Brunch at Huckleberry Cafe

Huckleberry Cafe has been open for nearly two years and it's hard for me to believe that I haven't tried anything from their full menu. Sure I've dropped in a few times for cinnamon sugar donuts and berry crostadas, but never for a sit-down breakfast or lunch.  That all changed this past weekend when my wife and I and a friend made an afternoon visit to this extremely busy Santa Monica cafe. When we arrived, the order-line was quite long and snaked all the way to the back door, but somehow we managed to grab a prime indoor table after we had placed our order. On to the eats:

Fried egg sandwich with sunny side up eggs, Niman Ranch bacon, Gruyere, arugula, aioli on country bread.  I know what you're thinking: sunny side up eggs within a sandwich, isn't that going to be an epic mess?  Yes, and that first bite had better be carefully navigated to encompass at least some of the yolk to blanket it from exploding out and over your hands.  But not to worry because whatever yolk spills onto the plate--and trust me there will be yolk--is just an excuse to tear off some of the country bread and scoop up a serving of silky deliciousness.  I tried my best to make this a clean, gentlemen-like experience. FAIL. Thick cut bacon is salty and slightly crispy, while a copious amount of arugula adds a tangy, zesty snap to each bite and also rightly justifies this eating episode.

And what better way to compliment the fried egg sandwich than with a trio of house-made delights?

Starting at the top left we have coffee cake, maple bacon biscuit, and a salted caramel bar.  Yes, a biscuit that's made with two of my favorite food groups: maple and bacon.  It was undeniably tasty with a great crumb texture but needed a little more maple as I found the pork fat to be almost overpowering. Wait. I should not and shall not complain about pork fat, especially when it's baked within a biscuit--another one of my favorite food groups.  The salted caramel bar was super sweet and a bit chewy with a dash of crunchy salt to really bring out the caramel's depth.  My favorite though was the coffee cake.  Moist, delicious, buttery, and appropriately messy like a good coffee cake should be.  Next time I'll get one to go.

My better half dove into this Marinated peppers and burrata sandwich with La Quercia prosciutto:

She kindly donated some of the hearty, seedy bread so I could be absolutely sure to scoop every last drop of egg yolk from my plate.  Oh and she quite enjoyed the sandwich, making note of the generous amount of creamy burrata. Slathered on the bread was a spicy pesto spread that added some good heat to the sandwich. Delicious. We're coming back and hopefully soon.
 

Huckleberry Cafe
1014 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica CA 90404