Whisknladle - Brunch

*Post by Angela.

I spent the last weekend of my twenties being whisked away by Mark for a wonderful weekend of eating and relaxing in San Diego, one of my favorite cities to visit. First stop on our trip? La Jolla, for a return brunch visit to much-loved-by-us Whisknladle. I was apprehensive that it wouldn't stand up to the memories of our first trip, and while it didn't even come close to matching those expectations, it was still a pretty good brunch.

In the daytime, the restaurant sheds its strings of white lights, but it maintains the cosy elegance we loved about it the first time around. Another thing that lived up to our last visit - the friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgable service. However, the menu presented a bit of a departure from our previous meal here - unlike the small plates/share philosophy of the dinner menu, brunch is more traditional, one dish for one person.

Because I wasn't preparing for hours of exams the next day, as I was the last time we visited, I was able to sample one of Whisknladle's excellent cocktails, the cucumber honey mimosa (below, right). Mark, on the other hand, tried the sangre fita, which was tart and yum but packed a little jalepeno kick (below, left).

We started off by splitting an order of the farm greens salad with toasted hazelnuts and Pecorino Romano cheese (below). There was nothing spectacular about the salad, but I do love the combination of toasted hazelnuts and Pecorino. We realized way after the fact that it was supposed to contain delecata squash, but that's as much our fault as theirs for not catching it.

Mark cannot not order pork belly when he sees it, and so when he saw it paired with French toast and citrus marmelade (below), he was committed. And his instincts weren't wrong - the braised Berkshire pork (hiding under the toast) was really delicious.

I went with an order of the mole fish tacos, which came with cotija, tomatillo avocado salsa, pickled red onions, and pepitas (below). I forgot to ask what kind of fish they used, but it was a really wonderful white fish - delicate and flaky and obviously very fresh. This is not a "hungry morning" brunch dish, but instead came together in a delightfully refreshing manner. And the potato chips served alongside the tacos were shatteringly crisp and light.

Unfortunately, the two sides we ordered to go along with our main dishes didn't quite live up to Whisknladle's usually high standards. The bacon and the home fries each sounded like something Whisknladle could knock out of the park. What we got was a bland, unseasoned pair of sides that could've been produced in the kitchen of any generic diner. We were hoping Whisknladle would spruce their bacon up with a little brown sugar (or anything...) but it tasted more like plain-jane bacon that had been sitting around all morning.

We didn't leave on that bad note, however. Instead, we split an order of the malted milk chocolate pudding with salted Langues de Chat, buttery little crisps topped with macadamia nuts (below). A very unique end to the show that nearly made us ask for an encore.

Even though this visit wasn't the home run last time was, I'm loathe to change my opinion of the restaurant until I've returned for dinner - it's been my experience that, unless a place is specifically known for its brunch, most restaurants, tend to relax their standards for the weekend day meals. Even so, Whisknladle's brunch was pretty satisfying. I hope the next time I visit, it's for another evening meal, but I can also see returning for brunch.