If you needed a sign to stop sleeping on brunch at KYU in the heart of Wynwood, this is it. The restaurant serves brunch every Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 4 p.m., and the menu is stacked with the kind of dishes that make you start plotting your next visit before the first round even lands.
We kicked things off with the KYU Bloody Mary, which lets you choose your own adventure with vodka or mezcal, plus Korean BBQ and wasabi for extra swagger. Since @NegroniFanClub was with us, we also had to order the Godzilla Water with Vida mezcal, charred shishitos, Luxardo Bitter Bianco, and Dolin Dry that basically drank exactly how it read: a white mezcal shishito negroni that got a full-table stamp of approval.
It was only right to begin revisit two KYU staples that still hit every time. The Roasted Cauliflower with goat cheese and shishito-herb vinaigrette and the Korean Fried Chicken with chili butter and braised spinach that remains a non-negotiable.
For the actual brunch portion of brunch, first up was the Scallion Biscuits, served warm and flaky and ready to be split open to be loaded with miso butter and honey comb. Then the King Crab Eggs Benedict brought the rich, citrusy punch of yuzu hollandaise with herb slaw for balance, while the Steak & Eggs came through with fire roasted kimchi, toasted garlic soy, and sunny side up eggs.
And yes, we absolutely saved room for dessert as restraint had already left the building the minute we read the menu. The KYU Cinnamon Roll arrived warm, gooey, and glossed with black sugar and chai frosting, while the simply named Pancakes with maple honey and miso butter barely had time to be photographed. Both were gone in about five minutes.
Brunch at KYU is not trying to be dainty. It is bold, a little smoky, a little indulgent, and very much worth making a weekend plan around.