I keep telling myself that I need to try to enjoy our neighborhood a bit more. But, to be perfectly honest, choices are limited, and what is on the menu is not food I crave or am really interested in. I do wish that Bay Park was a bit more "walkable". That's the attraction of places like North Park, Kensington, and Little Italy to me. And now with JJ, it's even more attractive to have places that are pooch friendly as well. Luce is one of those places that I see and pass on pretty much a daily basis. And while the meals we've had there have been ok, we've never really been motivated to return. As matter of fact, the last time I've been there was to do Covid takeout in May of 2020! Whoa, it's been five years already!
And since that time; Luce has created a covered outdoor bar space. And now they are in the process of taking over what used to be the dance studio next door as well. While taking JJ on a post morning coffee stroll from Bay Park Coffee, I noticed something on the weekend "brunch" menu that caught my attention.
So, on a recent Sunday morning, JJ and I dropped by Luce right when they opened at ten. Crazy, but there were several folks already in line waiting. All of them were waiting be seated either at the bar (those old timers started hitting the drinks pretty early) or in the dining room, so JJ and I initially had the back bar area all to ourselves.
Do you see what caught my attention on the menu?
Yep, it's the Kimchi Fried Rice ($18). Don't ask my why this caught my attention....or why I decided to order it. Call me a glutton for punishment if you will.
This came with two poached eggs....I would have preferred sunny side up with nice crisp edges; but the eggs were fine, with the yolks still runny.
My least favorite item were the doughy "corn fritters". Not enough corn as well, which made it lacking in flavor.
The rest of the dish was not bad. Perhaps in need of more kimchi fermented-spiciness, but not bad at all. The rice was perfectly cooked, the hoisin based pork belly had that mildly salty SPAM® affect, and wasn't overly sweet like I expected. The carrots were shredded and bit too thickly and were a bit unwieldy as well.
The service was nice and friendly....like it's always been at Luce. And JJ was such a "good boi" and waited patiently for daddy to finish his food. I made sure to take some of this home for the Missus to try and though she thought it was not worth eighteen bucks, She declared it not bad. Perhaps not "real" kimchi fried rice good, but better than overly "gringo-fied" stuff.
Luce is quite popular and the place was filling up by the time JJ and I left. There were three other well behaved pooches in the bar area as well.
Now if I can find a couple more dishes to interest me at Luce.
Luce Bar & Kitchen
1959 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours
Mon - Thurs 11am - 9pm
Friday 11am - 930pm
Sat 10am - 930pm
Sun 10am - 9pm
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