Bankers Hill Bar and Restaurant: Tasty but not Cravable!

Ok, let's review: I'm a huge Carl Schroeder fan. CH for some reason *hates* Carl Schroeder's food. From Arterra through Market, he absolutely hated going with me and only went to eat Schroeder's food when we were forced (for instance friends stayed at the Marriott and had their kids upstairs and could only eat in Arterra :)). The last several times I have been to Market (and I haven't gone for at least a year) have been with other people. And it seems so expensive lately in comparison to all the good deals around these days, so that also has kept me away!

So I was psyched about BHBR, Schroeder's new cheaper place near the Park. Maybe CH would like it better? And I could eat Schroeder's food a lot!

Well, here's the rap:
--very nice room, much nicer than when it was Modus->cute, casual, airy, fun
--had a lovely time - helped by very reasonable Temperanillo!
--bread was warm and delicious, food was tasty overall
--CH didn't hate his food - he would not object to returning

HOWEVER, irony of ironies, it was just not cravable and I am the one who doesn't feel the need to go back:
--the famous deviled eggs were just ok. A mom in my mom's group makes tastier ones....
--my watermelon and watercress salad: overdressed, and the watercress was kind of blech - I ate up the watermelon, goat cheese and pistachios but left the greens behind. CH's fresh vegetable salad was yummier but not enough to induce me to go back
--my salmon: very good, liked the peas and potatoes with it. Was it the greatest fish dish ever? Ummm...no.
--dessert menu: totally uninspiring. Ditto the cocktail menu. Strawberry basil martini seemed revolutionary when they served it 5 yrs ago with fresh strawberries at Market. Today that drink seems to be everywhere in town. You don't have any other ideas? (there was some pear ginger alternative....sorry, not my thing!)

AND SO, since Avenue 5 is in the hood...and Alchemy is on the other side of the park, I don't see any reason to return! The good news is that that simplifies things as we make pre-theater choices in upcoming months. The only other places I'm itching to try nearby are the new Cafe Bleu (had a great meal in Hillcrest before it moved) and maybe Charisma in Hillcrest....

CH Loves Avenue 5 (Banker's Hill)

Now, the rap on my husband is that he really loves Bongiorno's Pizza and Wahoo's more than anything, and only goes along on my foodie adventures to nicer places because he is sweet and likes to indulge me.

However, that is clearly not true!

For the second time in a row, he has now persuaded co-workers to take visitors to Avenue 5 as opposed to anywhere that is remotely closer to his office or house. CH (that is cute husband, if you've lost track of his nickname of the month) clearly is craving Colin MacLaggan's food (who can blame him, really?). CH does not like to "eat and tell" too much, but I got him to at least say that the dish he craves, that drives him to speak up in meetings to get Avenue 5 named as the business dinner destination, is chicken with a "sweet sauce."

I am thrilled it's on his list, since the upcoming Old Globe season means date night is almost always going to be in the Banker's Hill area for the next few months. Love me some Avenue 5 - and happy not to be dragging him somewhere he doesn't want to go!

(but still, Banker's Hill Bar and Restaurant is next on my list to try...can I persuade CH that Carl Schroeder's food is good after all?? Watch this space for news!)

Viva Pops again, this time with El Comal (North Park/Normal Heights)

So I couldn't resist it! Dr. T. came with me to El Comal (I loved the pescado al ajillo and Dr. T. enjoyed his Cochinita Pibil). Lovely atmosphere, and they take restaurant.com!

We were talking about the blog and Dr. T. mentioned my Viva Pops entries. "Well," I said, "we ARE only about 1.5 miles away...Should we go?"

5 min. later, we were both enjoying strawberry/cucumber/mint "sugar-free" pops (with agave). Super-yum, loved the mint (though they were much less intensely strawberry than the wonderful strawberry pop that ST had on Sat.). Dr. T. took an apricot lemongrass for the road and sounded almost like my Mom did when she had her tart plum ("love lemongrass!").

Dr. T., thanks for the adventure! I love excuses to hit North Park/Normal Heights!

Sicilian Thing/Viva Pops

We took SuperToddler to Sicilian Thing today (excellent Philly pizza + city buses - what could be better?). He was so well-behaved I thought of Viva Pops and we headed over there (it's about 1.5 miles).

Mom had nectarine+basil (chosen over lavender lemonade, mojito, Mexican chocolate, and lots of other flavors).

ST had plain 'ol strawberry (v. strawberry +cucumber+mint)...which was not plain old at all, since the strawberry flavor was super-intense.

Fresh, delicious, cold....love Viva Pops!

