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.

this week.

I have received a complaint that all of my latest entries have something to do with food. Well, with no job and limited friends, generally the highlights of the week are good meals! Okay, BESIDES food, we've gone to the beach several times (which is about 10 minutes away- HA!), explored the surrounding neighborhoods (they're cool- HA!), and explored Coronado, which seemed strikingly like New England, but with palm trees. Oh, and also I'm volunteering at the San Diego Museum of Art, so hopefully I'll meet some people and see some awesome things there as well.

Ok, back to the important stuff. BRUNCH OF THIS WEEK. Mel and Travis, accompanied with the darling Elliott, brought us to the end all be all glutton capital of all brunchdom- the $15 all you can eat El Torito brunch with unlimited mimosas, fresh waffles, a fully manned taco bar and omelette bar, along with all the regular Mexican treats. Let me just tell you, things got wild. Before we trekked over to brunch though, we checked out the Swap Meet outside the San Diego Sports Arena to work up our appetites looking at weird things and holding pygmy bunnies, which sent me into such a state of hysterics it was a little embarrassing. Still, I managed to hold myself together until the main event of brunch. Here's a small sample of my experience.


This plate lasted for about 30 seconds before total demolition was achieved. As you can see, I began strongly, focusing on mainly the Mexican portion offered, emphasizing rice, beans, a tamale, some mashed sweet corn, veggies, and a variety of marinated meats. MMMM.

Plate 2 is as follows:


I'd never actually tried a chille relleno before, and I was really pleasantly surprised. The outer coat of cornmeal was a little much, but it was just the right amount of spice and cheese. A definite exploration of taste. I got my first corn rolled carne asada taco from the taco mistress, coated with salsa picante and a tomatillo-avocado sauce. DELICIOUS. Carne asada is definitely meat to the Spanish gods. And the sausage! Holy cow! I skipped it the first go around because I wanted to focus on delights not readily available to me, but on the urging of our comrades I gave it a go and I WAS NOT SORRY. I don't know what it is about El Torito's sausage, but DAMN. IT WAS GOOD. Then the obligatory chicken enchilada, which wasn't the greatest, but certainly wasn't the worst.

At this point things were slowing down a bit, with champagne flowing like water and our bellies slowly expanding. I thought it best to choose wisely over what would be my last plate, and here's the story of Plate 3.


I'd forgone the waffles until now (as Travis had advised me to wait until they brought out the fresh hot ones), and with a variety of toppings available I chose simply, settling for a dash of honey butter with maple syrup. Great stuff. Melt in your mouth stuff. I'd replicated the carne asada taco from Plate 2, and was again not disappointed. The only qualm with it was that the girl seemed to rush cooking the corn tortillas, so they were a tad chewy, but certainly not indigestible. Just for kicks, I also revisited the sausage and veggies, the veggies being not a hot thus not as delicious. As seen by the second photo, I signaled my surrender fully and completely by this point. By then I was reaching my limits of obesity and waddled to the car to go home and die slowly.

In conclusion, the El Torito brunch experience was certainly an experience, with its ups and downs, but ultimately I don't know how often I could go to such a place, where mustachioed men waltz over with bottles of champagne, willing to bathe you in it as you lie in a gluttonous stupor with a trail of rice along your bulging belly. Maybe next week.

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!!!!!