Monday munchies: Bacon Week edition

Buttermilk fried chicken and bacon nuggets at Salt & Cleaver. (Amy T. Granite)

By Amy Granite

Aug. 31, 2015 6:08 PM PT

Inspired by San Diego Bacon Week, this edition of Monday Munchies is set in Hillcrest at Salt & Cleaver, where America’s favorite meat is a major theme on the sausage-centric menu, appearing in snack-worthy starters and off-center tube meat combinations. It even adds a touch of tasty protein to a devilish dessert.

Start off with an order of chicken nuggets; think juicy meatballs studded with Applewood smoked bacon, buttermilk-battered and fried crisp. Served with a cucumber slaw (which does not have bacon) politely scrape this bunny food off to the side; however, do not ignore “Crystal’s hot sauce aioli” for gleeful nugget dipping.

In terms of sausage, the “bacon cheddar jalapeno” bratwurst is a winner, oozing with both cheese and nostalgia. Remember those simultaneously freakish and delightful cheese-stuffed hot dogs as a kid? This brat is proof that meat making has come a long, long way.

For the last stand in your bacon feast, opt for a beer float, namely “The Darkness,” where chocolate smoked sea salt ice cream and macerated bananas with peanut butter drown and bubble in a seasonal stout. The whole thing is sprinkled with sweet and spicy bacon pieces, and yes: it tastes amazing.

3805 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest, (619) 756-6677, enjoysausage.com.