Cucina Urbana: Retry (Banker's Hill)

Have been a hater re CU. Everyone seems to rave, but the one time we tried: slow, bad service, only meh food.

Tonight we were going to the Globe (Some Lovers, the new Burt Bacharach/Steven Sater musical - definitely worth seeing). They advised us that parking is terrible this time of year, so we only wanted to park once before dinner and not try to repark before show. That left us with Banker's Hill restaurants as our choice.

Hexagon: meh
Avenue 5: lost its luster

Was planning to go to Barrio Star, but didn't feel 100% today and wasn't sure a tofu bowl was the best thing for me.

We decided to give CU a try, sitting at the bar as walk-ins.

I'm a believer!

What was nice this time:
--got seated quickly at the bar, not a madhouse like last time when we actually had a reservation and still it took forever for them to seat us.

--great waitress at the bar, great service

--enjoyed my temperanillo

--CH's beets and ricotta salad was tasty

--foraged mushroom pizza was fantastic: would return just for that

Cons:
--the pricing still doesn't seem quite right to me. I could get a whole bottle of wine for $18, but I never drink more than 2 glasses, and CH doesn't drink wine. But if I only want a glass, it costs me $10. Then I feel silly ordering a second glass when I could have had a whole bottle. If they are going to price the bottles so reasonably, why rip off people drinking by the glass?

--they shouldn't charge to bring a basket of bread
--there should be some more reasonable appetizers or small salads - everything is "family style" but CH and I don't like the same things so it gets expensive

--luckily I didn't order the kumbocha squash ravioli or the eggplant dish; the veg next to me at the bar said the first was great "if you like balsamic" (in my ravioli? hmmm.....glad I didn't order that one), and said she wouldn't recommend the eggplant, which she said was a new menu item

Still, my meal was delicious, so I'd go back. CH wasn't so enthusiastic, though. Let's see if we end up there again!

(oh, and we had a fantastic meal at Savory recently too - or at least I thought so and CH was less enthusiastic - but I have lots of things to do before I have time to post about it!)

Showing some love to Waters (Solana Beach)

I love, love, love Waters....But rather than repeat that over and over, let me just say what some of this week's loot was:

--egg salad (their egg salad happens to be fab, and is one of the only things CH and I both eat)

--albacore tuna salad (theirs is pretty much the only tuna salad I am willing to eat (v. grilled tuna). It's light, lemony, not mayonaisey - delicious. But it's expensive!

--vegetarian cassoulet: wowza. This was spectacular. it's the first time I saw it there, and I called to urge them to make it again! The beans were earthy but complemented with a crispy element (croutons, I think), alongside some yummy sauteed celery. I could eat this all winter.

--roasted yams and sweet potatoes = Afternoon snack candy

--mini lemon bars for Super Boy: he's growing into being such a considerate boy that he insisted on sharing the 2nd one with his babysitter instead of saving one for dinner (of course, come dinner time, he said, "Where's my treat?"as he imagined that something different would magically appear....)

--yukon gold mashed potatoes: for some reason, SB did not like these today, even though he went nuts for them a few months ago

No veg soup when I went - alas!

Sprinkles (La Jolla)

Tried Sprinkles one other time, wasn't that excited about the flavors CH brought.

Today, Super Boy and I tried the following ccs:
--Chocolate marshmellow for him
--Coconut for me

My coconut: super-delicious vanilla cake, fabulous coconut cream cheese frosting

His chocolate marshmellow: very tasty dark chocolate ganache (not fluffy but smooth), with a tasty dark chocolate cupcake and a marshmellow filling down the middle

He loved his - I liked it but wouldn't choose it as my own. I'd love to try more (mmmm....had to bypass the peanut butter chip), but would certainly love to have the coconut again.

Next to Waters: Siam Royal Thai Massage

Ok, this is not a food rec., but I can't resist since it was fabulous....and it's next to Waters.

Used a Groupon today at Siam Royal Thai Massage in Solana Beach. Thai massage is a lot different than traditional swedish or deep-tissue; they're moving you around a lot (forced yoga!) and also use their feet. But I have a killer headache and it was super relaxing (and helpful, I think - we'll see later in the day if it's really gone!). It was excellent quality for the groupon price ($33) and would also be a great value at the regular price ($66; 49 for your first time). Definitely worth a try if you have some childcare - and then you can go across the parking lot to Waters and bring home some yummy dinner!