Cafe Coyote over Old Town Mexican Cafe (Old Town)

Ate at OTMC with a Comic-Con visitor and TruckBoy yesterday (he was so well-behaved I am going to call him SuperToddler). OTMC gets all the buzz ("best Mexican"), but I'm sorry...Cafe Coyote is way better! SuperToddler had a great time we were at Cafe Coyote last time. Food is delicious; comes fast; is served in lovely patio setting; plus there is a lot of space for wandering, stairs to climb, even a parrot.

Plus ColdStone is across the street and can be held out as a reward for good behavior. (And the trolley is close by if you have time for a real outing!)

Other than the decent tortillas at OTMC, my meal was undistinguished. Not making the mistake again of going there instead of CC!

Foodgirl hits the OC!

Foodgirl must post about the delicious food she and CH had while on a little escape to Dana Point.

1. Watermarc in Laguna: LOVE IT! We went last year too. Super hip, super reasonable, super yummy. It's like Alchemy, only more stylish and going-out-at-nighty. Including the link as special encouragement in case any friends want to check it out: http://watermarcrestaurant.com/. Love the cocktails, love the little plates....yum.

2. Andrea in Inn at Pelican Point (Newport Coast): Kind of like Vivace in the Aviara, only the food is arguably better. Perfect pasta (I had hand-cut spaghetti, unlike any spaghetti I ever had), very nice atmosphere, celebrities in attendance (hi, David Spade!). Prices to match, but a gorgeous gorgeous resort for peeking at and a fun evening.

As for the Dana Point Harbor, bleh. We went to Harbor Grill. If that's supposed to be the top place at the Harbor, that does not say much....

Fibonacci's UTC (3rd party review - oh well!)

Was excited about Fibonacci's in UTC. Who wouldn't love a new Waters outpost, and so convenient for so many things?

But alas, ABW (whose name is now going to change to CH, cute husband), and MuseumGirl and NYUGirl, have all been there recently and report that is bleh. No atmosphere, and very limited selection. If you work in a nearby office building it is better than nothing, but definitely not worth driving to.

Alas!!! (and sorry, Waters, I still love you...I'll just be hitting SB instead!).

Viva Pops! (Normal Heights - plus Tao and Jyoti Bihanga)

Foodgirl took her mom today to Tao - it was so yummy to go back. Still like the garlic "chicken" best - pho ok - homemade tofu with asparagus and lily flower was tasty but maybe too healthy - hehehe. Salad and strawberry cheesecake ice cream for dessert were yummy.

Mom wanted to get Jyoti Bihanga to take out for dinner (she came 3000 miles - she wasn't going to leave the neighborhood without getting something there!). I got a beet and coconut soup to go - yum!

But most important, Mom got Viva Pops, 2 doors down from Tao. She does not get as excited about food as Little Old Moi does....But after she had the sugar-free tart plum popsicle, all she could say was "WOW!!! WOW!!!! WOW!!! I sound like you, Foodgirl. WOW!!!" I had a taste too...I am not a tart plum kind of girl, but it certainly was intense, refreshing and tasty if you would enjoy eating a whole entire tart plum.

I never go there since Tao gives free dessert, but it is certainly worth a return visit!

Waters again (Solana Beach)

It took me so long to blog Waters that it deserves a second post....

What is so wonderful about Waters is that the menu is always different, so except for a few things like roasted vegetables, the sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies, you never know what you'll find there. You can order as much or as little as you want; you order at the counter; it's super-fast and they're super-friendly. (It can be really expensive or very reasonable, depending on what you order). It's a gourmet's delightful surprise!

Yesterday's loot included: gazpacho, spelt salad, cod-and-potato cakes (with the yummiest herb aioli), grilled lemony potatoes, papardelle pasta salad, roasted vegetables and my fave sandwich (the grilled eggplant). Strangely, TruckBoy did not even want to try the lemony potatoes, which should be a no brainer for him, but he munched up all the roasted carrots (some days he won't go near them).

LOVE LOVE LOVE Waters....

Jai: Oh well (aka, I need a new favorite restaurant!).

First time at Jai since the 3-mo. closing and the chef change.

Alas! It was good but certainly not great....definitely has lost the crown of My Favorite Restaurant in San Diego. Chez Kozumi was an underrated genius....the food now is simply: "Nicer, more upscale version of P.F. Chang's." No more, no less....Plus service has gotten slower (even though prices are cheaper now and I liked my wine).

Who will the next holder of the title be? Alchemy is still #2, but it's casual enough that I'd like a fine dining restaurant to be #1! I don't think it will be Blanca, even with a new chef; I love Market but ABW can't stand Carl Schroeder; Grant Grill was delicious but not enough for me to grant it that title; I'm over Jeff Jackson at Lodge at Torrey Pines because he doesn't know what a vegetarian dish is (versus a vegetable plate); Jason Knibb's portions have gotten too small at Nine-Ten for how much the food costs; and Tapenade is yummy but not exciting enough. I need a new fave....hopefully I'll find one soon!

