A San Diego Restaurant Review Blog

in which the author chronicles her efforts to indulge her foodie inclinations amidst her working-mom-of-a-toddler lifestyle



(with some reviews for with toddlers, others for date night, and others for a delicious solo lunch on the run, plus occasional quick-notes on SD theater!)

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Cafe Secret (Del Mar)

Finally made it to the much-hyped Cafe Secret, with my friend who has too many claims to fame to get just one moniker (HyphenateGirl?).  Verdict: we only ate lunch, and I only got egg salad, so the Peruvian authenticity and deliciousness of the food would probably be more evident at dinner. But I still enjoyed it.

Atmosphere: super pleasant patio on Camino Del Mar, leafy and attractive.

Menu:  Wanted the fish sandwich but they were out. Got the triple egg salad, which someone on Yelp said they had driven all the way from OC for after first tasting it during a DM vacation.  I wouldn't drive that far for it, but it was a nice sandwich (not sure what was peruvian about it). Came with plantain chips and a nice salad.

HyphenateGirl got a salad and empanada combo.  LOVED the chard-spinach-quesofresco-egg empanada she got. Not heavy, very healthy seeming.  Next time I go (I would like to go again as it's a nice place to have lunch, even if it's not the absolute #1 food) I'd like to get that empanada with a half egg salad sandwich.

Dessert: she got the tres leches, which is very praised on Yelp. I thought it was just ok.

I got an espresso. Tasty, but I like them nice and hot and it was lukewarm (many places do that - it's frustrating - it sits before it gets to you and is already almost cold).

Service was pleasant.

Final Verdict: not a must-visit, but I'll probably go again in several months or a year.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Smoked sea bass tacos from MIHO Gastrotruck

Yum. Fun!

(waiting for the truck to find a spot: not as fun!). Poor guys couldn't get a spot today and then tried to fit on High Bluff. Line kept following them up the street!

Was a tasty lunch to scarf down while waiting outside his class for pickup.
Would have liked to bring along something small for SB to snack on when I got him, but wasn't going to bring him a bacon chip cookie (yuk) and they didn't have chips or anything similar. Was afraid he wouldn't like the fried green tomato sandwich. So got him a brioche which he enjoyed to tide him over, til I could take him home and make his lunch!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Nine-Ten (Revisit)

Hit Nine-Ten with CH recently. Some quick thoughts.

The food is not the best in SD anymore. But I still love the room, and it still has lots of virtues. Passport Dining (one free entree) makes it more affordable - otherwise, I'd be grumpy to be paying $37/entree, and then still have to get an app and dessert because the portions are small.

Loved my hamachi sashimi appetizer. Seemed a little off at first, but I just had to get into the flavors of the dish. They were very earthy. Knibb paired it with some mushrooms and the sauce was yum.

Cocktail: Had a blue grotto on its debut day (was new cocktail menu). Lighter than a Grant Grill cocktail but still refreshing. Had a LOT of alcohol. Had to recover from getting drunk on the one cocktail...and still I ordered a glass of wine (A French syrah, which was fine for $10 - not a steal but not a disappointment either).

Entree:  CH liked his NY steak.  My salmon was very tasty and respectable. Not cravable enough to pay $37 for, but as the "free" entree it was fine.

DESSERT: OK, THIS IS WHERE THE MEAL SHINED!  Jack Fisher has decamped for Cucina Urbana (if you can't beat 'em....).  But several of his dishes are still on the menu.

Cilantro basil cake with coconut sorbet and tapioca: are you kidding me?  This was one of the most outrageous desserts I have ever had (and not only because I was drunk when I ate it - I ate the rest of the meal mostly drunk too but the dessert stood out :)).  What kind of crazy genius Jack Fisher had to invent it is dazzling.  He is always ahead of the curve. (I'm sorry, my dear Rachel King of Burlap, but I said to CH that if you went head to head and Fisher had this dessert, he would smoke you, crunchies or no crunchies!!!)

Here's the thing: you might think Nine-Ten wasn't worth visiting anymore with him gone (Jason Knibb's savory food was less exciting for me than the dessert). And yet, the kitchen is still executing it well.

AND as a free treat with the check, the kind French waiter brought two little bonbons courtesy of the new pastry chef, Steve Acosta.  O-M-Freakin-G.  They were two little apricot gel candies. O-M-Freakin-G. Such a flavor sensation.  Simple, delectable, perfect! Between the outrageous candies, the great service, the nice room, and the interesting savory food, I will return to Nine-Ten sometime (could be a few months, could be a year - the good thing about it becoming a national "it" place is that it's always still there!). But of course it's still too expensive to go regularly - and I don't think the savory food is better than Alchemy by any stretch!

Oh - and one cute thing. I had told them maybe 9 years ago when they opened something about CH's eating preferences/restrictions.  They still had it in the computer: when the server came over to announce the specials, he told CH which dishes had ingredients that did not fit his diet. That was pretty great!

