Gabardine

Oh, Malarkey. I’m not sure where the money’s coming from, but I guess winning some TV competitions brings in some easy investors. As for Gabardine, it’s not the simplest restaurant to traverse — it’s far from the freeway, lots of traffic and closed roads, and a sadly difficult parking (unless you steal one of the five spots available storeside, highly recommended). But hey, it is pretty cute.
Greeting you is a friendly and joking staff, slightly hipster but in the better and cleaned up way, our waitress and hostess of the same name though different spelling — amusing. We saw a little bit of dancing, a beach/​ocean view (but only of the street), and the windows can be completely opened up if so desired — a scene straight out of a movie. Heck, even the bathrooms are clean and interesting, the paper towels are thicker and softer than you’d expect.
Endless Mimosas $ 10
(Until 2pm)
It’s a heavy pour of champagne, always a good thing, and the mimosas come in a fat wine glass rather than the standard flute. Refills come as frequently as you drink, and though they fill up your glass rather than bringing out new ones, it’s almost always refilled before being bottomed out. It’s a good flavoring, the proportions changing over time (though that’s completely expected); more importantly, I was not at all dissapointed.
By the way, they now have hibiscus flower mimosas, which sound like the most delicious thing ever.
Shrimp n’ Grits Cheddar
grits, fried egg & tomato 14
Though I didn’t sample this dish, it looked pretty good, and I was told it was thus.
Shellfish «Chef’s Way»
White wine, chorizo & meyer lemon 14
Enjoy mussels, clams or both and add shrimp 8
The dish looked good but the portions weren’t nearly entrée sized — one small Asian girl (though one with a healthy appetite) left the restaurant still hungry. Since only one piece of bread comes with the dish, additional bread might easily remedy this situation, though that’s another $ 2. We took the broth to go — it was good, and the waitress assured us we weren’t the first to ask.
Crab Omelette White
cheddar, summer sweet corn, tarragon, avocado 14
The crab omelette comes out quite crabby, tasting fun but a bit blended. It’s difficult to distinguish the individual ingredients, instead getting a considerably creamy mixture, though its not necessarily a bad thing. The eggs cooked thick but fluffy, the potatoes decent, and the ingredients mesh together wonderfully. But oh, the salad.
A comment could definitely be made about the quality of the salad here — wilted and looking like it came from a bag. I won’t defend it by any means, but will say that on visit number two, it looked significantly improved, as pictured below.
Fish & Chips
Locally caught rockfish, truffle fries, malt aioli 15.
What you see here is a whole large fish, truffled fries, and a delicious aioli, a side selection of ketchup and sriracha (and something else? I forget) all too appreciated. The meyer lemon is sweet as expected, always the tasty treat, and this was easily the largest portion on the table — the only one to provide leftovers (though if it were mine, I’d assume otherwise). A definite yum.
Gabby’s Cheese Steak Omelette
Fliet mignon, bell peppers, mozzarella, carmelized onion 16
At the time of order, this was a brand new addition to the menu. Though it had a good overall taste, it wasn’t quite special by any means, the steak an unfortunately cheap quality for the price. The crab undoubtably wins the battle of the two omelettes.
Walnut Sticky Buns
Caramel & walnuts, topped with cream cheese frosting 8
Dessert, and decidedly sweet and delicious. And it had better be!
So, Gabardine. The portions were pretty, the feel of the restaurant gorgeous, the staff quite a bit of fun, and it’s an overall pleasant experience. Though for the money you wish for just a bit more food, it’s generally fresher and better tasting than the norm, and your stomach thanks you, having been filled but not stuffed.

I have been here multiple times and have always left with a smile!
The food is great, service is good and overall we always enjoy ourselves here.
I love the shrimp dish, Mac and cheese is really flavorful and calamari are bomb dot com as well.
Good beer list, awesome happy hour and great location!
I’m a huge fan of malarkey and his amazing taste buds, searsucker is my favorite:)

We came for a snack one day during their happy hour. On our tab, we had oysters, mussels, and Brussels sprouts. The sweet & juicy dozen of oysters was served on the half shell with mignonette, horseradish, cocktail sauce, & lemons. It was pretty fresh and slurped right down. The plump mussels were stewed in tomato broth with chorizo & shallots, served with toast. The broth was amazing and served as a great dip for the toast. The Brussels sprouts were marinated in balsamic vinegar and fried. This was also pretty good, although some were too burnt to eat.

