sdrw preview at prepkitchen little italy

It’s that time of year – San Diego Restaurant Week is here again! The day after we got back from Boston I was invited to check out Prepkitchen in Little Italy. It was a nice way to get back into the groove of being home again.

Prepkitchen is apart of the Whisknladle Hospitality group. The cool thing about going to Whisknladle or Prepkitchen for San Diego Restaurant Week is how they do it. They let you choose your own items for the three course meal and you get to pick ANYTHING off the menu!

A lot of places do set courses for San Diego Restaurant Week, which is totally cool and fine and all that jazz, but I love the idea of getting to try whatever you want. If you get the pricer items on the menu, you’ll also be saving yourself a lot of bucks! The dinner price for Prepkitchen is only $35, compared to $45 at Whisknladle and Catania. 

[prepkitchen’s private dining room]

I roamed around the restaurant first before we sat down. This is Prepkitchen’s cute little private dining area. 

I loved this lightening near the bar. The branches look so pretty!

Jake and I sat in a kick ass corner booth next to the windows. It felt like a private booth in the dining area. This is our view from the booth.

This awesome decoupaged chandelier hung over the booth, covered in pages torn out of old books.

Other neat little touches impressed me, like the kooky plates in the hallway leading to the bathroom. There are shared sinks outside the bathrooms made from an old elementary school drinking fountain. RAD!

[prepkitchen menu]

Here’s the whole Prepkitchen menu. Basically all the stuff on the left side is the “first course” and all the stuff on the right would be your “second course”. There’s so much awesome to choose from! Going with a date would allow you to really explore this menu if you share everything. 

[scalliwag – black magic rum, tiki mix, apricot, rum float / $12]

Okay, this isn’t on the SDRW menu. But Jake wanted a drinky drink and he got one. He didn’t seem to like it all that much though. I think he’s more used to whiskey these days than rum. It was pretty though! I only had a sip and then ordered an iced tea for myself. 

[smoked beef ribs – house made barbecue sauce & cole slaw / $17.25]

Jake’s first course choice was the Smoked Beef Ribs. I guessed he was going to order this before he told me. The ribs look like little itty bitty ribs to me so I’m sure they cut those suckers down. I had a couple bites of a rib and it had that nice “pull” on the meat. The meat came off after a tug or two and had a pretty smokey flavor to it. The homemade barbecue sauce was pretty unique – there was some interesting spices going on here. Jake really liked these. I thought they were pretty good, but not something I would be jonesing for in the future, you know?

[chino farms watermelon & burrata salad – pistachios, watercress & balsamic glaze / $13.50]

My first course involved lots of things I love all on one plate: burrata cheese, pistachios, raw onions, and sweet watermelon. This was the perfect starter in my eyes since it hit all the elements: creamy, soft cheese; crunchy, salty pistachios; crisp, raw onion; sweet, crunchy watermelon with a sweet balsamic glaze. All the elements worked really well together to hit all the different senses and flavors. I loved it! 

[hangar steak & frites – watercress & béarnaise / $27.25]

I also guessed that Jake would pick this as his entree – steak & frites! In the cup is the béarnaise sauce which I was glad they put on the side. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare and you could see the grains of the finishing salt they sprinkled on top of the steak. The sauce I didn’t like all that much, I preferred the steak on its own. There’s no rub or other crap to dilute the flavor of the meat – it’s just pure, unaltered, sweet steak goodness. 

[side of french fries / $4.50]

French fries sounded so good to me so I got a side order of them to share, even though I knew Jake was getting them with his meal. Perfectly crispy, crunchy, and golden brown.

[pan roasted pork porterhouse – polenta, kimchi brussels sprouts, pickled cucumber & daikon / $27.50]

If you know me, you know I have this weird rule about not ordering pork when we’re out at a restaurant. But I decided to just go for it once again and try the pork porterhouse since our waiter mentioned it was a stellar item that showed off their kitchen skillz (I’m paraphrasing). The dish comes with brussels sprouts, a veggie I don’t like, so I pretty-please asked if it could be subbed for something else and I got squash/zucchini instead. I still didn’t really dig the sour kimchi flavor on the veggies but I figured they had a better shot with me if they were not brussels sprouts (sorry I’m a hater).

The pork was on the bone and looked just like a porterhouse steak – with the tenderloin on one side. The pork was perfectly cooked and so sweet and tender! I was quite impressed with it and I loved eating it with the smooth, creamy polenta – it was kind of like eating steak with mashed potatoes. There was a sweet sauce/glaze over the pork which dripped down onto the polenta that I really enjoyed.

Also: you can’t see ’em, but there are pickled cucumbers on the other side of that mound of veggies. I didn’t partake.  

[dessert menu at prepkitchen]

I was feeling so full already but there was still one course left! Jake wasn’t feeling dessert that day and skipped it (whhaaaaaat). Even though I getting quite full, dessert stomach kicked in and I was able to get dessert.

[butterscotch pudding – candied pecans, orange chantilly & coconut oat cookies / $9]

My choice? The butterscotch pudding. There was a layer of some salted caramel in the middle there and I loved the crunchy oat cookies sprinkled on top. I was surprised to see two whole cookies on the plate and discovered it tasted heavenly when I crumbled up the cookies into the pudding. Sadly I couldn’t finish it – my poor stomach had reached it’s max limit but I left content and feeling quite happy with our dinner choices. 

I definitely recommend Prepkitchen for Restaurant Week because of their beautiful setting, great service, and wonderful food options. Check out it this week! San Diego Restaurant Week starts this Sunday, September 20th and runs through September 27th. 

Prepkitchen Little Italy
1660 India Street (2nd Floor)
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 398-8383

Disclaimer: I was invited to come in and check out Prepkitchen for San Diego Restaurant Week. Our meal was complimentary and I was not further compensated for this post.