Brunch at Duck Dive

The thing that I love most about San Diego is the ever-changing landscape of activities. Such a large and diverse city means that there is always a new restaurant, a new event, a new art gallery or festival to check out!

I wrote a couple of weeks agoabout some new brunch options in the area, one of them being Duck Dive in Pacific Beach. Duck Dive is located right in the heart of Pacific Beach, serving up classics of burgers, salads, steaks, and chicken, with a new twist on these favorites.

Recently, Duck Dive started a Saturday and Sunday brunch menu. We were there to check it out last Sunday, and what a nice Sunday it was! Having lost an hour on Saturday night (no grumbling over the time change in this post!), we consoled ourselves with thoughts of sunshine and blue skies over the beach!

The brunch features many breakfast favorites, with generous portions, and $20 for all you can drink mimosas (I did not partake, but would be great for a lazy Sunday). We instead opted for the wake up juice of coffee, freshly brewed and so good on a lost-hour morning.

From the menu options, we chose the breakfast sandwich and the breakfast tapas. The sandwich was served open-faced with turkey sausage, spinach, scrambled egg, and best of all goat cheese! It was huge, and very tasty, with the creamy goat cheese and spinach making for excellent flavor and texture. This dish also would be excellent served vegetarian, simply leaving out the sausage.

The breakfast tapas change every day per the chef/manager’s whim. On this day, the features were a quarter of a waffle served with bacon on top, sweet potato and potato hash with an egg over easy on top, and a breakfast taco with pork loin, pork belly, and avocado.

I really, really liked this “sampler” of the breakfast offerings. The waffle was quite sweet, but very crispy and the small portion was just perfect. The sweet potato/potato hash with the egg was my personal favorite of the three, but mainly because I’m such a sucker for eggs over easy. I love, love the egg yolk dripping into the hash to meld the flavors. The taco was also quite good, and the obvious choice for anyone who loves pork or tacos. It was very light, but the pork was quite flavorful and tender. Despite the presence of pork belly and loin, the taco was not all greasy.

I really love the atmosphere of the place; the big windows allow plenty of light and beach breezes, and the attitude is casual and friendly. Another great place for San Diego brunching!