When we visited D Bar for our bacon crawl, I knew we’d be back. We didn’t try any of the desserts that day and I was ITCHING to try them. Just a peek made me salivate and after a few weeks Jake and I were finally able to go back for brunch.
We just happened to go the same day as Taste of Hillcrest, but we went early enough that the meandering crowds did not affect us in any way. T was also able to tag along this time to finally try the items, too. Isn’t he a lucky, lucky boy?
[crue fries / garlic parmesan fries · mac sauce · melted cheddar jack · aws bacon · ranch · chives – $9]
But of course we started out with the Crue Fries. Trust me, it was hard to not also order the macaroni and cheese again. I almost did. These were just as tasty as the last time I had them. I like that there’s just enough sauce on them to not overpower the dish or make all of the fries soggy. The fries stay crisp underneath the sauce, cheeses and bacon and just all mixed together in your mouth for the ultimate happiness.
[dressed avocado / maldon salt · cracked pepper · magni evoo · fresh lime · small salad – $7]
I also tried the Dressed Avocado which also came with a little side salad. While I did like the creamy, buttery avocado (avocado is, after all, one of my favorite things), I found is this to have a littttttttle too much lime for my liking. I also wished that it had more salt overall and the seasonings and flavoring didn’t really made it across all of the slices. I still ate most of it (shared with T) though I was a little let down by the seasonings. Less lime for me, please. More delicious salt.
[“chicken fried” steak / texas style prime flat iron · sausage gravy · scrambled eggs · breakfast potatoes – $11]
It was breakfast for us since we got there right at 11AM when it opened and we shared one breakfast dish and one lunch dish. We opted to try the chicken fried steak. Jake, T and I all loved the sausage gravy – that part was delicious – but we thought the steak was just okay. It seemed a little too thick to me. We still prefer the one over at Toby’s, but we still liked this one and ate every last bite on the plate.
[p.b.l.t. / brown sugar pork belly · heirloom tomato · baby gem romaine · roasted garlic mayo · d bar fries – $10]
A pork belly sandwich was sounding mighty good to me, and after I had a bite of this I didn’t really want to eat anything else…
The sandwich is on a fresh roll that’s toasted and filled with some of the most delicious pork belly I’ve ever had. Tender, juicy, flavorful and meaty, the pork belly here was simply outstanding. The other sandwich accompaniments made it taste very fresh and I’d have a hard time not ordering this on every single future visit to D Bar.
I actually saved my last bite of food as the rest of this sandwich, so it would be the last lingering flavor in my mouth (before dessert, anyway). It was that good!
[d=mc2 / milk chocolate mousse • salted caramel • praline crunch • peanut nib crumble – $10]
When our waitress back by to see if we would have dessert, Jake started to say “no” and I gave him the most incredulous look I could muster. As if I would want to come to D Bar again and not try a dessert! I didn’t care if it was only noon, I was totally trying something sweet!
I had Jake and T try to guess what I wanted to ordered… but neither of them could guess that day. The d=mc2 sounded really good to me – it was sort of a chocolate experiment on a plate with all of these different “levels” of chocolate. You had the chocolate ice cream with peanut nib crumble (smooth and creamy chocolate with crunchy bits), the milk chocolate mousse that had a gelatin texture with some kind of “dust” (I think it was peanut dust) and the chocolate and salted caramel thing waaaaay over there on the top.
Here is it from another angle. Also! The chocolate drops with lines and little cocoa pearls made for the prettiest design ever on a dessert plate. Each element had a different flavor and texture and combining things together made it adventurous and fun. I loved the play on textures here, the salted caramel bits being my favorite (dragged through the chocolate sauce on the plate, of course).
All in all it was a really delicious brunch at D Bar and I can’t wait to come back and try other things (especially of the dessert variety).
D Bar
3930 5th Avenue.
San Diego, CA 92103
619.299.3227
Your dessert looks really good! I’d been eyeing that on their menu…makes me want to go there again!
At least you didn’t have a horrible expierience waiting to be seated (despite many empty seats) and waiting a #$%@ of a long time to get your food like we did during our brunch visit.
I wonder why they call their fries, “Crue Fries”? Motley Crue? Yeah, rock on, ha ha! They’re good though! I’ll have to try the chicken fried steak next time as well!
Ouch, yeah, I think a long wait would have made me cranky. We were seated right away both times I went and the first time we had a party of 8! I never thought to try and ask why they’re called Crue fries! I have been wondering, too. Maybe Chef Keegan is a big Motley Crue fan haha. I still want to try their other desserts, like the cake & shake or sunshine on a plate. They have some yummy looking things.