The Mission North Park

Boys and girls, it is time for the weekly BRUNCH REVIEW! This week we actually had some friends join us for the monumental event which took place at the Mission in North Park.

(picture taken from their website)
We've been passing it on a daily basis for a few weeks now, and there is always a huge crowd out front. To me this means there is something worth waiting for. Today was no exception, but when I managed to fight through the crowds outside and in the lobby, I was pleased to hear that it was only a wait of 20 minutes. Brilliant! I expected it to be a pretty classic American brunch menu, with the normal eggs, bacon, toast, maybe with a few innovative omelets here and there, but I was pleasantly surprised. The menu was extremely unconventional, and it was described as "chino-latino", which I still don't totally understand but I could see the slant. There was a whole section for just Latin breakfast dishes, and a great drink menu. I guess there's a pretty serious espresso and smoothie bar happening. I toyed with the idea of getting a Blackberry Banana smoothie, but settled for a hammerhead (espresso in coffee) instead.
For my meal, I was torn between the Pappas Loca (Rosemary potatoes, grilled jalapeños, black beans, cheese, avocado, and sour cream, with the option of adding 2 eggs) and the Roast Beef Hash and eggs (Grilled Angus beef, horseradish cream, rosemary potatoes, and scrambled eggs.) Ultimately I decided to go with the latter, pictured below.

HOLY FREAKING COW. Normally you'd expect the eggs to be the main part, with a "side" of potatoes, but this was the exact opposite. Within 5 minutes of ordering, I was presented with an absolute mountain of rosemary potatoes, huge chunks of what said to be roast beef but tasted more like straight up steak to me, topped with cilantro, small onions, tomato, and horseradish on the side with 2 eggs (scrambled BEAUTIFULLY) and rosemary toast.
The potatoes were for lack of any other word, BOMB. Crispy on the outside, barely stuck together by the skin, but cooked all the way through with just the right amount of spices. The horseradish wasn't sinus-clearing, but the provided hot sauce was a superb additive. I'm mildly picky about how my eggs are cooked, and this scramble was the perfect amount of scrambled-medium to slightly soft (I like my eggs slightly sticky). Perfect.
THE TOAST! Oh god, the toast. Very few things make my mouth water like the promise of a great slice of toast. I didn't have to add a single thing to this. Incredibly tasteful, just bland (in a good way) enough to make it still seem like toast without going totally overboard and dominating the flavor of the main dish. A little horseradish was a delight to add, but not even necessary for the entire piece. Today I was not part of the clean plate club, and I have about half of it left. For $8, a totally filling, innovative, and delicious meal that I am looking forward to finishing later today.
All in all, I'd give the Mission two enthusiastic thumbs up. I see now what all the crowds were excited about.

brunch 11-2-08

This brunch proved to be an interesting one, having altered our course from traditional American cuisine to involve an ethnic flair. Ashton and I had tried to drum up interest in dining at Hash House a Go Go on 5th to no avail. We were also put off by the crowd of approximately one million people in front of it waiting for a table. While I feel this proves that their brunch probably is something, in fact, to write home about, patience is not a virtue of mine when it comes to brunch. We changed our destination to the India Princess, also on 5th, to sample the $11.95 brunch buffet with champagne included.

WOW. I haven't had Indian food in probably at least 3 years, and I've been skeptical to try it again; this is not due to an unpleasurable experience, rather the knowledge that there is only GREAT Indian food, and TERRIBLE Indian food. It's not a halfway thing. The only Indian restaurant in Richmond is a shabby looking place in Carytown that I've only heard unfortunate things about. I consider myself an adventurous eater, but not when the digestive stakes are so high.
I wouldn't consider myself a buffet enthusiast (contrary to the last two brunches) for several reason. First, I know the restaurant business, and I know that buffets are generally the last of the last, trying to get rid of everything possible to start the week fresh. Secondly, everything is just lying out, practically begging germs to just come and fester on them in the open air. Thirdly, everything remains in a constant state of slow decay, dying and dehydrating under heat lamps. Fourthly, in this case, the restaurant was almost totally empty, with only one other table of people in there.
Still, even with all the warning bells in my head, the smell and cost enticed me in, along with the promise of a cuisine I have been longing for for some time. Also, I had noticed a few nights previously that the dinner crowd was significantly fuller, which signified that good things were to come and leading me to the conclusion that while San Diegeans seem to love brunch, they might not be ready for such a bold detour as the Indian brunch.
I can't even begin to remember the treats that we encountered. Pretty much the usual spread of tandoori chicken, spinach saag, curry chicken, jasmine rice, and tofu chunks in a spicy red pepper sauce, etc. The waiter asked us if we wanted regular or garlic dipping bread, so of course we went garlic.
All in all, it was a pleasant and new brunch experience. I feel as though I've been proved wrong because this was not the most unbelievable experience ever, but it's absolutely worth a repeat trip for dinner, or some time when it's not a buffet spread. Would recommend enthusiastically.