Quick takes: Wa Dining Okan (Convoy), Long Island Mike's (Kearny Mesa), Habit Burger Grill (Solana Beach), Michoz (Hillcrest)

Some quick recent meals.

WA DINING OKAN: RIDICULOUSLY DELICIOUS. I don't know why it took me so long to get here (I needed a willing partner - thank you, NYUGirl!).  Really healthy, authentic, Japanese food.  Got salted salmon with a delicious selection of "tapas of the day" plus delicious miso soup plus yum-yoso brown rice and hijiki seaweed.  Lunch menu is more extensive than it appears on their website. Very fascinating strip mall at 3680 Convoy.  We want to try sometime the ridiculously cute Mignon Pho + Grill (NOT your father's Vietnamese restaurant): chic, modern, yummy-looking.  And Spicy House looks really yummy, with lots of veg. dishes. And there's an adorable French bakery, and a crepe-gelato store (both Asian-owned).  Definitely want to go back.

LONG ISLAND MIKE'S:  Murphy Canyon. Was on my want to try list for a while. Disappointing! Had really high hopes based on Yelp. Looked very authentic. Newspaper on the wall says the owner, Mike, opened his place in Seal Beach dedicated to only real NY pizza. Sounded great. Got two slices: margerita and cheese. Margerita looked good and was delicious. Cheese looked depressing (like it had been sitting out) and was nasty. The two boys only ordered the cheese, so they were stuck. And the slices left in the case didn't look any better. Maybe they're fresher at lunch, but can't see returning.  Oh well!

HABIT BURGER GRILL: Solana Beach. Took SuperBoy shortly after it opened.  Was perfect for mom and son lunch out.  Wait on line like fast food to order. Then they give you a buzzer like PF Chang's for when your food is ready, and you go up to get it.  I liked my grilled tuna sandwich.  SB's grilled cheese couldn't hold a candle to Urban Plates' (white bread, boring cheese - luckily he did not have to vie with his mother wanting to steal it - blech) - but he liked it. He also got a vanilla ice cream shake and was very happy. Fast and relatively expensive, pleasant atmosphere.

MICHO'Z: Hillcrest. Ate with a friend here recently. Also wanted to love it based on Yelp. Mixed results.  Cute atmosphere. Super-delicious (free) vinegary carrot sticks they give you when you sit down. Ridiculously tasty baba ghanoush, just as smokey as promised by Yelpers.  But then....lentil soup had no taste.  I told the waiter, thinking that maybe the spicing was off that day. He was offended and explained that they don't salt and pepper on purpose because their customers are happy that way, and they can leave it off or add. Um, ok....but you can still make a soup flavorful with herbs (or you can warn non-hypertension sufferers that the soup is a bland pea soupy mess otherwise). I ate it all cuz it was healthy and I was stuck with it, and on a winter's day probably would enjoy it more, but would never order it again or advise anyone else  to! And the falafel, which was praised to the hilt on Yelp, was just ok.  It is certainly better than Daphne's! But it's definitely not the best in SD. Just in the last 6 mos. I've had better at Egyptian Delight (CV Farmer's Market) and Kebab Shop, and I know Sultan Schwarma's is better too. Really, I need to get to La Mesa and try Alforon and the other Iraqi places. So this place is worth a try but only if you manage to order the right stuff!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Hands on a Hardbody (La Jolla Playhouse)

Hands on a Hardbody was a lot of fun - much better than I expected for a musical about a car contest in East Texas. Don't like country music but Amanda Green and Trey Anastasio did a terrific job and had me bouncing my seat. Very poignant songs about the hardships many people face today.

Love Jon Rua - was great to see him in another SD show. But couldn't they let him dance a little more?

(here's a little taste of what he can do when he's choreographing his own stuff for the Nets dancers or his Broadway Dance Center students:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aNOQMJiso8&list=UUIFogYsIJvDMve_uzYXXoBQ&index=1&feature=plcp.

and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6bV4L4hBO0&feature=relmfu)
He was still terrific, though, even though I had to wait til the second act for him to get his own song!

CH thinks the play was entertaining but is too stranded between musical and drama territory to have a long run in NY. I think he's wrong.  It's Broadway-bound; we'll see who's right!

George's Ocean Terrace (La Jolla): Ho Hum + Drinks at Jai (La Jolla)

Ocean Terrace used to be our go-to special occasion restaurant in SD.  Great view: check.  Innovative food: check. Chino-licious produce: check!  We have never actually liked downstairs at George's: one boring/not-great-service meal when it was George's at the Cove and another since it became "George's California Modern."  But we always liked the Terrace. Since SB was born, I don't think we've been. It's not a great place with a stroller or an active toddler. And on date night it has always seemed booked up.

So I planned ahead, got a pretheater reservation for tonight.

Hohum!

The good news is that there are too many interesting places in town anymore to miss Ocean Terrace.

ATMOSPHERE: Still that fabulous view. Nice umbrellas. Lots of ladies of a certain age with beautiful gams in party dresses.

