Not the best meal we ever had at Apollonia (La Jolla)

Apollonia is normally one of our fave delicious, sit-down, kid-friendly, not too stuffy restaurants.

Tonight they were off their usual quality.

Taramasalata and humus still good.

But worst spanaki lemonata ever (spinach too tough and chewy instead of melting in my mouth).

And the seabass turned out to be fishy and drenched in layers of unhealthy sauce (v. their grilled salmon, which is so light, delicious and simple).

If all the meals I'd had there were like this I wouldn't return. It may still take me several months. Stomach ache....

At least there was Baskins Robbins next door for a well-behaved boy.

Quick takes: Apollonia (UTC/La Jolla), Urban Plates (CV)

Apollonia is becoming our go-to place to dine with SuperBoy. Great kid-friendly service, spaced-out tables (there's even room for a careful game of you can't catch me if the bar is empty), great food (that we all like).  I enjoyed some of my go-to dishes: taramasalata and salmon with spinaki lemonato.

SuperBoy tried their grilled chicken breast for the first time. He picked at it, but liked it ok. He also got his favorite lentil soup.

DH liked his chicken kebab.
***
Urban Plates: I hadn't been for a while b/c I was bored with the menu. But they've changed it up a bit. I even got them twice this week!

--Ono: I like to order it medium: medium rare was a little scary when I got it earlier this week.

Grilled bread: still nice

--Mashed potatoes: not healthy but yummy

Two great new sides: agave carrots, and raw superfood salad. It's quite big. I saved part to finish later.

Also am enjoying the watermelon-pineapple-mint cooler. Very yummy on hot days like today.

Apollonia Greek Bistro (La Jolla)

We need to remember to go here more! It's not as good as the sister restaurant Cafe Athena, but it's yummy and kid-friendly (much better than CV's Taverna Blu).

Full bar, though I restrained myself....

I ordered some of my faves:
--taramosalata
--cretan salmon, with extra spanaki lemonata
--side Greek salad

I ordered for Super Boy
--humus and pita
--lentil soup
--gave him some salad

CH got lamb and avogolemeno soup. He still likes Athena better but said the food was ok.

SB was one of the only kids in the restaurant, but the servers are very good and very kind to kids.  The waitress poured his soup out early so it would cool by the time it got to the table and we wouldn't need to add ice cubes and water down the flavor.  Everything came out efficiently and we were served with a smile.

PLUS when SB got impatient while we were eating, we could take turns taking him on the ESCALATOR!!!! outside. (He is even more into escalators than trains right now.

Yum!

Clairemont quick takes: Restaurant Reviews for Dino's Gyros, Cucina Italiana

Hit DINO'S GYROS this week while in Clairemont. Ok if you're in the neighborhood; not worth driving to!

Falafel was fine, a cut above Daphne's. Came with a multigrain wrap option. Greek salad and rice it came with were fine. One orders at the counter and then the food is brought to you.

By fine, I mean edible, not offensive, better than the bad Indian place next door. Hardly compares to Kebab Shop, but if you're in that mall it's a perfectly ok choice.

CUCINA ITALIANA: Got ravioli with tomato sauce. Wasn't nearly as good as the eggplant parm or pizza we got last time. But it was fine. Fast enough service for pre-movies. Decent wines by the glass. Not a place we need to go to if we're not already there, but the best in that stretch of the food court.

Apollonia (La Jolla): revisit

I just want to show some love to Apollonia. We had a quick bite after a Nobel Park outing today. We always forget how kid-friendly (at least ST-friendly) they are. They don't have a kids' menu per se, and there's no mac and cheese etc. But they have crayons, fast and efficient service, and ST loves the:

--humus and pita, which arrives super-fast
--delicious lentil soup
--greek salad with olives, feta, tomatos and a yummy lemony dressing
--plenty of space to wander with Dad, plus a bar with a TV to peek at the football game.

I loved my: taramosalata, grilled salmon + spanaki lemonato. CH had a light meal of lemon-chicken soup and some of ST's humus.

All around, a very pleasant evening out with toddler in tow. (He is getting so big he'll need to be called Super-Boy soon).

Taverna Blu Revisit (Carmel Valley)

Took the boys to Taverna Blu (had been on my own).

Still good to have a decent place in the hood, not the greatest place ever.

Had salmon, grilled vegetables, salad. All tasty, but salmon and grilled veggies swimming in butter.

CH liked his gyro pita, but didn't like the garbanzo mix, which turns out to be deep-fried chickpeas (fair food!).

ST liked his salad, french fries and humus (not to mention the great music and patio atmosphere), though he is burping a lot after (who knows from what).

Also had a glass of Luna pinot grigio - nice to go to a place with ST where I can get a nice glass of wine.

Friendly service, though food all came out at once (not salads then entrees).

Will undoubtedly return - it's easy enough. But it's not super-healthy!

Taverna Blu Review (Carmel Valley)

The makeover of the Del Mar Highlands shopping continues. Lots of new restaurants....and less parking! It's a real winning combination.

But after fighting for a spot, I gave Taverna Blu a try today. Not bad! I'm not sure I'd say it's worth driving a distance for, but it seems to be a winning formula. Tasty Greek/Med food, at good price points (at least for them): $3, 4, 6, 7 or 11. Of course, the diner ends up ordering a little of this and a little of that, so it adds up, but at least you get to try different flavors if you're going to pay $10-$12 for your lunch and $15-20 for dinner.

Tried/shared:
--lentil soup (good deal for $4, tasty)
--"threesome" (spicy feta dip, humus, "mama ganush" - like Spanish eggplant with tomatoes); for $6, the portions of the dips were not that big, but there were tons of carbs on the plate (pita, pita chips)
--falafel sandwich ($7): respectable enough; not going to vie for best falafel in town

Atmosphere: Very cute patio, big hip space in side (wine and beer).

Service: There were a lot of complaints on yelp (they've only been open a few weeks). But maybe in response to that, servers were super-nice and attentive.

They're not advertising yet, so it's Counter spillover and walk-by traffic for them. I think this is going to be very, very popular in the food-starved DMH area. And it definitely would be toddler-friendly (esp. outside) even if they're going for a more happy hour vibe inside.

Apollonia (UTC)

Very quick post: We always loved going to Cafe Athena in PB - it has wonderful, healthy, creative Greek food, much better than anywhere else we have tried in SD. But it's not so close by, sometimes there is a wait, and it is not ideal with Toddler. They bought a few years ago Apollonia in UTC, which is not quite as good but still has some of our favorite dishes from Cafe Athena. Again, not necessarily great with Boy, if you have to wait for your food to come.

Last night we tried to go to La Casa del Pan Marrón (that's Coco's to you and me). However it was crowded, there was a long wait, and we thought Boy was going to go crazy before his food came. So we wandered around Costa Verde. Apollonia: hmmm, doesn't look crowded, let's give it a try with him.

It was wonderful! We were seated right away, our waiter came right away, and he brought Boy's humus and pita right away, along with spanaki lemonato for me (that's the dish that always kept me coming to Athena or Apollonia - sauteed spinach salad with garlic and lemon). We also got some feta (though it was too high-quality for Toddler's taste - too strong a taste, but I loved it); chicken-lemon soup which both boys loved; imam bayaldi for me (a nice healthy eggplant/raisin/walnut dish), Chicken Couscous for the Dad (one of his favorites there), plus rice pilaf for boy.

There was plenty of room to wander in the short interval before the food came.

We would definitely consider taking Boy there again - we do miss us some Greek food, though I know that some nights they are much busier than they were last night.

Oh - and they have a full bar, though I didn't avail myself of it last night!