savory casual fare / encinitas – san diego, ca

In November, Laura and I had a visit to a little eatery tucked away in one of the shopping malls in Encinitas, called Savory Casual Fare. It’s got an almost “fine dining” feel to the place while being in a strip mall and it’s a nice little place for a meal. It’s a white tablecloth, New American type food kind of place serving up a small variety of dishes on their menu. Check it out below!

Laura and I arrived fairly late since we had been at Zumba before coming out for dinner. Their dinner hours close at 9 and we got there about 8:45PM, but they still took us in and seated us for dinner that night.

I had a deal coupon for dining here so we didn’t pay full price for our meal (I believe I had a $30 for $60 worth of food coupon). It makes me happy to score on good deals like that!

[It’s Bread!]

This is our complimentary bread for our meal. Nothing to write home about here. Just plain old, slightly crusty bread served at room temperature. We got a little platter of butter for it, too. Appreciated the bread since I was super hungry, but again, nothing impressive about it.

[warm peppery toasted goat cheese salad, arugula – $9.25]

Laura and I shared this goat cheese, arugula mix for starters. The goat cheese was served warm with a good amount of cracked pepper on top. The goat cheese was warm but didn’t melt and we were able to easily incorporate it into our salad portions. I’m a sucker for goat cheese so this dish made me pretty idea.

[Fish of the Day]

This is Laura’s dish – the fish of the day – and I have since forgotten what it was. I’m a terrible blogger, I know. I do remember that she enjoyed it, and nothing else.

[buttermilk fried chicken breast, mashed potato, haricot vert, mushroom gravy – $22.25]

I would usually not get a dish like this when dining out, especially with a kind of hefty price tag, but I was really in the mood for some good old comfort food. And having the coupon made me not feel so bad for getting a pricey dish.

The chicken breast was very tender and juicy and the outer crust provided a lovely crunch to the chicken. It was also HUGE. I don’t think you can really tell from the photo, but it was a large piece of chicken breast. The mashed potatoes were lovely and creamy and the mushroom gravy complimented the dish very nicely. It was rich and flavorful and was a good sauce with the potatoes and the chicken. The haricot vert were also nicely done with a bit of butter and garlic. Overall it was a nice, comforting and tasty dish.

[sweet mellow lemon pot de creme, lemon tea cake – $7 / vanilla bean ice cream – $3]

My favorite item here though was the dessert! I had to convince Laura to get this though. In compromise, we got a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream to go along with our dessert since she was afraid the lemon would be too overpowering.

Laura did end up thinking it was an overpowering lemon dish and enjoyed it much more mellowed out with the ice cream, but me? I had a bite of the ice cream to taste it, but left it alone after that because I loved the lemon pot de creme!

It was wonderfully smooth and rich. The lemon flavor wasn’t overpowering to me, but instead was a bit mellow at first bite, then it intensifies a bit and lingers a little. I just love how smooth and creamy pot de cremes usually are. I really enjoyed the flavor, but then again, I love lemon desserts. The lemon tea cake was just okay in my book. It was nice, but didn’t really do much for me. The pot de creme took my breath away!

Savory Casual Fare has a good lineup of dishes (plus desserts!) and is a nice little place for a meal. I probably would have never gone with my coupon deal since it’s a bit out of the way for me, but I enjoyed it.

Savory Casual Fare
267 N. El Camino Real (Suites A & B)
Encinitas, CA 92024
Phone: 760.634.5556