Food: ☆

Service: ☆ 1/2

Ambiance: ☆☆☆

Cost: $$$

Fit for: Late night partygoers, boozy brunch scene.

Dishes not to miss: Prawn Cake Benedict

Special notes: $28 gets you 3 drinks and an entree at their MAD Brunch on weekends.

I was recently invited to check out the debut of the new MAD brunch at Pranna featuring mad music, mad drinks at mad prices. Pranna is of those big box Asian inflected spots that is somewhere between a lounge and a restaurant. If I had to pick between the two experiences, I would choose to go party there versus eat.

Pranna is housed in a 15,000 sq ft space that is decorated with a modern, East Asian sensibility. Brunch kicks off at noon and the DJ eases in the music with global beats, which turns into a more of a boozy brunch scene as the cocktails offered are slowly imbibed.

The food and service are equally lacking at Pranna.  We waited endlessly on our drinks and the food came out cold. Nothing on the plate was even mildly inspiring or interesting. My seared tuna salad was just plain bad as was the hamburger. The best dish we tried was the Prawn Cake Benedict and I liked the idea of serving curried potatoes instead of the regular hash browns.

I hope they manage to work out the initial kinks at Pranna as the Mad Brunch is a cool idea and $28 for a choice of one brunch/ lunch entrée and three cocktail drinks is a pretty sweet deal!

Here is some of what we ate:

Spinach & Goat Cheese Quiche

Prawn Cake Benedict with Tamarind-infused Hollandaise

Deluxe Cheeseburger with Sweet Chili Aioli and French Fries

7-Spiced Seared Tuna Salad

Curried Potatoes & Cauliflower