Knotty Barrel

For this comment card, I'm going to focus on the food. The service and atmosphere were about what you'd expect for the downtime hours on a Sunday, but the food I had on this errand-packed day was just a bit magical.

First off, I went with their beet salad - a dish that seems to have popped up just about everywhere these days. This is one of my favorites when it's done well (a rare occurrence to say the least). This one was non-traditional, but great. The "secret sauce" was their Bourbon dressing. It seemed to have a buttermilk base but it was so subtle, it drew in the flavors of the other ingredients with an understated precision.

Next up...the grilled cheese sandwich. It came out a bit smaller than I had expected, but really delivered on taste. The cheese was focal point and I knew right away how high the quality of the product was. I later learned they they get their product from Venissimo Cheese (the best cheese shop in SD, IMHO). The prosciutto and tomato, added a nice accent but didn't compete with the dominance of the cheese. On the side came some home-made chips which were thinner and lighter than I normally find. Even these were impressive.

Maybe I've just been to a few-to-many mediocre gastropubs lately, but I was really floored by the food at KB. The beer selection is good too, but we're so spoiled with great microbrews in San Diego that they don't really differentiate there. I can't wait to get back dig into more of that menu.