We’ve been wanting to eat at Prepkitchen for a long time, but never seemed to find a good time to go. So when we were recently in charge of choosing a place to meet a friend who was in town for lunch and Del Mar was a good in-between point for the two of us, we quickly seized the opportunity to meet in Prepkitchen and finally experience it.
Part of the Whisknladle family of restaurants
Prepkitchen is part of the Whisknladle family of restaurants and serves contemporary dishes with comfort food details for both lunch and dinner.
As mentioned above, we ate at Prepkitchen for lunch and we were very pleased with the menu. It had a nice mix of the two traditional lunch items like sandwiches and salads, plus more eclectic dishes if you were looking for a more exciting lunch.
We had also heard good things about the bacon wrapped dates at Prepkitchen and that they were some of the best, so we ordered an appetizer plate for my friend and myself. We were not disappointed. Bacon-wrapped dates were made with blue cheese, and it turns out that the mantra “everything is better with cheese” applies to bacon-wrapped dates as well. Sweet, salty and creamy. Delicious.
For my main course, we got the melted tuna. It wasn’t that exciting, but it sounded like the right fit for the rare San Diego rainy day that was happening outside. However, this was not your average tuna melt. It had aged gouda melted on top of a tuna salad that had a kick thanks to the caramelized onions and remoulade.
My friend got the cheeseburger and it was an impressively decadent burger with plenty of gruyere, bacon, caramelized onion, and an egg on top.
Creative Dishes
Other lunch options include creative dishes like pickled spinach and pickled sandwich, fusilli bolognese, and local mussels with fries.
Local mussels are also on the dinner menu and the seafood dish is one of the dishes Prepkitchen is most famous for. The dinner menu also has another option that sounds stronger like braised pork cheeks with mustard with lentils, asparagus and carrots; and seared albacore with potato salad, pickled beets, ravigot sauce, watercress and avocado. There are also lighter small-plate options like harissa shrimp with fava beans and kale sprouts or a roasted beet and spinach salad with Satsuma, avocado, goat cheese, almonds, and balsamic vinaigrette.
The environment
Despite the delicious entrees with unique ingredients, our favorite part of Prepkitchen was the atmosphere. It reminded me of a library fashion that you would find in a castle remodeled for the 21 st century. The indoor dining room is small and intimate, but light and airy. Shelves line the back wall and a collection of books offers fun titles to read over lunch.
Outside, you’ll find more seating on the covered patio that overlooks Camino del Mar, the main boulevard that runs through the heart of downtown Del Mar.
Prepkitchen Quick Tips
Address: 1201 Camino Del Mar, Del Mar (In addition to the Del Mar location, there are also Prepkitchen restaurants in La Jolla and Little Italy.)
Website: http://wnlhosp.com
