Monday, September 19, 2016

#SDRW: San Diego Restaurant Week Preview - Brooklyn Girl Eatery Mission Hills

Have you heard?  San Diego Restaurant Week is back and better and bigger than ever!  Over a 180 restaurants participating and I was lucky enough to preview the RW menu of one of the best of the best - my neighborhood's own Brooklyn Girl!

From September 25 until October 2, you can head to any of the participating restaurants and experience the best of what they have to offer for a set price.  $20, $30 or $40.  I was lucky to be paired up with Brooklyn Girl.  Their standard for RW is $30 with a couple of items that can be upcharged $10.


We had the BEST experience at Brooklyn Girl on Saturday night for Date Night.  The food, the service, the hospitality.  Everything was perfection!  Pictured here with me and SD Dad is Michael and Victoria, the owners of Brooklyn Girl. Fun Fact: Michael is one of the original idea havers of Restaurant Week!  Along with Susie Bauman of Tom Hams and Bali Hai and Ingrid Croce of Croce's fame!  The awesome night started with awesome server, Brooke!  (not short for Brooklyn)


All meals here start with a rotating popcorn flavor.  We had the garlic and paprika.  It was HEAVY on the garlic to the point it was spicy!  So addicting.


Then the drinks.  SD Dad had the Hess Hop To It Us American IPA and I had the Fall Brewing Unicorn Stampede Red Ale.


They have an excellent San Diego Craft Beer list.


We had big choices to make from the Restaurant Week menu.  But I am about to go OFF RW menu and make a suggestion from their regular menu.  The Cauliflower roasted with parmesan.  YES!


Creamy, caramelly and perfectly cooked.  And a little nutty from the parmesan!  TRUST!  Okay, now on to the RW menu and our choices.

For my starter, I chose the Carlsbad Black Mussels (ours came from Prince Edward Island).  They were cooked in a Thai basil and coconut milk sauce with chilis and lemongrass.  They came with fries and a grilled baguette.  HUGE portion!


Absolutely delicious.  The mussels were HUGE!  And the chilis in the coconut milk sauce were divine!


SD Dad had the ceviche.  It was white sea bass cured with citrus and then mixed with jalapeños, onions, celery and tomatoes served with crips wontons.


For our main dishes, SD Dad had the Argentinian Gaucho Steak ($10 upcharge).  It is "Aspen Ridge Ranch" beef, smashed fingerling potatoes, grilled rapini and a chimichurri sauce.  It was the most perfectly cooked piece of meat I have had!


Now, let's talk about what I wanted to order.  I wanted to order the Cajun Style Shellfish Étouffée ($10 uncharge) with the shrimp, crab and andouille sausage.  Totally what I would order in a restaurant.  BUT they didn't have it yet...


Looks amazing right???  So, instead, I ordered something I NEVER order in a restaurant - CHICKEN!  Why don't I order it?  There is simply a fine line between undercooked and over cooked chicken and not very many restaurants or chefs can get it right!  So, with my heart in my throat, I ordered the Brownstone Brick Chicken.  With a whole grain mustard marinade, baby tomatoes, wild rocket and chili oil/balsamic.    PERFECTION!


The chicken was so perfectly tender.  Just perfectly cooked even near the bone.  See that orange swirl?  I wanted to lick it.  Something about the chili oil meeting the balsamic was like angels singing.  It was amazing!

Full yet?  Haha!  We were stuffed but couldn't pass up a chance to try the desserts!  I had the Caramel Budino with salted caramel custard and crumbled chocolate cookies.


It was pretty good.  The custard was a little sour...almost like a cheesecake filling.  SD Dad had the chocolate chip bread pudding with a Bourbon Creme Anglaise.  Basically a sweetened cream with a touch of bourbon.  If I could drown in a bathtub filled with that amazingness, Iwould die happy.  Or at least in my daily coffee.


Haha!  My #Yelfie!  But before I tell you the story of Brooklyn Girl, let me tell you about one more dessert...off the RW menu.  If you are gluten free like me, you need to make a special trip for this dessert!  The gluten free carrot cake!


If you didn't know it was GF, you wouldn't know.  Perfectly nutty, creamy and rich.  It was, in one word, INCREDIBLE!

Michael, the owner, met his wife Victoria at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Downtown San Diego.  It was love at first sight!  They have since gone on to open a few restaurants in SD and the most recent being Brooklyn Girl about 4.5 years ago.  They called it Brooklyn Girl because Victoria is originally form Brooklyn.  And because Brooklyn has so much varied cuisine that would play out perfectly in a fresh good produce and product sourced restaurant.  Everything is dependent on the kitchen staff.  Remember when I told you about the rotating popcorn?  Even dish staff gets to pick a flavor!  Michael's favorite is the rosemary parmesan.

The menu changes weekly depending on fresh ingredients.  The have had SD Dad's gaucho steak on the menu for over a year.  If it is popular and the people love it, they keep it!  Russell Frey is the man responsible for the amaze pastries.  Thomas Depuw is responsible for the perfectly cooked chicken.

Brooklyn Girl may have hosted me and SD Dad for Date night but let me tell you - they have made fans for life.  24 hours later, SD Dad and I can't stop talking about the delicious flavors and warm welcomes we got at Brooklyn Girl.  I highly recommend it.  During RW or otherwise.

Brooklyn Girl is located 4033 Goldfinch St, San Diego, CA 92103.  Call 619-296-4600 for reservations.

Been to any good restaurants lately?  Do you have a RW where you live?  If you live in SD, have you been to Brooklyn Girl?  You should!

As always, I wish you Happy Feet,
SD Mom

3 comments:

  1. A popcorn starter is a sure fire way for a restaurant to win me over.

    ReplyDelete
  2. OMG! Everything looks amazing! It's going to be so hard choosing a restaurant to try, but this one is going to the top of the list. Thanks for sharing, Smitha! I'd love to try that cauliflower roasted with parmesan!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You had me at popcorn starter.... Everything looks amazing!

    ReplyDelete