Trattoria Fantastica (Desserts, Little Italy) + Mimmo's

Another quick post to record the fun outing we had a few weeks ago.

Took trolley to Little Italy. Ate at Mimmo's (very reasonable at lunch, order ta the counter so quick-serve, great sidewalk patio). I had eggplant parm; TruckBoy had pizza; Dad had chicken sandwich; plus we had some great salads. Inside is very cute, murals.

But then we went to Trattoria Fantastica next door for dessert. Never went before - ridiculously good! Boy had a beautiful green marzipan cookie thing which he loved. I had delectable opera cake. ABW had gelato. I'm not sure about the restaurant itself (standard Little Italy I think - more expensive than Mimmo's at lunch certainly) but the dessert/cafe is definitely a place for us to go back to!

Restaurant round-up: Fairouz, Waters Cafe, Bencotto, Vela

Foodgirl has been busy and so I haven't blogged! So I don't get too far behind (and because of a special request from my fave Expectant Mama and her veg-loving hubby), here's the quick scoop on some recent visits.

Fairouz (Sports Arena): Fairouz really deserves its own entry since we absolutely love it. Middle Eastern buffet (says "Greek" on the outside but they're really Palestinian). Ridiculously good food (veg and non-veg), very healthy and reasonable ($12.95 for the buffet). Great atmosphere, charming and hospitable host, gorgeous art on the walls (doubles as a gallery); great music. We all like it. Some of the delicious things we get there (they rotate choices): lentil soup, chicken-lemon soup; stewed zucchini, stewed okra (trust me, sounds super-bland but somehow is ridiculously yummy); divine stewed eggplant when they have it; roasted potatoes; various chicken and beef things; tons of salads (humus, spicy carrots, minty macaroni salad); divine desserts (rosewater white pudding; carrot halva, etc.). There are probably 40 choices on the buffet between hot and cold and dessert so I'm leaving tons out. Boy loves the music, not to mention the humus, pita, lentil soup, veggies, and all of the wonderful desserts (esp. the carrot halva). We love this place even though it's a drive.

Waters (Solana Beach): Really Waters deserves about 10 entries, since I go there so often (I usually trust my readers to look up the restaurants but here's the URL so you have no excuse not to check it out! http://www.waterscatering.com/) . It is a gourmet paradise in Solana Beach, esp. if you're a working mom with veg and non-veg eaters at home. They have sandwiches (some of my faves are the eggplant and the portabella mushroom; ABW likes the roast beef especially), salads and wonderful desserts. But the exciting part are the ever-changing entrees, sides, etc in the case, all of which can be tasted and then purchased by the pound. I never leave Waters without buying a ton of stuff for us to enjoy for the next few days. The menu changes seasonally, so you never know what you'll find. Some things I enjoy there: soup (tomato, broccoli, cauliflower, roasted red pepper, gazpacho, etc. - almost anything, and it's usually flourless and vegetarian); macaroni and cheese; polenta; anything with quinoa; roasted vegetables (one of the few things they have all the time - I'm addicted to them); lasagna with the best sauce ever (ABW loves it too); wild salmon cakes; other interesting fish; grilled chicken dishes with all kinds of interesting sauces; etc etc. I'm only giving a little tiny sampling. Also love their zucchini bread, granola, mashed potatoes; sweet potato puree, and tons more. Without Waters, the transition to being homebound during Boy's first year would have been infinitely more challenging (and certainly less tasty). LOVE WATERS! (Plus they are super-friendly there).

Bencotto (Little Italy): Everyone treats this new "modern Italian" restaurant like the second coming; it's getting buzz everywhere. Was good - ABW loved it even more than me (he called it "Good", which is way better on his scale than Ok or Fine). We would definitely have gone back....but I got sick afterwards! It wasn't good enough for me to risk returning again. Had wine; eggplant parm app; delicious homemade pasta. Not sure what did it.

Vela (downtown in Hilton Bayfront): Let's just say I'll never go back. Food was good, but one of us got hurt - and they sicced security people on us and ruined our meal...We never made any comment about suing or anything but they went into horrible Liability Control mode and just ruined the rest of the meal. No apologies or even comping and then relentless calls and letters from their insurance people for the rest of the week until I asked ABW to get them to stop bothering us. The food was good but not good enough to ever have me set foot in that hotel again....

That's all for now...trying an old fave with a new chef tonight and will post on how it goes....Hoping for a much better experience than Bencotto or Vela! :)