MAS FOOOOOD

Tough ta-tas. I like food, and I like blogging about it.
We went to the Coronado Farmer's Market today, and while it was small, we found some great treasures. PS. If you haven't been to Coronado Island, GO. It is beautiful and has a spectacular view of downtown and the bay. It seems pretty "quaint" in a yuppie-ish way, but I'll take pretty scenery over ugly tenements any day. The farmer's market only had a few tents, but we picked up a pound of roma tomatoes and a basket of jalapenos for $3, and then caroused over to the organic cheese tent.
Clearly, Ashton and I have cheese issues, namely obsession. We seem to eat cheese in every meal and in between meals whenever possible. This was no ordinary cheese tent. I have never tried cheese curds before, but according to the dude there it is what is rendered early in the cheese making process and contains less fat but just as much flavor. It doesn't hold freshness as long, which isn't really a problem for us. We sampled a few kinds and went with Mike's Firehouse Cheddar, a garlic quark spread, and a block of goat cheese.
In our culinary enthusiasm following our purchases, we spontaneously decided to start growing basil in a window box at our apartment. Thus a spur of the moment trip resulted in a window box and small basil plant to start our little garden. It seems easy to grow and doesn't require much room, so perhaps we'll invest in some rosemary or thyme to expand our little venture. This being said, we got even more enthusiastic and created the following dish.


We sliced up two of the tomatoes and splashed some olive oil across the rows, then laying about one small or one half of a large basil leaf on each slice. Then Ashton diced a large jalapeno and put a piece in the center of each one, and I added a dab of the garlic quark and sprinkled black pepper on them all. Then we baked them for 15 minutes at 250 degrees, at which point they were bubbling and hot and looked a little something like this:


The basil had curled nicely, the cheese had melted superbly, and the jalapenos had released all their delicious juices onto the piping hot tomato slices. They were a little soggy, so we added some toast since we didn't have any crackers. The tomatoes were excellent, but they all had a bit of a bitter aftertaste, which I think had something to do with the cheese. Great for dipping, perhaps not for melting. Since you never can tell with jalapenos, I think this one was somewhat mild, but on the last few I sprinkled just a little garlic salt and crushed red pepper and it gave it just the spice it needed.


Basically Ashton and I are the shit, and everyone is jealous of our awesome gastrointestinal adventures. The end.

urban solace

Oh man. Reason #8493 to love San Diego. Everyone here seems to love brunch just as much as us! I'm glad we've come to a place that values the most majestic of all meals. Last week Ashton and I scouted the San Diego Sunday Brunchmaster site to find the perfect first brunch of our San Diego experience. Ultimately we decided that Urban Solace was going to be the benefactor of our business. Bluegrass Sunday brunch? Yes please. Within bike riding distance? Sure! Everything sounded good. And I assure you, everything TASTED good.



First off, Ashton had the portobello sandwich, complete with lemon chive aioli, crisp lettuce, tomato, and sweet potato fries. I'm not the biggest advocate of sweet potato fries (mixing the sweet and savory seems silly to me) but these were pretty good. Not the best (Ipanema anyone??) but pretty good. The actual mushroom itself was a giant steak of a shroom, juicy and dribbling with perfection. An excellent sandwich.
I, craving the lost tastes of the South, got the Cheddar n' Chive biscuits and gravy, which was definitely southern-inspired, but a more "Western" take on it. The biscuits themselves were heaven. Light, fluffy, delicious. The sausage was a tad sweet, but the gravy was a cheesy, gravy-licous experience. And while I find watermelon often bland and boring, THIS particular slice was cool, refreshing, and just the right amount of sweet. Perfect. I annihilated every last bite. Ashton fought bravely, but eventually had to call it quits on the mountain of sweet potato fries.


Don't let those last few morsels fool you. I had a clean plate by the end. Also, I might add, the mimosas were excellent, albeit a smidge expensive, and Ashton's bloody mary came with a lemon, lime, and huge stalk of celery. Nice touches, and it was an excellent shade of spicy. At $6 and $7 a pop, I didn't feel like we could indulge as we usually would, but the ones we had were lip smackin' good.
Ah, the bluegrass. What can I say? It seemed almost for a moment that we were in the Deep South. The cirleque iron railings, patio, and 3 man band complete with cowboy hats and a banjo, whilst enjoying biscuits n' gravy.... ahhh. It really was an absolutely stellar day.
In conclusion, Urban Solace was the perfect choice for our introduction to San Diego Sunday Brunch. The drinks were a tad pricey, but the food was excellent and the prices were reasonable. Service I'd give a B- to in terms of timeliness, but an A in terms of friendliness. Now I think this week it will be El Torito for us, with its $15 brunch and Mexican buffet with endless mimosas?!?!? YES!!!!!

WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING.

