San Diego Restaurant Week is almost here again. This year it runs from January 18-24, and for the first time, it includes a Saturday.
Earlier this week, I was invited to preview the restaurant week menu at Prepkitchen Del Mar, which is part of the Whisknladle hospitality group. Whisknladle has always been one of my top picks for restaurant week because you get to choose from their entire menu, rather than just a smaller special restaurant week menu. The three Prepkitchen restaurants offer the same deal.
Local Mussels and Frites
The tender mussels were bathed in a garlic aioli broth that tasted both rich and light at the same time. Once we finished the mussels, Mr. K proceeded to soak slices of bread into the broth and when he finished off his bread, he just started to directly drink it.
Charred Octopus
This colorful medley of vegetables was interspersed with slices of smoky, tender octopus. It reminded me of a warm salad, which I really enjoyed.
Pan Roasted Rockfish
For my entree, I chose the rockfish. The roasted fillets had a beautiful golden crispy exterior Underneath the fish was a steamed masa soaking in a tomato based posole broth.
Pork Porterhouse
Mr. K chose the pork porterhouse, cooked to a medium rare, which sat on a bed of creamy polenta and was accompanied by caramelized brussel sprouts, and tender chunks of roasted sweet apples.
Pumpkin Bread Pudding
The heavily spiced warm pumpkin bread pudding was topped with a scoop of cold vanilla gelato. If you like bread pudding, this one was excellent.
Warm Chocolate Budino
The molten chocolate cake was served with espresso gelato and plated in the cutest jar. Mr. K and I each took a bite of our desserts, sighed with pleasure and immediately said “OMG, you have to try this.” Both desserts were divine and it was nearly impossible to choose a favorite.
Overall, we had a great meal here. We’ve always enjoyed Whisknladle and our first venture to Prepkitchen Del Mar was just as positive. Much like Whisknladle, our favorites are the appetizers and desserts, with the main courses being solid but not as memorable. The service was also great, much like when we dine at Whisknladle.
For restaurant week, Prepkitchen is offering a 3 course (appetizer, main, and dessert) dinner for $40 (or lunch for $20 where you share an appetizer and dessert), and you get to choose from the entire menu rather than a limited restaurant week menu. In addition, they will be extending restaurant week through January 30th. You can check out all the participating San Diego restaurants here.
Here is the menu from the night we dined. Their menu does change daily, so it might be a little different during restaurant week.
Please note, as stated above, I was invited here to preview restaurant week and our meal was complimentary. I was not further compensated for this review and my opinions are my own.
Prepkitchen Del Mar
1201 Camino Del Mar, Del Mar, CA 92014
https://www.wnlhosp.com/
I do like the places that offer up the whole menu for restaurant week – it’s nice to have the flexibility to really try out their menu. I wish I was eating that budino right now, it looks so good!
I like it too. It gives you a much better feel for the restaurant
We took the little kid to the one in Little Italy for lunch. We were a little concerned taking a toddler to a nice place, and whether they could accommodate kids, so we asked first, and they said he was welcome. The food was excellent. My husband got the Mussels and Frites, but the little kid ate about half of the mussels. I got the beet ravioli. Little kid ate a couple of those, too. What I got of it was really good. They had enough filling without having that food-factory overstuffed feeling. We’d definitely go back!
that’s good to know that it’s also a good place to bring kids to!
I commend them for offering their full menu for RW. I have yet to visit a restaurant that successfully prepares any pork item medium rare 🙁 Seasons 52 tried to do it but it came out very well done.
i thought they cooked it to the right temp but it wasn’t my fav dish. it tasted fine, but just not something i’d think to order again
Looks delicious. Too bad we don’t have restaurant week in our area.
that is too bad. it seems like a lot of big cities are doing it now