Burlap

Burlap is Chef Brian Malarkey's second restaurant in the San Diego area, with his first being Searsucker located in downtown. 

The restaurant is relatively easy to find, in the corner of the shopping plaza off Del Mar Heights and El Camino Real. Parking was a breeze on a Sunday for lunch. After stepping into the restaurant, we saw a cozy lounge area near the hostess stand and very vibrant decorations adorning the walls. It was quite beautiful and reminded me of how nice Searsucker also looked.  Our server was super friendly and recommended us a couple of her favorite dishes from the menu! It was pretty hard to choose just two so we went with three for this visit!

Benny's Sadic - pulled pork, sesame spinach & balsamic $13

This dish was my favorite! I just loved the presentation and vivid colors of the dish. On the sides were potato pieces that had a light mustard coating and a bit of sweet, a nice change to the typical olive oil potatoes. The pulled pork was standout red, super flavorful, and a fabulous contrast to the green spinach. The lightly toasted muffin had a firm texture that did not soggy up too fast. Dennis and I split the eggs benedict and his portion had the runny yolk while mine was more on the hard boiled side! Lucky him! I'm curious if they were both supposed to be runny although I didn't bother to ask... I was still stuffing my face! After eating yet another delicious eggs benedict, I am tempted to go on a eggs benedict quest to try them all! 

Scramble - lobster, avocado & gruyere $16

The scramble had a mixed review. At first, when we took a bite of the omlette, all we could taste were the egges with tiny spots of lobster or green onion. Halfway through, we hit the motherload and found the section that the lobster pieces and gruyere cheese had migrated to! Once here, we could say that the dish improved dramatically whereas we were starting to feel a little bit disappointed before this point! The avocado did not seem to quite go with the scramble though because it was physically separate from the rest. This dish was also accompanied by the potato pieces as in the first dish. All in all, a bit on the expensive side so I think we would rather try something with a stronger flavor than lobster before we revisited this dish.

Banh Witch Mi - ribeye $13

I can see the asian influence through the name: banh mi is a vietnamese sandwich which I'm mighty familiar with! This sandwich was also a good pick but for me, had a hint too much of horseradish, of which I'm still getting used to. It was also a slight bit more saucy than I would have preferred but the unthinkable alternative would be a dry sandwich... I'll take the sauce please! I definitely enjoyed this sandwich combination though. The salad on the side was a typical mixed greens with a nice balsamic vinagrette mixed in. Maybe I'm being picky again but if there were a tiny bit less dressing, it would have been perfect! I only say this because the salad near the bottom was a little more soaked than I would have liked. Also, by this time, we had finished 75% of the first two dishes so maybe I'm trying to justify why I should keep eating when I'm about stuffed!

Overall, pleased with the presentation, taste, and atmosphere of the restaurant. There were a few more dishes that I would like to try next time I visit the restaurant. Perhaps then we could sit in the lovely outdoor section by the zen pond.. peace out foodies!