It’s been quite a while since we visited Whisknladle. Recently we had some friends visiting and I thought this would be a perfect place for dinner, especially since they offer a large selection of small plates that are great for sharing.
Whisknladle’s menu changes often and rather than divide their menu up into sections, everything is listed together. The top menu items are more appetizer-style portions, with the lower listings being the entree portions.
I’ve always found that I enjoy Whisknladle’s small plates better than their entrees, so we decided to just order a lot of the small plates to share. We came on a good night with a lot of more “adventurous” options.
Cutting Board
Whisknladle serves one of my favorite cutting boards in San Diego. There’s always a good selection of olives, meats and cheeses.
Crispy Pig Ears
This is a dish that seems to be trending. I first had it at Animal a few years ago and have seen it gradually pop up on more menus. I really enjoyed the version here and it was our favorite dish of the night. The pig ears were light and crispy, accompanied by a mildly sweet sauce. We mixed in the runny egg yolk which added some creaminess. The fresh herbs and greens kept the dish from being too heavy. For those that are squeamish about eating cartilage, this is a good introduction.
Ravioli stuffed with bone marrow
The mini ravioli were adorable and I loved the colorful blood orange garnish.
Braised and Glazed Sweet Breads
Fried sweet breads were accompanied by mushrooms, carrots and turnips. I enjoyed the earthiness of the vegetables, but found the sauce a tad too sweet.
Octopus “a la Plancha” | Chino Potatoes, Arugula, Toasted Garlic & Romesco
This was a little too heavy on the starch for my preference. The octopus was tender, but I could have done with less potatoes.
Sheep’s Milk Ricotta Gnudi
The gnudi were quite large, but very soft and light.
Overall, we had a good meal here. I think the entrees are a little overpriced so we tend to stick to the small plates. The menu changes daily, which is great, though sometimes frustrating if you don’t see the items you want offered that day. The restaurant is usually quite packed so reservations are recommended.
Whisknladle
1044 Wall St, La Jolla, CA 92039
(858) 551-7575
That’s my favorite strategy too, ordering a bunch of apps over entrees! Lovely review, your pictures are truly fantastic considering how dark it is inside Whisknladle!!
I hate how dark it gets! Luckily we had an early-ish dinner so the sun had not completely set when we started
I like small plates too. With full entrees, I’m stuck eating only one thing but small ones gives me a chance to try many. It seems like W&L has changed a lot since I last went, I guess I need to revisit and eat some pig ears.
Yeah, I was surprised when I saw some of the menu items! I hadn’t seen a lot of them before, and also noticed some of my previous old favorites were gone.
I love WNL concept of food but agree that their main entree prices are really high. Friend and I went there recently and she almost didn’t order her beloved bone marrow b/c they raised the price on the dish. I’ve never mustered the courage to try sweet breads – do you think WNL version is a good place to try them out for the first time – I don’t even want to open the page to see what this dish cost.
The sweetbreads here were okay. I haven’t really found a place in SD that makes a great sweetbread dish. Honestly though, it doesn’t taste like much. It tastes like fried soft stuff. haha. They don’t have much flavor.