Murray's Cheese Bar

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you already know that That Sara's birthday is two days before mine. We usually have a birthday dinner a month or so later to exchange presents and catch up on life. This year might have been our quickest one ever-- it was less than 2 weeks after our birthdays!
We were both very eager to try out Murray's Cheese Bar, the fairly-new outpost run by the infamous (and incredibly amazing) cheese shop in NYC's West Village.

I started with a bracing cup of Stumptown Roasters' iced coffee. Wow, was this strong. Like, jitters kicking in about halfway through the glass strong-- just what I needed to wake me up on a breezy Sunday morning.

We each ordered the mini mimosa flight-- 3 small servings, a few ounces each, of (L-R) regular OJ, lychee, and blood orange flavors. These were all nice, but nothing amazing. It was more for the cuteness and the novelty of it. Fun, not too boozy, and just adorable.

Who goes to Murray and DOESN'T order a cheese plate? Silly people, that's who. So we picked the Weekender ($10), a selection of 3 cheeses: housemade ricotta drizzled with clover honey, a rich, oozy brie with a cherry glaze on the side, and a New York cheddar with fresh apple slices.

Of course, every cheese was a winner, every pairing just perfect, but holy moly that ricotta was sublime. It was nothing like the storebought version-- it was light, fluffy-yet-creamy, and so fabulously flavorful.
We shared the entrée-- Alpine Eggs ($14)-- to have room for dessert (or more cheese!) later. The Alpine Eggs were two poached eggs served on English muffins over ham and mushrooms, with a three-cheese fondue served on the side. YES. Who needs Hollandaise when you can have melty, creamy cheese over your eggs? The eggs were so so so perfectly cooked, the muffins were crunchy and not soggy, and I could have licked the bowl clean of that fondue. The home fries were also soft, expertly seasoned, and better than I expected.

*Sigh* I do so love a perfectly-poached egg....

Hello, beautiful....

Sharing was smart-- we saved room for dessert: peanut butter/cheddar cheese ice cream! Our server assured us that while it might sound awful, it was actually awesome... and she was right. Somehow, the bits of cheddar cheese went so well with the peanut butter base. The drizzle of honey on top made it like the best sandwich ever turned into a sweet treat. It was pretty incredible. I'm considering try to make a grilled cheese with peanut butter and honey now.. Hmmmm...

This was a wonderful, enjoyable, nommable brunch. The service was helpful, it wasn't too loud, and Murray's knows cheese, baby. They know CHEESE. Yum. I highly recommend this spot-- and then you can walk a few doors down and buy the cheeses you just ate! I need to stock up on that ricotta ASAP!


Also-- check out Sara's take on it here! 

Murray's Cheese Bar
254 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 243-3289

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