THE GOOD EGG
ADDRESS: 2556 Laning Road, San Diego, CA 92106
I was on the search for a breakfast spot nearby the hotel prior to heading out on my full day in the city. Looking around Yelp, I came across a place down the street called The Good Egg, which looked like it had some good reviews. After looking through the menu, I decided to head down that way to give it a shot.
Even though it was a rainy Saturday morning, there was still a good number of people that were out grabbing some food as part of their morning routine. (The Starbucks next door to the restaurant was absolutely jam-packed.) I was able to get seated immediately at one of their two-top tables; as the morning went on, more parties continued to show up as well.
The one thing that I did notice was the fact it seemed like it took a little while before anyone came over to my table to greet me, probably around five minutes or so. I’m not sure if the restaurant was understaffed, since I did see a number of waitstaff in the dining room either standing around or going to the different tables. I was just getting ready to flag down someone before my waitress, Sarah, came over to the table to take my order.
Their breakfast menu consists of a number of different options including omelettes, eggs benedicts, skillets, along with griddle options like pancakes, waffles, and French toast. I was still on my eggs benedict kick, so that made it pretty easy to narrow down the choices. There was a Spicy Chorizo Benedict that did sound like it’d be pretty interesting, so that’s what I ended up going with.
The inside of the restaurant is definitely very spacious, with a mixture of two-top and four-top tables, booths for larger groups, along with a breakfast bar area near the entrance. I did like how the tables felt more spread out amongst the space itself, so you didn’t feel like you were stacked on top of the group next to you. The breakfast bar area was also a nice setup as well, kind of reminiscent of a diner, where you could just sit to get some food, eat, and head out.
It was probably another 10 – 15 minutes before my Spicy Chorizo Benedict came out of the kitchen. There was definitely a generous portion of country potatoes that came with the benedict plate, with the two English muffins on one side, stacked up with sliced tomatoes, chorizo, poached eggs, and Hollandaise sauce. Two pickled jalapeños and salsa verde completed out the rest of the plate of food.
My test that I always use when it comes to benedict is to split the poached egg to see if it has the runny yolk. Both of these eggs passed that test, with the yolk mixing in with the chorizo and potatoes nicely. I thought that the chorizo had good flavor, with just a little bit of heat at the end. It complemented the tomato, English muffin, and Hollandaise, but I think that one other ingredient, like avocado, would have helped to round out all of the ingredients. I did try cutting up the pickled jalapeños to add into a benedict bite, and that was actually pretty good. So perhaps instead of serving up whole on the side, chop them up and mix that in with the chorizo to kick things up a notch.
The country potatoes also included a mixture of bell peppers and red onions mixed in with the diced potatoes. The unfortunate part, however, was that some of the potatoes ended up being undercooked, so they had that slight crunch to them. Mixing in some of the salsa verde with the potatoes also helped with adding those acidic and spicy flavors as well.
From an overall perspective, I think that while The Good Egg has good breakfast fare, it didn’t stand out enough to want to make me return again in the future if I was down in San Diego. The portions provided were good for the price, but the undercooked potatoes were a bit of a downer. I’ll be looking elsewhere to continue sampling the breakfast scene down in that area.
Let’s now take a look at The Good Egg Dish Spotlight. Asterisks (*) below mark my recommended dishes.
** Spicy Chorizo Eggs Benedict **
Two English muffins topped with sliced tomatoes, chorizo, poached eggs, and Hollandaise. Served with country potatoes, pickled jalapeños, and salsa verde.
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And finally, here are my rankings for The Good Egg:
Food: 3.5 / 5
The food itself was good for breakfast fare, but did not do enough to stand itself apart to draw me to return again. The selection of food is pretty large to help satisfy different breakfast items that people might be looking for.
Atmosphere: 4.25 / 5
The spacious layout of the dining area was nice, along with the bright lighting throughout the entire space. The décor elements also made it feel homey and welcoming.
Service: 3.75 / 5
Although it did initially take a little bit for my waitress Sarah to come over to the table, after that things were good. She came over a couple of time to check in with me, and the food also came out of the kitchen in a pretty timely manner as well.
Price: 4 / 5
My benedict ended up being just under $16, which I thought was a pretty decent price for the plate of food. The portions were good, and they didn’t skimp on the amount of chorizo with the benedict either.
Overall:
15.5 / 20
(78%)
Categories: California, Restaurants
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