JSix (Gaslamp): Very nice experience!

Went to JSix last night to taste Christian Graves' food. He is always mentioned by the food-writers in town and is the king of the Chefs' Confab. And yet....there are not tons of reviews on yelp or on opentable, and some of them are mixed. What gives?

After eating there, I think I get it.

Room: nice, but somehow missing a certain je ne sais quoi (can't put my finger on it).

Service: incredibly friendly but not incredibly efficient. Chef Graves himself came out from the (open) kitchen to greet us when the hostess was not at her stand. How 'bout that?! But it took a really long time to get water and our order in. When my food first came, it was already lukewarm-to-cold. On the other hand, the waiter had great suggestions; was very friendly; and they gave us a super-delicious comp dessert. Once food started coming, it came quickly. And once I got my entrée a second time, it was a perfect temperature.

Food: Let's go course by course:

--What a cocktail! Lavender-basil lemon drop. SUPER-DELISH. One of the best parts of the meal.

--Bread: Loved the bread, loved the anchovy-laden tapenade.

--Amuse-bouche: crostini with delish local peach, goat cheese, nuts. Veg for moi? Thank you, Chef Graves!

--Salads: Strawberry-parmesan mixed greens. Very yummy; a bit heavily dressed, but I liked it.

Entrees: Great pricing/idea here. I got a "small entree" portion of roasted corn ravioli (with leeks): very yummy. Following the waiter's advice I also got a "half-portion" of a vegetarian plate. Was simple-looking but very yummy. Perfectly charred asparagus, grilled portabella with some yummy reduction/glaze on it; cioppilini onions and mashed potatos. For these two courses together, was only $18. Very nice! CH was not as impressed with his chicken. He reluctantly agreed that the chicken itself was 'okay....good" but he thought the carrots were disappointing. Someone on yelp had mentioned that this dish was bland.

However, here's the piece de resistance: because it was a special occasion, they brought us out a COMPED Valrhona chocolate dessert instead of the dessert menu. Mousse-pretzels-caramel: I'm not sure all the ingredients that were in this concoction, but it was OUTSTANDING. Mmm...it was all I could do to not eat it all up.

So….overall I would say I thoroughly enjoyed the food. I’m not going to rush back, like to Searsucker (we passed it on the way back to our car – it was even more hopping than when we went. THAT is the new in place). However, I can say for sure that JSix will be one of the tables I’m most excited to stop by on Friday night at SD Mag’s Best of San Diego party (and not only because Chef Graves said he would make something vegetarian :)). If you haven’t been: give it a try! Definitely get the cocktail and dessert I got, and recognize that the service might be slow. It’s not an absolute don’t-miss, but it was certainly pleasant and yummy! And the chef is a gem!