High Expectations Were Not Even Close To Being Met
I took my girlfriend here on her birthday, we had both heard great things about this place and wanted a special night out.
I made my reservations on Open Table and mentioned in the notes section that it was my girlfriends birthday and that we were both excited to try out their place for the first time.
We arrived to the restaurant a little early for happy hour. The bar was full up, so we were sat in the main dining area. The host was nice enough to honor happy hour prices.
After we ordered drinks, I got up and returned to the host station. I mentioned to them that I had made a reservation on OT and wanted to make sure we got crossed of the list; She confirmed.
The drinks were good and happy hour prices were reasonable.
Dinner was above average.
Our server was a little slow, disappearing for longer periods of time.
He offered us the dessert menu to look over. Which took me back a bit, but I was not offended by the idea of the restaurant not providing complimentary dessert for a special occasion.
After another 10 min, he returned and we declined dessert. Another 5 min later he returned with the bill.
I left not very happy, and my girlfriend could see it on my face.
Not a single person had acknowledged that it was my lady’s birthday. Not even a simple «Happy Birthday».
This place has good happy hour, but that is where the positives stop.

I went recently because some of my friends were raving about this place. I went for their happy hour, so excited to try the $ 1 oysters.
When the oysters arrived, I wasn’t impressed at all… they were so tiny and were not very good.
I was starving so we ordered from the regular menu, and everything was overpriced for what we ordered. It was tasty but not worth the price. I’d go back again for drinks but that’s about it… plus some of the plates the food was served in was dirty, sauce dripping on the side. disappointed that it didn’t exceed my expectations!

Despite the mixed reviews, I was pretty pumped to finally try out Gabardine with one of my dearest friends.
The restaurant is not too big but I love the cute, throwback, coastal chic décor. LOVE the pretty blue water glasses too!
When we arrived for dinner at 7, there was only 2 other tables occupied. Thought it was a tad strange but the hostess and server seemed friendly.
Once seated, the server shared with us the specials for the night. I had asked her some recommendations and she didn’t seem so knowledgeable about the menu. I had a few questions for her, such as if the shellfish came with bread or fries. She promptly said fries and that sealed the deal for me.
In addition to the shellfish, we had the Winter Green Salad and Lobster Mac & Cheese. The salad had greens, pomegranate, green apple, Goat Cheese, & walnuts. It was tasty but nothing that we don’t often make at home. The Lobster Mac & Cheese didn’t really have much lobster in it and I couldn’t detect taste any truffle flavor – but I did enjoy the corn in it. As for the Shellfish, when it arrived, it had toasted bread on the side — fries were not to be seen. The broth was incredibly salty but the shellfish was ok. When I finally asked the server about the fries, she had said that they change the menu on them (I’m assuming she meant the servers) all the time. Kind of a strange response but she did bring out a side of fries for us. Crispy and piping hot.
Over all, it truly was just a «meh» dining experience. Too bad because it really had a lot of potential.

Brian Malarkey has done it again, another restaurant with a somewhat pedestrian wait staff and average food for premium prices. Nice location and appropriate décor does not always make a good eating experience.
The wine selection was limited and difficult to pair with the rest of the menu. My wife and I started by splitting a Spicy Shrimp Salad. The greens were fresh but mismatched. The flavors of spinach and water cress together didn’t work for me. The shrimp was overcooked, but well-​seasoned. The dressing was not described on the menu so I will call it jalapeño vinaigrette. I like spicy food; Sriracha and Tapatio are staples in my pantry, but the dressing was just too hot. The only way I am able to describe the other flavors was by tasting the bits that didn’t have dressing on it.
I ordered the Clams and Sausage and my wife had the Fish and Chips. The clams were OK, nothing to write home about. I swear the sausage was chopped up Jimmy Dean right out of my grocery store. There wasn’t enough stock and the clams dried out quickly.
The fish and chips were cooked well. The batter was unseasoned and kind of boring. The waitress forgot to bring the malt vinegar that was featured on the menu.
One salad, two entrees and two glasses of wine was $ 90 plus tip.
Our waitress was OK. She immediately corrected the few mistakes she made as soon as she was asked. She checked in often enough but not too often. I tip 15% unless the service is poor. She got 15%. I could tell she was trying.
When Brian’s restaurant «Gingham» in La Mesa recently failed, I thought maybe the location or the fact that he had opened just one to many restaurants may have played a part in that particular establishments demise. After all, they guy has good reputation. Then I tried Gabardine. I feel that anyone here on Unilocal that gives it more than two or three stars either had an outstanding server, which is more a reflection on the individual server and not the restaurant, or they were in a generous mood when they wrote the review. After two less than average experiences I probably won’t go to another Brian Malarkey restaurant if I have the choice. Unless he is doing the actual cooking.

