We were recently invited to Boudin to check out their new fresh seasonal salads. Since I haven’t been eating as many greens as I’d like lately, this was the perfect opportunity turn things around.
Boudin is a bakery and quick service restaurant that has roots in San Francisco, dating all the way back to 1849! There are upwards of 30 locations today and a few that call San Diego County their home. Today we were visiting the Clairemont location on the corner of Balboa Ave. and Genesee Ave. This is the same mall that is home to 85 degrees.
As a bakery, they are constantly whipping up fresh bread and treats. They are probably best known for the sourdough bread, but as you can see there are many other options to everyone.
See, just a couple options!
These are the bread bowls before they pull off the top. If you’ve never had one before, get one! They fill these beautiful sourdough bread bowls with their delicious clam chowder… so good. We would have gotten one, but we wanted to try something different on this visit.
We started off with a couple grilled cheeses. The first was The Great with Bacon – Grilled cheese melted to perfection with three strips of Applewood smoked bacon.
We also tried the Grilled Brie with Apples & Fig Jam – Brie, havarti, sliced apples, fig jam on parmesan crusted multigrain bread.
This was my favorite because I loved the addition of the apple for texture and a little sweetness.
Although no bread bowl, we still had to get some of their signature clam chowder!
Here’s a Garlic tomato soup they had on special. It went perfectly with the grilled cheese sandwiches.
And finally, on to the salads! These were all super fresh and large in portion size. For ~$10, these make a fantastic lunch option that is not only cost effective, but healthy as well.
Whoever says you can’t get full on salad, didn’t order this spread. 🙂
Lemony Couscous Salad – Mixed greens, Israeli Couscous, garbanzo beans, diced cucumbers, diced red onions, grape tomatoes, Kalamata olives, roasted red bell pepper, feta cheese, drizzled with creamy lemon dressing.
Although I’m not a huge fan of some of these individual ingredients, the creamy lemon dressing was delicious.
Bacon, Blue & Beets – spring mix, all natural chicken, red onion, roasted golden and red beets, green beans, applewood smoked bacon, blue cheese, spiced walnuts, ranch dressing.
This was one of my favorite salads I tried this day. There was a good balance with the dressing. It was both light and satisfying.
Forbidden Rice & Sesame Chicken- Baby spinach, black rice, all natural chicken, Granny Smith apples, garbanzo beans, pickled red onion, goat cheese, house-made sesame dressing.
While I certainly enjoyed the apples as a crunchy addition, I did feel as if the chicken was an after thought. The pieces were definitely too big and a touch dry.
Mango Quinoa – Romaine lettuce, arugula, red quinoa, mango, red grapes, red onion, almonds, goat cheese, house-made mango citrus vinaigrette.
I loved the almonds in here and the mango citrus vinaigrette was refreshing. The red quinoa was an interesting addition, but it didn’t really affect the flavors much.
And, if these four aren’t to your liking, they’ve got another 5 salads to choose from!!
We really appreciated the fresh approach and it is a great addition to the other menu items. Service was fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves getting full on salads. 🙂
Please note that we were invited to sample these menu items free of charge, but our opinions remain our own. No additional compensation was received.
Boudin SF
5407 Balboa Ave., Ste 400
San Diego, CA 92111
