**** Mastiff Kitchen is no longer at North Park Beer Company.
Here’s a post that was going to “die”; that is, if the place is local, and I, or we, do only one visit and aren’t inclined to return, I’ll delete the photos after about a year. However, for some reason, I just decided to return to North Park Beer Company last weekend, so I now have enough for a post.
The Mastiff Food Truck was parked near our office earlier in the year and I was running between meetings, so one of my coworkers was nice enough to grab something from the Mastiff Food Truck while I finished up my conference call. Before my next call, I was able to quickly eat.
First up; the Bratwurst with the House Kraut ($9):
Though Mastiff’s sausages are quite popular; I wasn’t too impressed with this as a whole. The sausage wasn’t hot and was sort of flaccid, it was very mild in flavor, there was little color on the sausage and the sauerkraut was also very mild, lacking in a nice slightly funky fermented flavor. I guess all of that sauerkraut in the Czech Republic and Charcroute in Alsace might have ruined us. The roll was on the chewy side for my taste. Granted; there was about a five minute wait from when this arrived on my desk and my call finishing; so it definitely wasn’t sitting around.
I also got the Mastiff Fries ($4).
These potatoes were on the dry side and had lost any crunch. While the harissa mayo had a tiny (I wish it was more spicy) bit of zip, it did add to the flavor, making this rather rich. This was also on the salty side.
And that would have been about it; until a couple of months later; when the Missus had Her hair appointment in North Park. I’d usually wait for the Missus at Toronado and we’d hit up Tribute or Tiger Tiger. However, on this occasion I hung out an had a beer at North Park Brewing and the Missus met me there.
We just decided to have dinner.
We both really like the space; high ceilings, you hang out with the beer tanks. Mastiff Kitchen is located at the rear of the place. You order and pay for your food there; then head on over to the bar to order your beverages.
I’d warned the Missus about the sauerkraut, but really wanted to try the Bratwurst again; so we just got a sausage ($6).
Having been married over 20 years must have an effect…..the Missus’s verdict? Pretty much the same as mine. Though this time the sausage was nicely browned and hot. Still, it was somewhat underwhelming overall.
What wasn’t underwhelming, at least in terms of richness were the “Pig Fries” ($12).
The potatoes were more thinly sliced than what I’d had before; they were hot and crisp; if on the dry side. There was a bit too much cheese and sauce for our taste and this was too salty for us.
We did like the pork belly and the chicharrons, the carnitas were on the greasy side and the al pastor sausage was too mild to be enjoyed.
We really didn’t enjoy the beer at NPBC and this was fairly soon returning from all that fried food in Alaska, that the Missus really couldn’t see Herself returning anytime soon. So, I put this in my “to delete folder” and was fully expecting to delete the photos at the end of the year.
Instead, I found my self with an entire day off this past weekend, after having worked like 18 days in a row. The Missus however, had to work. So, after shopping, cleaning up things, doing some food prep for the Missus’s meals at work, prepping Frankie’s meals (we get the most use out of the Instapot making his food), then giving him an overdue bath, I found my self with some time on my hands. And it was only noon!
I figured most of the places I’d want to check out in KM were crowded and decided to head on up to North Park….where most of the places were also packed. But not NPBC.
So I decided to give them another try. Though they were serving a rather limited brunch menu.
I decided to do this by chance; removing the items I didn’t think I’d like (I don’t like sweets and decided against anything too “simple” for some reason), then removed the Benedicts, because I’d just pass out after that. By coin toss, the Hungry Man Hash ($13) won out. Looking back, had I stared at that menu enough, the hash would have seemed very close to the “pig fries” and I might not have chosen it. But I did.
Unlike the “fries” this wasn’t over sauced and there wasn’t too much cheese, just a touch of light spice and milkiness. The carnitas had a mild crunchiness to them and combined with the pork belly, made a nice, porky, “one-two” punch. The breakfast potatoes were typical, but at least weren’t over-cooked or dry. The eggs were over done for my taste and the yolks were hard. I could barely finish the eggs and about half of the rest.
I brought the rest home and heated it up with two perfectly easy-over eggs and the Missus thought it was pretty good.
Also, the young lady working the counter on this day was a total joy; efficient, friendly, and just plain nice.
So, even though the food might edge on being a bit “too much”; the Missus and I might return and perhaps share a breakfast.
Mastiff Kitchen (at North Park Beer Company)
3038 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104
This ended up being a nice surprise. The MIA lime was there; though the bean sprouts weren't blanched. The egg noodles were perfectly prepared; just enough stretch, no mealy or mushy textures, enough soy in the sauce, the noodles were nicely coated. The toppings were simple, with an abundant amount of ground pork….kind of on the chewy side, but fine; the shrimp were nicely cooked with no muddy or off flavors…the fishballs….well, I'm not a fan of squeaky fishballs. The soup provided on the side was decent, slight savory flavors, not too salty. That pork bone was quite good; full of flavor, the pork tender, not falling to pieces.