I base my stars on value and service, not price, and Gabardine (along with Sam the server) definitely earned it. The entire staff seemed into their job and it showed from when we were first seated, through having our water glasses filled and as we walked out the door.
As I said, Sam was on point giving us ideas and recommendations for this visit and if we come back in the future, which we definitely will be.
Ambiance is trendy, but not pretentious. People seemed comfortable rolling in in super casual clothes (one father looked like he was there with his five kids post soccer practice), but most people seemed to class it up a little. Not that I’m anti-​casual… I do live in North PB, but there’s a time and a place.
We opted to go family style with three entrees and it was definitely the right decision.
We split the mussels with fries (don’t eat all the fries or you won’t have room for anything else), which were great. The lobster mac was perfectly cooked and not overly cheesy, which is nice by my occassionally healthy standards. Add in a perfectly cooked (medium) steak & potatoes to give our surf and surf and turf meal the final kicked.
Oh, Wednesday’s are Wine Wednesdays and bottles are ½ price. That didn’t seem to make the place more crowded, so if you have time mid-​week to enjoy a great meal in Point Loma, come here on a Wednesday!

My girlfriend and I decided to dine for Sunday brunch at Gabardine before Comic Con, and we weren’t disappointed in the least! The unusual décor is warm and inviting, and the dining area is spacious. We sat by the window and were surprised to discover that the 6 ft windows open up to make it seem almost like dining outside.
On to the food! We decided to share the Crab Omelet and the House-​Cured Bacon Benedict. The Crab Omelet filled with chunks of crab, white cheddar cheese and a small amount of corn was large and tasty. I really loved the crispy potatoes that were served on the side with a flavorful dusting of… something. While the House-​Cured Bacon Benedict was a much smaller portion, it was awesome! the egg was perfectly cooked and runny, but the thick bacon was the star of the show! I also appreciate the drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar on the side.
Everything from the food to the atmosphere was enjoyable! Even the bathroom was extremely clean and delightfully decorated. We parked on the street a block away from the restaurant, so that was no problem.
I definitely want to come back in the evening for happy hour and the dinner menu.

My friends and I really enjoyed happy hour at this place! This atmosphere is really interesting because it has a neighborhood café with very eclectic pieces that somehow magically work together. This place is perfect on a nice sunny day because of the large windows on all the walls facing the street. There isn’t as much people watching grounds but it’s still quite fun staring out at the beautiful weather. The servers are all really friendly as well. The most notable thing was the food here!
Oysters on a half shell: Tasty raw oysters on a half shell served with lemon, cocktail sauce, and a house sauce.
Caesar salad: A tasty salad with crisp romaine lettuce, a nice and creamy in-​house dressing, shredded parmesan, toasted bread crumbs, and a surprisingly tasty anchovy. It’s what you normally expect in a Caesar salad but just a bit better than that. The anchovy was a nice touch that wasn’t too salty or overpowering.
Calamari: My friends and I loved the calamari! The nice crispy fried batter with the soft and slightly chewy calamari on the inside was really decadent. Not to mention how tasty the aioli was! That aioli was lick-​your-​plate-​clean delicious — it was like icing on a cake!
Fries side order: Tasty crispy on the outside and soft on the inside fries with a tasty aioli as a dipping sauce.
Mussels: Tasty clams in a wine pesto sauce. Tasty well-​cooked mussels in a sauce that complemented it well, what more can you ask for? Topped with fries! More crispy fries! Can you have too much of a good thing? I think not!
Burger: We split a medium rare burger that was juicy and flavorful topped with spring greens, melted cheese, and tasty tomato goodness! What made this burger even better was the tasty roll that was used as the bun. No matter how full we were, we finished every bite of it! Not to mention the other large mound of fries that accompanied the burger!
Other than the huge carbo-​load that my friends and I had, this place is amazing! A casual feel with a very open café feel to it with amazing upscale food fit for foodies who want a comfortable place to relax! The service is great, everyone is very friendly, and the food is tasty. I’ll definitely be back again. Most likely for a happy hour though.

