Two toddler-free outings....
Arterra: since the departure of Carl Schroeder for Market, I normally avoid this place (we were not impressed by his successor - and now even he is gone for some anonymous chef). However, needed to catch up with a colleague - Fri. night after the kids were in bed for a drink was the plan - Arterra was equidistant between our 'hoods. Plus they have lounge night on the weekend.
Result: Food was just ok (sushi, whole-wheat flatbread). However, they have AWESOME happy hour prices; great cocktails; and the atmosphere is KICK-ASS. A bunch of trying-to-look-young folks in our age group and older, so we didn't feel too lame. DJ spinning hot tracks around the pool. Cabanas. Torches. In Carmel Valley. Need I say more? App, entree, cocktail and tip were less than $25. Nice!
Roy's La Jolla: I ate there once years ago, and have remembered it as "corporate food" and eh. We had a nice time last night, but my description wouldn't really change. Way too expensive for the quality of the food. Salad: eh. Misoyaki Butterfish: pretty good but not $30 worth of good (esp. given the tiny sides on the plate). Dessert: pineapple upside down cake: decent, but hardly filled the dessert craving that that awful show Top Chef Just Desserts has been lighting inside me for the last two weeks.
The high points of the meal: a very delicious elderflower cocktail (Foodgirl is all about the St. Germain liqueur). Plus very good service. Now it just so happened that when our waiter arrived, he reminded me that he used to work in my lab, and he addressed me as Dr. Foodgirl throughout the meal. Hehehe - Dr. Foodgirl likes that, since most of the time I'm known simply as "ST's Mom." He was very sweet. But I think the service would have been very good anyway. I would totally go back pre-theater: if the bill had not been $120 for the two of us, with only me getting a cocktail, no wine, and ordering the cheapest apps. ($6.95 salad). For the quality of this food: yikes!
We still need good pre-theater options in La Jolla, but Playhouse Season is ending for now....luckily, onto the Globe and Avenue 5!
Faithful readers: look soon for a follow-up visit to Searsucker, which is up for the next date night!
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The 3-course menu is the only way to go at Roys. Brings the meal down by half. But I entirely agree that the good isn't overwhelming. It's still the nicest kid-friendly place I know if in SD.
ReplyDeleteHi Dr. T! The prix-fixe was $40 and the choices weren't that appealing. It wasn't a huge price diff. between getting Sweet Home Salad ($7); Butterfish ($30); dessert ($8 or something) and then the cocktail - it was still $60/person with tax and a drink for only ok food instead of $55. For $30, it would be a fun place. Glad you can bring your kids there - BRAP (Blue Ribbon) was as ambitious as we get with Super Toddler!
ReplyDeleteOh, it used to be 35 and include a more expensive starter. Perhaps it's going down hill. I guess with all of the super restaurants you've found (non pre-theater) there's no reason to settle for pricey-mediocre. I totally agree about Arterra. We had a fantastic meal there one time when they were offering wine at half price, like Sbicca does. Didn't like their gnudis, though. Also we learned the hard way the second time around that the service in the outside lounge area sucks. It's a shame b/c those fire pits are cool. We'll do our cocktails fireside at Kitchen 1540 instead.
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