Gold Dig #39

Lincoln is one of just a couple Pasadena eateries that make Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list. They do breakfast and lunch, a nice selection of baked goods, and good Stumptown coffee.

The building is a refurbished machine shop, which they have transformed into an airy space with lots of natural light, a view of the kitchen, and a pastry case and candy display full of goodies to tempt you while you wait in line. Once you’ve placed your order, you can find a spot at a table inside or in their patio area.

The Dish

Jonathan Gold calls Lincoln the “destination for Things in a Bowl”. They’ve also got some egg dishes and sandwiches, but the bowls are what people talk about. They are filled with grains and greens, usually some kind of protein, and often a poached egg. The food is fresh and flavorful, and you walk out feeling satisfied but clean rather than weighted down by the gut bomb that breakfast out can so often be.

Latte

While we waited for our food to arrive, I had a latte. The coffee here is good, and look at the cute hearts they put in my foam 🙂 Sadly it was long gone by the time the food arrived, and we were saving the chocolate croissant for dessert. Next time I might just have to get a starter pastry as well… you know, to go with my coffee.

Breakfast Bowl

Their breakfast bowl has a poached egg, sausage, onions, and greens on a bed of white beans. You’ll want to stir it up to get down to the layer of beans, as the bites with a little bit of everything are the best. As you can see, it also comes with an absurdly large piece of very good toast.

Spicy Shrimp Bowl

The spicy shrimp bowl comes with five sizable shrimp, peanuts and greens on a bed of rice. I pulled off the shrimp tails, squeezed the lemon slice, and mixed well to coat everything with the harissa. I thought it had more of a tanginess than spicy heat.

Gnocchi Bowl

One of the specials the day we were there was a gnocchi bowl. It had a poached egg, pancetta chunks, and greens on a bed of gnocchi with pesto sauce. All the bowls were good, but this might have been my favorite. I will be sad if I go back and it doesn’t happen to be on the Specials board that day.

Gravlax

The gravlax was the winner of the meal for me. Their house-cured salmon may be the best I’ve ever had. The heaping portion of salmon was served on two slices of hearty bread that held up nicely under the mound of creme fraiche, red onions, poached egg, and salmon. It also came with a nice salad and a side of gherkins, which are just fun to say and eat.

Chocolate Croissant

Running their line between the candy display and the pastry case is a genius move, and of course we had to try at least one pastry. We went for their chocolate croissant, and managed to exercise enough self-restraint to save it for the end of the meal. It was a nice dessert to finish a wonderful brunch, though not the best chocolate croissant I’ve ever had.