For all of you who are giggling at the name… it probably was on purpose. Their restaurant picture features a rooster… And well, I was convinced to try out the place due to the sheer amusement I received from the name.
We decided to check this place out on the weekend (bad idea), and smartly arrived fifteen minutes prior to it opening (bad idea).
Yep! That’s the line on a Sunday fifteen minutes before it opened. We waited two hours in that line… Was it worth it… … eh… … no. At any rate, the menu!
Price wise, the items are on the higher end, but the food is an interesting combo. I guess the best way to describe it would be a hipstery version of Hawaiian food with a slight edgy tone of sorts (I am bemused by the names).
Our first dish was a shared appetizer of sorts, the crack potatoes. Probably not filled with cocaine but I went back repeatedly to eat chunks of molten hot taters. Pretty much crispy house potatoes with a slight hint of the green onions.
Next up, I got the loco moco with kalua pork rather than the traditional patty. I would say that this was pretty much what you would expect. Topping the nice brown gravy were nicely cooked sunny side up eggs. The pork rather fell apart and was delicious for the most part (I just had one last side chunk of well… fat which isn’t my first choice of chewing).
Friend tried their kohala midnight which is their version of a black seasame mochi pancake with matcha sugar placed on top. The pancake was excellent in terms of sweetness (not too sweet). The pancake itself was a little less chewy than what you would expect from something that was called mochi, it wasn’t as fluffy either, but mm… I’d say texture-wise is more of a dual nature where the exterior was crispy and the interior was softer–quite lovely. Taste wise, the pancakes reminded me of well… black seasame. If anyone ever ate the black seasame ice cream or had those Chinese dessert soup of black seasame, its that flavor profile. The matcha sugar was a nice touch, I found the maple syrup on the table tends to overpower the taste of the pancake and I don’t quite recommend that.
Overall, I think Morning Wood is a great breakfast addition to the San Bruno area if you’re interested in a Japanese fusion take on breakfast (if you want more traditional options, probably Milbrae House of Pancakes would be a better choice and the line is… shorter… not by too much). Is it worth going though on the weekend? No.
My suggestion, get there early on a weekday before it opens and pray you don’t need to wait.
