor thus ($ 2) sauce was advertised. Kobe steak was about 5 pieces, tender. Skip the wild mushroom spätzle — small portion, mustard doesn’t go well.
Desert was awesome though! Strawberry white chocolate pudding was warm with just the right amount of sweetness! Chocolate3 sounds really rich but is actually delicious! The layers of dark, milk and white pair well with caramel gelato.

Came here the night before Mother’s Day, had to go at 5:30 no else in the restaurant until we left at 6:45. Didnt see a waitress for 15 mins had to call one over. Ants crawled onto my sons arm. Can’t tell you how the food was because we could wait to get out of there

Romantic place with good food. This is the second time I am dinning here (The first one was OK as well), and on both times I can say that it was good. Not the best food I ever had, but good enough for local dinner in BK. Good and strong cocktails, professional staff, and intimate atmosphere. I can say that we had good time.
We ordered a table, and we needed to wait about 20 minutes (Which was ok since we discovered the good cocktails they make here). I got a big ribeye steak, which was good, and we ended with cheese cake which was the highlight of the whole dinner.
It is good, it is local, worth the money.

LOVE LOVE LOVVVVVVE IT!
This was the BEST birthday that I have ever had, over the past few years my birthdays dinners have been nothing short of a shit show. If you read my reviews you would know last year after having made reservations A MONTH ahead of time to «The Confessional» (Which is currently closed and I hope stays closed! The owner is a C*$T… sorry sorry flashbacks flashbacks)
Benchmark was literally everything I could have asked for and more.
It was a small cozy, yet sophisticated.
The service was amazing, literally at our beck and call the entire evening, always polite and courteous.
What made it all even better was the food! I will say it takes a bit of time for it to be prepared, it felt like they may have slaughtered the animals on site.
But it is well worth the wait. EVERYONE at the table loved their food, which is never an easy task. Speaking to my salmon specifically it was like a rhythmic harmony of flavors performing in my mouth (That’s what she said)
There are not enough wonderful things that I can say about this place. I will definitely come back again.
To the entire staff, Thank you so much for making my birthday amazing and wonderful!

I visited during restaurant week, February 2016, and boy was it pouring that day. I went during lunch time with my mom and brother — they jested it was a hole in the wall but given it was hard to find and barely had visible signage on the outside I really can’t rebut it too much. It was an intimate place and tight with seating, thank goodness it was slow because of the rain. There was a full bar but it was not the time or mood for a drink. It was well lit and tables had linen tablecloth but had a brown paper on top — I guess to make easier cleanup for the table. Service was okay and surprisingly slow considering there wasn’t too many people there. It took a while before our waiter decided to give us menus then another wait for him to think that maybe we wanted to order as well. Either way the menus (outside of the restaurant week prefix) were a bit limited — my brother isn’t a beef eater and the chicken selections were practically nonexistent and the waiter let us know there’s no substitutions on the menu…
Well I had the crab cakes and delicious falls short of how good they tasted… the beef short ribs was okay but it could’ve used a bit more seasoning and for dessert I had the cookie dough dessert with ice cream — because the bread pudding wasn’t being served (which is what I mainly came for) — and it was not a good choice. It wasn’t my cup of tea because it was like a melted exploded cookie with more chocolate than anything wrapped up and the coffee ice cream it came with was just nasty especially since I’m not a coffee person.
The place had its highs and lows, the kitchen being next to the bathroom, seats being so close together, plus it didn’t seem like there was not any type of insulation because the place was freezing. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t do a repeat visit there, it was hard to find, seating it tight and the food didn’t wow me — I can live without it.

Local Brooklyn eatery which seems to be serving up decent steaks and other fare. Unilocaled it and was surprised to find it tucked between two buildings past an alley way. This was definitely a find whose steak was decent and prices not outrageous. The rib eye had a good char and flavor so if you’re in a carnivorous mood, this place can be your fix. The seared foie gras was very good as a starter as well as the short ribs 3 ways. I made the short ribs a meal with its ample pieces. The meat seemed sous vide so it was quite tender. Also thought the spaetzle was a savory side dish but maybe a little too fussy as an accompaniment. I would have enjoyed just a plain buttered spaetzle instead of the sauce and mushrooms it had. If you want it as as main dish, then all the acroutements would be fine but as a side to a good basic steak, I like unadulterated starches. Plain rice to me would’ve sufficed.
Didn’t have room for dessert so will have to come back to report. It was a perfect round up to weekend eating fest and birthday celebration. Hope our little local steak place discovery doesn’t get so popular that we have to make a reservation which you can and which we did but wasn’t really needed the Sunday evening we went.
The back end of the alleyway just before the entry way is enclosed with one of those event tents and is an extension of the dining room. It’s an odd arrangement but with a large space heater, extra seating is available if you’re a large party. The bar is not big but there if drinks are all you’re having.
It’s has all you need for a neighborhood go-​to place for basic better than diner food!

