Sunday, July 23, 2006

Park House Eatery

We headed out for Sunday morning breakfast today. It was very lucky for us that we made our decision to venture out before 9am, as after this time the crowds began to grow- sitting and waiting in this heat is not something I could have endured.
Looking around for somewhere new to go we came across Broken yolk- the famous PB breakfast house, but my wife having a meeting at 11am we decided that somewhere closer to home was in order. Searching a little harder we found a well reviewed, close to home restaurant in the Park House Eatery in University Heights, feeling that if the long lines were too much for us we could always fall back on Gulf Coast Grill.
It was not too warm when we arrived at the restaurant and so chose to sit outside- inside having a wait time of 30 minutes. The little front patio is a very cute place to sit, and was wonderfully peaceful until another customer arrived with her 2 dogs. This is a policy Park House might really want to reconsider, Sunday brunch is a time when one should be able to sit and relax, anticipate the relaxing day ahead and forget that Monday morning lies just around the corner. Sad little babies are one thing, but yappie dogs seem just unnecessary.
The service when we arrived was wonderful, the waiter explained the breakfast specials to us, was great with any questions, and happy to give us a few extra minutes to sort through the mountain of options that Park House had to offer. Eventually my wife settled on a spinach and artichoke scramble whilst I got the daily special of Italian sausage, asparagus, yellow tomatoes and smoked mozzarella scramble. The food took a little while to arrive, but we were happy in the sun sipping our coffee and freshly squeezed juice.
The food portions are pretty massive here, neither of us finished our plates. Everything was excellent, the house potatoes were some of the best I have had in San Diego- with the skin mixed into the hash adding wonderful texture. The house preserve was also great and the scrambles both lived up to expectation.
One slight down note was that as the morning progressed and more and more people showed up to breakfast the service went massively downhill. It was at this point that I could well understand why the Linkery had decided to stop serving breakfast. Us San Diegans love our Sunday morning treat so much that we show out in incredible numbers and it is hard for any establishment to do a good job accommodating so many people. More staff would be an answer but in a building as small as Park House, (and indeed the Linkery) t really would be too crowded with any more employees. It seems that financial success in this matter is certainly going to bring about a loss of quality- perhaps discouraging disgruntled breakfasters from dining there in the evening or at lunch.
Still, we had a wonderful breakfast and were very happy to have sneaked in before the crowds, the heat and humidity being what they currently are we certainly needed a no hassle Sunday.

6 comments:

Erin said...

It's a shame you had to listen to the yappy little dogs. My experience with dogs at restaurants has only been with well-behaved large or medium ones--dogs whom I've enjoyed interacting with--so I wouldn't want them to rescind such a policy. :)

Hi, here via a link some weeks back on Slashfood recommending San Diego food blogs. As a San Diegan myself (who keeps a non-food blog), I'm always on the lookout for new local eats. I keep meaning to try the Linkery on your recommendation, but haven't made it over there yet.

KC said...

Yeah we are usually fine with dogs- would like one ourselves perhaps in a few years- but these ones would not quit yapping away!

Another great place to try if you haven't already is Vagabond. Let us know if you have anywhere really cool to eat we should try!

Anonymous said...

I noticed you had a blog (April 2006 I believe)where you mentioned Halloumi Cheese. Can you tell me where you purchased it? I love Halloumi cheese and ate it while I lived in Australia, but haven't been able to find it here in San Diego. Can you tell me where you purchased it?

KC said...

You should be able to find Halloumi cheese at the Whole Foods in La Jolla (the one in Hillcrest is rubbish!)

Let me know if you have luck finding it- that's put me in mood to have some myself as a matter of fact!

Erin said...

Mama Testa Taqueria here in Hillcrest (University and Richmond) is great if you like tacos. My favorites are De Aleman and Asi Yasado.

Anonymous said...

There is Halloumi at Vons and Ralphs and Albertsons...usually only 6 packages at any time. About the same price as WF. I've seen it in Santee and La Mesa and the Vons on Aero...the Ralphs downtown...same brand everywhere...