COCKTAIL: Fascinating list. But my "St. Collins" (elderflower, lime, homemade sweet and sour etc.) tasted like a plain ol' mojito, no more, no less. I like mojitos. But it was not any special innovative cocktail despite its fancy name.

APPS: CH got a plain old salad.  I got bruschetta with sicilian-style eggplant and ricotta. Hohum.  It wasn't even a composed plate. You got 4 pieces of ciabatta toast, and then put your own ricotta and eggplant on. The ricotta was pretty good but this was not a cravable dish.

ENTREES: CH got a chicken dish and a side of corn. I liked the broccolini that came on the side. Tried a potato; it had a nasty spice rub (trying to be Middle Eastern but just not pleasant to my palate).  Corn: you can't go wrong with Trey Foshee's kitchen cooking sweet corn. That was probably the best part of the meal.

--I got the fish tacos because the fish dishes on the menu hadn't gotten raves no yelp. They were fine.

ALL AROUND: Pleasant enough evening looking at the ocean, good company of course, inoffensive food.  But this ain't cutting edge any more!  Poseidon kicks OTs tushy on view + yummy and cool food.

***
They had us in and out in about 45 mins., which was a little ridiculous. So we had time to hit the bar at Jai's before our show.  Jai used to be my fave restaurant when it was a year-round place and they had a cutting-edge chef.  It had gone downhill after it became open seasonally and they dumbed the food down.  But we tried the bar. Fab bartender let me sample the two glasses I was thinking of. Loved my Raymond Sauvignon Blanc (2009) even though it happened to be the cheapest glass on the menu (the Justin SB had nothing to it).  Great service considering we were in and out and not getting something pricey.  And I still love the room!  We may try it again another day, but last few experiences there were so-so food for $$$$, so CH is not too keen for now.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Casa de Luz Review (North Park)

MuseumGirl and I tried Casa de Luz today for lunch before pickup. ("Plant-based cuisine" on Univ. Ave at 30th).

Wanted to go with another friend last week.  However, there's one tricky thing about it.  They only have one entree choice per meal, and they only announce it a few hours in advance! I was set to go after reading yummy lentil or squash entrees, and just before I went to meet my friend I saw it would be "bed of cabbage" with shitake mushrooms. Yuk/not filling for a not cheap meal!

MuseumGirl and I confirmed that the menu looked good so went today.

ATMOSPHERE: Light and airy meets former warehouse. Lots of communal tables and smaller tables. Kind of fun.

SERVICE: Order at the counter. It's not super-organized. But the staff seemed friendly. It's confusing to have a cafeteria line but you do your order for many things only at the end.

Today's menu was

Soups:


Miso
Sweet potato



Salads:

Carrot, broccoli & daikon

Beet, cabbage & cucumber

Mixed greens with a miso tahini dressing



Entree:

Roasted kabucha squash stuffed with white beans, collard greens, onion, garlic & bojito olives

With red quinoa & Italian seasoning, zucchini ribbons, lemon & parsley



SOUP : I chose sweet potato (with floating broccoli). $5.  Very tasty and healthy-tasting.

SALAD; MG choose the beet, cabbage and cucumber. She was crazy for it; I thought it was tasty too but was glad I chose the soup. $5

ENTREE:  Mixed bag. Good overall; I cleaned the plate. But considering that they're only making one dish a day, and they bring it straight from the kitchen when it's ready, the temp. should have been better.  Some components were hot and others lukewarm.  Liked the zucchini ribbons section best. Quinoa was good but not hot. Squash portion was kind of strange and kind of tasty. 

I wouldn't necessarily return, but MG decided we should stay to caffeinate. That brought us to the best part of the meal....

COFFEE! They have some badass French press. Yum. And it comes with coconut sugar and almond milk. But it was so tasty it was good black.

DESSERT: I got a choco. ganache cheesecake (it's vegan of course like everything here, so cashew-based). Delish! ($3.95-ish).  MG got a lavendar lemonade cookie ($1.95ish) that she didn't like as much.

WINE: Not a huge selection, and MG"s wine (a Chilean) was kind of nasty.

On the basis of the atmosphere, great coffee and dessert, would come again.  But this place could be a whole lot better if the food were hot and the menu was less unpredictable!

Ricardo Heredia is still the coolest!

Ok, this is not a food review post.  But I had to "reblog" Ricardo Heredia's answer today in the UT Superdiners poll about best buffets:

The only all-you-can-eat I would recommend would be the Fat Boy’s song with that title from the 1985 movie Krush Groove. I feel institutionalized in those situations, being shuffled through a line side stepping like an inmate at Folsom Prison. EH EH not for me. What’s the allure? Shall I reference the Fat Boy’s again? — Ricardo Heredia, executive chef at Alchemy Restaurant


Krush Groove and the Fat Boys? Yet another reason why Ricardo Heredia is the biggest culinary bada$$ in the city!