Thursday: Surprise Cookout
For weeks I'd been planning on attending a pre-wedding cookout for our friends Jason and Amanda at our mutual friend and catering co-worker Ian's house. Earlier in the day Ashton "went to go eat lunch with his mom", which I didn't think anything of, so I called Andy to get lunch with me. He gave some stupid random reasons to not do so, so I called him over and over again with mounting frustration and confusion as to his lack of interest in lunch. Who doesn't like lunch? I eventually got Mike to come have lunch with me, where I bitched the whole time about Andy's lack of lunch participation. Blah blah blah, the day goes on, and when I finally get to Ian's I am pleased to see many of my friends are already there. Andy looks at me for a minute like I'm an idiot, and then has to tell me, "Hey, surprise. This isn't for Jason and Amanda, it's for you." OH! It was pretty much the most wonderful feeling ever. Half stupid, half surprised, half speechless, half embarrassed, and half pleased. Many halves, it was a complicated emotion. It was such a great night. I loved every second of it.

Friday: Amanda's bachelorette party.
We kicked it off by going to the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus at the Sycamore Rouge in Petersburg. Jeri and Poops and I got there first and of course being the uber classy broads we are, headed straight for the bar, where the extremely pleasant bartender created a "circus" special drink for us that was supposed to be blue and taste like cotton candy, but really just looked brownish gray but magically tasted good anyway. Once everyone got there we got in we got a couch and table and watched the show, which was not what I expected but good times were had by all. I don't recommend the food. It was overpriced and mediocre at best, except for Amanda's dessert sampler was a tastebud explosion.

We went back to the city and met at Empire where we had many drinks and shooters, despite the broken AC. By this time I was about to commit hari kari in my dress and heels so I was pleased to go to Helen's for last call, where at least there was moving room and a working AC. Keep in mind, it's very rare for me to stay out all the way to last call, so that in itself is a monument to my dedication to Amanda and her good time. We spent the night at the Berkeley hotel downtown in Shockoe Slip, which was way too ritzy for any of us in real life, but hey, it's a special night so we did whatever the hell we wanted to. Many mimosas were had, until I passed out in perhaps the most comfortable bed of all time. I woke up to hear Bryon... and how he got there or when he left I have no idea. I was in a junk food/mimosa coma.

Saturday: I woke up and went back to the fan for hangover remedy Starlite brunch. Saturday brunch is kind of an abomination to me, but Andy never gets to have brunch and was leaving for the Outer Banks the next day, so I made an exception. I got two eggs with American cheese, which really seemed to be more like five eggs with a block of cheese on top of it. Good... but a bit of an overload. I slept for 3 hours after that and then I realized I had to book it to Jason and Amanda's wedding (different Amanda) since I already missed my ride due to being in the shower. Theirs was an outdoor wedding at Tredegar Iron Works by Brown's Island, and besides being hot as dick was a beautiful wedding with amazing food and a fantastic bar selection. I was about done in by my 2 day dress binge, so before things got TOO wild I went home. Joe, Jen, and I watched Eastern Promises at her house until the DVD decided to barf itself up and refuse to play, so we watched Aladdin instead. Practically the same thing.

Sunday: Today
I went to REAL brunch at the Black Sheep with Stephanie and Lauren, where half of my co-workers were also dining. Their fruit/yogurt/granola bowl looked too good to pass up, so we split one and I got sausage gravy and biscuits which were DIVINE.

I also got a side of cheese grits, and here's why. I have only had grits one time that I liked, and those were made by Ashton's sister Virginia when we were in Boston earlier this summer. I have on several other occasions tried to enjoy this southern delicacy, to no avail. I was very very pleasantly surprised today with some absolutely delectable grits. Highly recommended. I figured I needed to give them one more try before I leave the South for California, where there will be many more highly wonderful types of food, but I can say with all confidence that nowhere in San Diego will there be grits as good as any grits I could get in Richmond.

Tonight is my second to last shift at Joe's Inn, and tomorrow will be my last. I kind of wish I could work there forever, but I don't want to be a waitress forever.. so I suppose all good things must come to an end. I hope I'll be lucky enough to find a job like that in California, but it will be a pretty hard one to top.

I'm realizing now this sounds very much like a diary entry that no one but me cares about. Ew. I need to start publishing my brunch exploits separately, seeing as it IS the greatest meal of the week. More to come.

DELICIOUS.

DEAR SWEET LORD IN HEAVEN. IS THERE ANYTHING MORE WONDERFUL THAN THIS DELECTABLE TREAT?????

thai

this week (and most other weeks) i've been massively craving asian food of all persuasions. mostly sushi, which i have had 3 times in as many weeks, but it's starting to break my budget getting it so often (and no, ukrops's sushi plates aren't really less expensive then akida's lunch specials which i always get). today i went back to ukrops on yet another journey for nature's promises ginger dressing that no one can seem to keep in stock due to its overwhelming deliciousness and organic qualities. i decided to get one of my old time favorites:

thai kitchen box noodles. tonight i was delighted with the chili ginger box, which was spectacular. a full meal, vegan, and not too bad health wise, for $3. with it i paired an equally delightful hitachino weizen brew:

which i had not tried before. of course, being an enthusiast of all things japanese, and all things beer, i've loved every other hitachino brew i've tried, and this was again top notch. all in all, it was quite the infusion of all things wonderful tonight.