We were invited back originally by Brandy the manager, but she is helping them expand Searsucker in Austin (!!). Lynsey stepped in without questioning and offered the same deal, even though several months have passed since my review.
So, that right there says a ton about their commitment to customer service. I cannot thank them enough for inviting us back!
On to Take II experience… Arrival, apps and drinks:
We went on Sunday at 6:00 and they were just wrapping up their daily happy hour, so the bar was actually pretty busy. Lynsey let us have our pick of table, since the dinner rush hadn’t really started yet. Sam was our server and said we could either pick from the menu, or he would pick for us. We picked the calamari and he also brought us the brussels sprouts. Both were delicious! The calamari was cut into thick strips instead of the rings and it was served with a pineapple sauce and jalapenos. It was very tender and flavorful. The brussels sprouts were flash-​fried with some balsamic, candied walnuts and feta. By far the best way to eat brussels sprouts! I had a glass of red wine and my BF had an old-​fashioned with maple bourbon and bacon. Can’t go wrong there.
Dinner:
Sam (and the chef) brought us the Fruits de Mer and the pork chop. The chop was a thick, heavily grilled (so good and smokey!) chop with chorizo bolognese, whipped corn and broccolini. It was delicious. I could’ve eaten the bolognese by the bowlful. And the whipped corn was so creamy, it was like polenta.
The Fruits de Mer was overflowing with mussels, shrimp, clams, scallops, fish, lobster and some uni (on top of the toasted bread) all in a yummy red broth. My only critique of these (and the reason for 4 vs. 5 stars) is that the shrimp were really over done and one of them wasn’t cleaned. I know that’s super petty, but looking at the poop vein isn’t very appetizing. However, this meal is totally worth the price. I think I commented before that brunch portions were small for the price. Both dinner portions were decent and delicious for the price listed (since we didn’t pay).
Dessert:
Sam ordered us the brownie with espresso mousse. OMG. The mousse was so light and had just the right amount of espresso flavor. The brownie was a thin sliver, so it wasn’t too heavy or dense. A perfect end to a near perfect meal.
Sam and Lynsey, thank you for inviting us and making a very memorable experience! We will definitely be back and recommend this to all our friends. And for those of you in the industry, yes, we took care of Sam. I used to be a server back in the day :)

Second time here… brussel sprouts ($ 7) were still tasty, yummy, and highly recommended (although I think they were better the first time but still wonderful); fried oyster appetizer ($ 9) was just okay; the fish and chips were great ($ 15) piping hot too; the mussels/​claims with tomato/​chorizo ($ 14) was generous in portions and good flavor (even though I prefer a white wine sauce). FYI-​all you can eat mussells/​claims on Thurs nites for $ 18 is a deal but I don’t think I’d want that much…
We had Larry again, who is a great server! He was very attentive, professional, friendly, and we will come back!

We came here for brunch, and it was really yummy. It happened to be St. Paddy’s Day so they were festive and served green mimosas (bottomless — $ 10) and dyed the Hollandaise sauce green (which was a little weird, but whatever.) Food was yummy, and plentiful! The bacon and potatoes that came with the 2 egg breakfast was killer, crispy and delicious. I liked my benedict less, but it wasn’t bad, just not all that easy to eat — they could stand to give you a bread knife to cut it with because the regular knife just didn’t work.
Anyway, service was awesome and friendly. Food yummy and drinks plentiful. That makes me a fan. I’ll be back for dinner when I can. :)

Checked out GAB — BAR — DINE for the 1^st time during RW in Jan 2013 and LIKED it!
After enjoying our yummy starters (Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese and B.L.A.T.), we were pleasantly surprised to have a plate of Grilled Artichoke delivered to our table compliments of the chef! (I believe it didn’t hurt that I was taking pics of my food and posting online)
Although the size of the restaurant is small and compact in comparison to Malarkey’s other restaurants in town, the food at Gabardine is packed with BIG flavor!
The Steak Frites (perfectly cooked Flat Iron Steak with Truffle Fries and Chimichurri Hollandaise) were AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS! (My fave Malarkey dish so far!)
Heard their Sunday Brunch is a MUST-​try so I’ll definitely be back…

Gabardine has a delicious happy hour!
$ 1 oysters were large and tasty.
My favorite was the roasted brussel sprouts!
The mussels dish was good too and good wine for happy hour specials.
Small bar and parking can be tricky. I got lucky with finding a spot in the small lot behind the restaurant. Friends of mine have been underwhelmed with service during dinner but I have no complaints with my bar experience.

Service has much to be desired, from the lack of a knife for our pork chops to burnt bread. Food was good and actually above average but the BLAT looks like it was dressed on a west Hollywood porn set…
Come dessert time…
The batter was raw in our doughnuts and after waiting for 10 minutes they finally told us the consistency was not up to par and they trotted out 2 kid sized teeny tiny scoops of ice cream with a total of 11 peanuts on them (less than McDonalds)… Unbelievable

