Second Look: Splitty’s Bar Brunch

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It’s been almost exactly a year since we first checked out Splitty, the ’60s camper themed bar in Clinton Hill that took over the space once home to hip dive bar Rope. I was pretty stoked about their pastrami-topped Asian steamed buns and laid-back, kitschy ambiance, so I was excited to see Splitty recently expanded to add a weekend brunch menu.

Tennessee bibimbap (Photo: Brendan Spiegel)

Tennessee bibimbap. Photo: Brendan Spiegel

Brunch at Splitty is a bit tamer than their off-the-wall bao combinations, instead featuring a lineup of wholesome dishes that, keeping with the theme, are named for classic American camping destinations. There’s a Badlands Benedict made with smoked ham; a Big Sur scramble with Asparagus and Emmental cheese; and Acadian granola topped by housemade blueberry-lavender sorbet, fresh berries and Greek yogurt.

The menu’s most unusual offering is a “Tennessee bibimbap” that takes the classic Korean rice-and-egg dish, and Dixie-fies it with slow-cooked pulled pork mixed into brown rice, scallions and kimchi, topped by a spicy house-made gochujang sauce. While I was compelled, as always, to order the craziest thing on the menu, this dish was a miss for me: the hunks of pork were plenty smoky, but too dry and chunky to really call pulled pork, and the fried egg came out cooked a bit too hard to add much gooey excitement to the rice bowl. In the future I’d stick with the more basic brunch options here.

I was, however, extremely excited about their take on the brunchtime bloody Mary, mixed here with fresh-squeezed watermelon juice, cucumber and lemon, a blend that I found infinitely more refreshing than an all-tomato Mary. For those who prefer to keep their bloodys focused on the spice, there’s also a version kicked up with Sriracha and Wasabi.

415 Myrtle Avenue (between Vanderbilt and Clinton); 718.643.BUNS; splittyny.com

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