A San Diego Restaurant Review Blog

in which the author chronicles her efforts to indulge her foodie inclinations amidst her working-mom-of-a-toddler lifestyle



(with some reviews for with toddlers, others for date night, and others for a delicious solo lunch on the run, plus occasional quick-notes on SD theater!)

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Burlap Return (Carmel Valley): Just for Drinks and Desserts!

Mr. Manvite had a similar reaction to me on Burlap: he posted on Yelp that he also found it overwhelming and not entirely pleasant, even if it's very buzzy and calculated to make you spend lots!

I tried it again, as planned, with just a friend for a Girls' Night Out at non-peak times. Was half empty. Got cocktails and dessert only.

Cocktail: Those Snake Oil Guys are funny. The drinks at Burlap do not sound delicious at all from reading the menu. But my friend got the Effervescent (or Luminescent?), the basil drink I got last time, and loved it as I had. I tried the Dragons' Fury (thai pepper in a cocktail?) but actually found it quite yummy.

Dessert: Rachel lives! But this time I liked her cakes rather than her crunchies. We got condensed milk cake (delicious), with condensed milk ice cream (not memorable) and green tea mousse (pretty good). And also the almond panna cotta, which was outstanding and had the most ridiculous plum tamarind gel which put the crunchies on the plate to shame.

MY CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

1. this place is fine when it's "not busy" (= very noisy by regular-restaurant standards, but half-empty by the Walmart of restaurants standard it is trying to set).

2. Rachel (does she have a last name?) is now second to Jack Fischer in my pantheon of San Diego pastry chefs. So far I've never liked everything on her plates, but I've tried 4 of them, and each has had some kind of spectacular component that made me want to come back and have more of her delightful creations.

I'll be back for Rachel's desserts on a non-busy night in the bar. I'll leave the restaurant to the see-and-be-scene folks and head back to Searsucker when I'm in the mood for tasty Malarkey food in a fun (but not hangar-like) setting!

No comments:

Post a Comment