Does Harbor Town Pub have the best brunch dish ever?

Let’s hash it out

The Kim Chee Bulgogi Hash features Korean BBQ steak, kimchi, onions, potatoes, two eggs, and Sriracha. Lots of Sriracha.
Place

Harbor Town Pub

1125 Rosecrans Street, San Diego

My wife and I have had a weekly brunch date on Saturday mornings since November. It’s been fun to have real conversations (without kids) while drinking real adult beverages (without kids).

An unpretentious bar decorated with stickers everywhere and an American flag on the ceiling

We’ve had a lot of good meals, and some great Bloody Marys, but I think I’ve had the single best brunch item I’ve ever tasted at Harbor Town Pub in Point Loma: The Kim Chee Bulgogi Hash, $10.95.

On weekend mornings, the Bottomless Pajama Brunch...

It hits every flavor profile I’ve ever desired and a few I didn’t know I had. I’ll get to that, but first let me describe Harbor Town. It’s an unpretentious bar decorated with stickers everywhere and an American flag on the ceiling. There are lots of vintage pinball games in the back room. All in all, it looks like the type of sailors’ bar that has been in the neighborhood for years, though it’s only been open five or so.

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...with bottomless Bloody Marys.

We felt a little overdressed, mainly because weekend mornings there are the Bottomless Pajama Brunch where you can get bottomless mimosas or Bloody Marys for $25. We were in street clothes. Darn.

The Brioche French Toast has thick white bread dipped in a cinnamon/brown-sugar egg wash.

I was in the mood for a Bloody Mary. I didn’t realize I’d get the equivalent of two: The pub’s flagship breakfast drink, the Dub Town Mary ($11), includes a double shot of Absolut Pepper vodka along with Cutwater Spirits Bloody Mary mix and lime juice and pickle juice for tang.

After you get your drink on, this painting of wrestling legend Andre the Giant has even more appeal.

The cocktail could use more garnishing, like stuffed blue cheese olives, but I liked the big strip of bacon. It wasn’t too soft or too crisp. And the drink was strong. My wife noticed I was extra chatty with the Trader’s Joe’s cashier on the way home. I needed a nap at 11 a.m.

But that drink went superbly with the Kim Chee Bulgogi Hash, a classic brunch dish in the making. The beef was soft and tender and cooked in bulgogi sauce, which some people might compare to teriyaki sauce. It was cooked with onions, potatoes, kimchi, and Sriracha as well as scallions and cilantro and two eggs over easy.

Just the right amount of sweet and heat, salt and savory and tang. A near perfect dish. My only suggestion might be to make the potatoes crisper, but that’s nitpicky considering how wonderful this dish tasted.

My wife enjoyed her Brioche French Toast ($9.95), which was thick cut white bread dipped in a cinnamon-brown sugar egg wash and topped with powdered sugar and fruit. She was impressed with the freshness of the blackberries, and the amount of them. Not a mushy one in the bunch.

But I don’t think there is a dish that can top that hash. I wouldn’t be surprised if other places started ripping it off.

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