I find myself out on Treasure Island quite a bit. It’s not something I really expected when I moved back to San Francisco, it has just become a bit of a fortuitous accident. As a fan of wine tasting, trips to wine country are always on the agenda, but it is also unfortunate because one of us (me) ends up having to drive, so I don’t manage to do as much tasting as I would like. When I found out there were several wineries out on Treasure Island, I suggested it for a day trip, as it meant that we could take a bus and both drink, so it would allow for a fun day out! And after trying out many of the mediocre wineries, we finally found one that we really liked, so we ended up doing the very reasonable thing of joining the wine club. This has led to many more outings to Treasure Island, and I had heard about Mersea, a restaurant on the island, so I knew it would be going on the list of places to try out. And when friends are visiting, it is the opportune time to have brunch and have a bit of wine at a place very convenient to visit!
Bloody Mary 
The restaurant and outdoor seating area
The restaurant itself is a super casual order at the bar sort of place with copious amounts of outdoor seating (and a bit inside, which was mostly full because it was quite a windy day). The menu has some interesting things on it, and I immediately gravitated toward the burger (which you can check out in Part 17 of The Great Burger Hunt). However, I was also very intrigued by the savory bread pudding, and luckily the other half decided it was what he wanted, so we had our meal sorted. We just added in a giant order of fries to split as well, and it sounded like a heavenly brunch. I also decided a Bloody Mary sounded great, and the Bloody Mary they do there was definitely quite tasty.
Savory bread pudding 
Double Stacked Cheeseburger
The bread pudding and the burger both looked amazing when they came out. And while the burger itself was lacking a bit, the bread pudding was fantastic. The pudding was soft and was served with perfectly poached eggs. There was also a very umami-filled and rich gravy to go with it. It was honestly one of the best breakfast dishes I’ve had in the bay area. The fries were also pretty tasty, so I was glad we got a full order to lay down the drinking fundamentals for the day. Our friends who came all also seemed to enjoy their food, and the fish and chips one of them had were pretty good for being made outside of the UK. (And the tartare sauce was excellent.)
Overall, everyone was quite pleased with their meal. Their service, while not spectacular, was pretty good, and ordering more drinks at the bar when you were done meant that you didn’t need to wait for someone to come take your order. There is also a pretty fantastic view of the city, so it’s not a bad place to go out to on a sunny weekend day to enjoy brunch with friends. I’m sure we’ll be back sometime when we have another shipment to pick up.
Score: 3.5/5
Recommendation: The bread pudding if they have it! And a Bloody Mary.
Mersea
699 Avenue of the Palms
Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA 94130