Sunday Brunch!!! Make reservations!!!
We made reservations for 11a, and there were still several tables available. However, 30 mins later the restaurant started to fill up and by noon, all tables were taken.
Very casual ambiance during the day. The sliding windows are open so may get a little breeze should you sit near them.
We were serviced by Melissa. She was impeccable! Very personable, friendly and was on the ball with refills and following up with us. She was servicing multiple tables so I give her mad props by offering the best service to all patrons. She alone gets 5-​stars in my review!!!
Now for the brunch:
–Topless Mimosa ($ 10): Worth it!!! The champagne wasn’t dry and the mimosa had really good flavor.
–Gabardine’s Blend ($ 5): The coffee was good. There were sugar cubes and packets available on the table.
–[Mako] Shark Benedict ($ 14): Prepared blackened, which I don’t usually prefer. I was given 2 large shark pieces on top of toasted bread. The shark was very filling. I really like the brown butter hollandaise sauce. The spice was a bit too overbearing/​spicy for my palate so an extra side of hollandaise sauce was provided to drown that out. The entrée was different and it was the first time I had shark, so it was worth the try.
–Steak and Eggs ($ 16): Your typical steak and eggs. The brown butter hollandaise sauce accompanied this entrée as well.
–Doughnuts ($ 8): We were comped our dessert. Donuts were mini baby version and came with 2 dipping sauces — fudge and a cherry port reduction. Unfortunately rather than giving us fudge, we were given balsamic vinegar. EW!
I would love to try other items on the menu as I heard the dinners were pretty good. Street parking could be a little difficult to find, but if you arrive early enough you shouldn’t have a problem. If you go on Sunday, there is a Farmers Market a couple blocks away to walk off your brunch!

My bf and I were looking for a place with $ 1 oysters, and ended up here in time for the happy hour specials.
We ordered 2 dozens of oysters on the half shell (Sol Azul were the oysters for the day) and Brussels Sprouts w/​balsamic & sugar walnuts. There were other items on the happy hour menu that looked good, but we went mainly for the oysters and also had a light dinner before going to Gabardine. The oysters weren’t huge, but they were fresh and tasty. The brussels sprouts were crispy and delicious with the sugar walnuts, but my major complaint was that it was completely drenched in oil – it would’ve been nice if they made sure to drain out the excess oil before serving it in the bowl.
Service was great. It’s not a big place (although it got pretty busy sometime after we got there) so the waitress was able to stop by to check on us often. The food also came out fairly fast.
I glanced at the dinner menu, which looked promising. I definitely wouldn’t mind going back for the happy hour oysters and to try out other dishes the next time I’m in the area.

Dropped in to celebrate a birthday and had the best evening!
Our waiter was spectacular. His humor, quick tips and light-​hearted attitude towards our indecisiveness was wonderful! We couldn’t decide where to start, but knew we wanted to partake in happy hour and we wanted to share everything!
Our waiter waived his arms and with confidence announced, «you know what, I know what you want. I’ll order up a bunch of apps and you’ll enjoy everyone of them» and off he went. Dish after dish arrived at our table and each one was tastier than the last.
He started us with; Strawberry Fields Greens, Lemon, Goat & Walnut — the greens were fresh, clean and tasty. The strawberries were crispy and sweet. The goat cheese wasn’t overwhelming, but the perfect compliment to the dish. There was MORE than enough for us to share.
Next were the French Fries Served Hot w/​Gabby Sauce. Boy were they hot! The Gabby sauce wasn’t our fav, but ketchup was the perfect compliment. The Shisito Peppers Soy came next, followed by the Fish n’ Chips and a Beef Burger White Cheddar Roasted Tomato. The peppers were so interesting and with a random hot one mixed in, it kept us on our toes. The Fish n’Chips while cooked good, was probably our least favorite — too slimy for us. The Beef Burger was literally mouth watering! The white cheddar and roasted tomatoes were the perfect compliment.
Needless to say we had no room to try the decadent desserts and had to basically roll ourselves out the place. Again, our waiter was amazing! He allowed us to sit and chat for a couple of hours while still picking at the scraps we had left.
I cannot stop telling people about this place, and CANNOT wait to return!

Brunch review:
Despite 3 star overall ratings on Unilocal i really wanted to check out this new addition to a Point Loma restaurant scene. Nice and clean, very spacious restaurant. If you look up to the ceiling you will notice the fishing rods with light bulbs, i thought this was pretty unique and different.
I ordered Shrimp & Grits and my date got a steak and eggs, as a light appetizer we shared tomato and cucumber spicy salad and 2 coffees. All in all, with tip the bill was around 47 bucks. Yes its not cheap. If you want some comfort food and huge potions Hash House is all yours. This is different, the food was light, tasty, nicely presented on the plate.
The brunch menu is a bit small, not too many egg dishes, so hopefully it will expand since the restaurant is fairly new.