Huckleberry Review: Breakfast with Veggies

I know that I'm a little bit behind, but I made my first trip to ever popular Huckleberry on Wilshire in Santa Monica yesterday.  It was a weekday so thankfully wasn't very crowded and we were able to find a table right away after placing our order.  It's a relatively small but bright and cheery place, with menus on blackboards high up near the ceiling and inviting counters filled with all sorts of delectable pastries and goodies.  I can see how this place gets packed on weekends, there's just not that many tables; I'm not sure I would have the courage to go back then.  It's too bad because I thought the food was delicious.  I loved how there was tons of seasonal and local vegetables in every dish; usually breakfast is so meat (bacon and sausage), eggs and carb centric, but these dishes almost felt healthy, without sacrificing flavor.  It reminds me of Urth Caffe, but I like Huckleberry even better; it just seems tastier.  The quinoa dish was really hearty and I really like the combination of the winter-y kale and the almost caramelized butternut squash; I'll have to experiment with this combination the next time I made quinoa.  The egg sandwich was really good, on rustic bread with a nice big piece of salty bacon and plenty of arugula.  The poached eggs over seasonal vegetables is a staple menu item for my mom, and it was really good. I've heard a lot about the maple bacon biscuit, which was quite good with the little bacon bits throughout and that salty sweet contrast with the maple, though not quite mind-blowing, as I had expected.  The blueberry cornbread cake was also good with really fresh blueberries.  It's not a cheap place with most breakfast dishes in the $10-$13 range, but it is quite good and you get a lot of vegetables for your money.  Lunch for 3 including the 2 pastries, coffee and tea was about $50.  It was too much food (particularly after my Lukshon dinner the night before); we ended up taking home half of the fried egg sandwich and half of the quinoa dish

Pesto covered poached eggs over peas and heirloom tomatoes

Fried egg over quinoa, butternut squash and kale

Fried egg sandwich with Niman Ranch bacon, arugula and gruyere

Niman Ranch bacon maple biscuit

Blueberry cornbread

Huckleberry Cafe
1014 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA
(310) 451-2311