My spouse and I visited the Llama Inn for brunch on a
Saturday afternoon in mid-January 2020. The Llama Inn is open daily for dinner
and for brunch on weekends. Guests can book a table using the online RESY reservation
system. When making a reservation, you can select the type of seating that you
desire; in our case, we asked to be seated at the chef’s counter.
The Llama Inn opened in November 2015 in a seemingly
triangular-shaped building on a road adjacent to/below the BQE (Brooklyn Queens
Expressway) in Williamsburg. Patrons can sit at the chef’s counter facing the
open kitchen, at a multi-sided bar that occupies the center of the dining room,
at stand-alone tables (some of which share a banquette), at a few booths, or at
a small counter that lines an exterior wall of floor-to-ceiling glass. Rooftop
al fresco dining is available in warmer weather. Décor includes South
American-inspired artwork and textiles and lots of plants which seem to thrive
in the bright windowed atmosphere.
The Llama Inn serves Peruvian-Mexican food. We shared the
ceviche to start; it was different than other ceviche we have eaten because the
restaurant did not serve it with any chips or other items on which to pile the
ceviche; instead, they delivered two large spoons and we used them to eat the
yummy dish right from the bowl. Next, we ordered two sandwiches: the pork
shoulder and the fried chicken. Both were tasty although extremely spicy. When
we opened the sandwiches to peek inside, we saw that both were layered with
fiery peppers, which were too spicy for our liking. Each sandwich came with a
choice of chips or a side salad. (Although we ordered one chips and one salad,
both were delivered with chips. The mistake was quickly rectified; however, we
were dismayed to see that the kitchen simply dumped the incorrect chips back
into the main container in the kitchen in order to reuse them rather than
throwing them away.) We shared the key lime pie for dessert, which was topped
with toasted meringue (which tasted more marshmallow-y than egg white-ish.) Although
we sampled the non-alcoholic Llama Side cocktail (made with roasted pineapple,
passionfruit, ginger, and lime), the Llama Inn also has a full liquor license so
that you can enjoy beer, wine, and cocktails.
We liked our brunch at the Llama Inn; the food, service, and
atmosphere were enjoyable.