Just finished dining here for Valentine’s Day. The ambiance is nice and intimate, the food is good and flavorful but it was freezing cold in here. It’s so cold that I couldn’t enjoy my meal. The waitress states that’s how the building was constructed but this is horrible. They even placed space heaters throughout the restaurant for additional heat and it was still frigid.

I dined at Benchmark last night with a friend.
When we walked in, we were seated right away. We asked for a bigger table but unfortunately they were unable to accommodate us. A couple of moments after we sat down, a family with young kids were seated next to us. We really wanted a quiet dinner, so we politely asked the manager to seat us an empty table across the room. They were able to do it and menus were brought.
The waiter was an absolute pleasure to work with. He was very well versed in the menu and was able to suggest the perfect dishes that would make our night.
We ordered the Trio of Short Ribs, Assorted Cheese Plate, Burger and Tuna.
We also brought our own wine — They charge a $ 30 corking fee.
The food was absolutely phenomenal and well priced. They cooked the burger at a perfect medium rare and the tuna at a perfect rare. (Makes me happy because some places just really screw up the temperature).
Overall it was a lovely night, great company and great food.

Benchmark is a little hidden as it sits in what could be considered an alley way alongside it’s bar/​lounge neighbor Loki.
Once inside the restaurant the ambiance is quite appeasing to top it off with friendly wait staff. The food was good. but I will say be careful on ordering your steak well done as it may be more charred than anything. They have some great selections on their brunch menu, I will definitely be back.

Nice restaurant but the food was mediocre.
I ordered the porterhouse steak for two rare and found it dry, tough, and flavorless.
The chocolate dessert was also unimpressive.

This place was delightful! Come early for a weekend brunch and you will not be disappointed.
The service was great and the food was fantastic. I ordered a chicken BLAT, which was moist and tender. The bacon was the right amount of crunchy and the avocados were fresh and delicious. I also ordered a ginger iced tea which was refreshing. My boyfriend ordered a burger and when he tells me it’s good, that burger must really be good.
I came back a second time and ordered the omelette and orange juice. Mm, the eggs and potatoes were so tender and flavorful. I forgot to mention that they start you off with the cutest little cornbread muffins — these practically melt in your mouth, that’s how soft they are.
Seriously, best brunch I’ve had in Brooklyn, hands down.

Ordered: Marinated steak and tomato salad, Chilled pea soup, Filet mignon, Cookie dough egg roll
Pros – The food was superb. The steak had a great char to it and the goat cheese had a spicy kick to it. The soup was light and its pea flavor wasn’t over or underwhelming. The crème fraîche and lobster chunks added a nice complexity of textures. The mashed potatoes had a buttery truffle flavor that made me want to eat a plate of it. The egg roll had a crispy exterior and the inside had warm cookie dough. The service was also attentive with regards to filling up waters.
Cons – There were a few flies/​bugs that kept circulating my table.

I ordered dinner off the restaurant week menu.
The marinated steak appetizer was very good. It consisted of two layers of tomatoes and steak. Very generous appetizer.
For the entrée, I got a medium rare charbroiled filet mignon. It was very good. The crunchiness of the onion rings contrasted the tenderness of the meat. Very flavorful. I only ate half my course as to leave room for dessert.
I ended the night with the cookie dough egg roll. The coffee ice cream was very good. The Nutella walnut filled egg roll was a too heavy and sweet for me. I only ate ¹⁄₃ of the dessert.
The service was okay. Polite staff. Romantic outdoor seating. I sat inside the restaurant in the corner with comfortable decorative pillows. Lovely restaurant. I would definitely come again. Amazing value.

One of my girlfriends and I came to Benchmark this afternoon for lunch, they participate in the restaurant week menu, but we did not eat from that menu. On Mondays Benchmark offers half off of every bottle of wine, which was a great special that we took advantage of.
The restaurant is really nice, with white table clothes and flowers on the table. Their was only a few other diners in there, I guess because it was 2pm on a Monday afternoon. Our server was great and attentive. We ordered a bottle of Pinot noir to start, and than ordered our entrees.
I ordered the Cobb salad without the avocado which was delicious, and a huge portion, and easily could of been split. My friend ordered the jalapeño sliders that came with fries, and she really enjoyed her lunch.
The food and service was great. I’ll definitely return !