Restaurant week report: Crush (Solana Beach)

Nice meal at Crush for RW.  Bruschetta entree was fantastic (grilled good bread, great burrata, tomatoes, pesto).  Eggplant was very tasty and huge portion, but very heavy - wouldn't order in future.  Great "julep noir" (bourbon, blackberries, mint, lime).  Great music too, but not so loud that you can't hear your companion talk.  Glad we went. (though I must add that a friend went the night before and was less impressed with the salmon. But we were lucky!).  This place is becoming a favorite.

Quick takes: Katana, Urban Pi, Native Foods Cafe

Some quick reports:

Katana: we are going more and more. It's super kid-friendly. SuperBoy loves the little flashlights they give you with your soft drink, and he also loves their miso soup (with extra seaweed), plus edamame, rice and cubed tofu.  I like the ex-boyfriend roll when it's on special. I am exploring their winelist. Had one bad Chard, but the La Crema chard is very good, and the Greg Norman pinot is super delish and not super expensive.

Native Foods: LOVE this place. Want to eat my way through the menu. Last time tried: Moroccan bowl, seitan sub, macrobiotic bowl (super yum, I could eat this often).

Urban Pi:  Went successfully with a big group recently. I still believe in staying away from the nasty tomato sauce,but the other food there is good.  Mom got a yummy white pizza. I got the delish beet and arugula salad with a yumm vegan corn soup-of-the day.  I also like their pomegranate drink.

Want to take SuperBoy to Native Foods so can eat there more!

Real Food and Spirits Review (Solana Beach Neapolitan pizzeria and bar)

Boys were not restaurant-ready last night but I was in the mood for something delicious, so I thought of where to try takeout from. Had seen a feature on Real Food and Spirits. The whole interview was a little absurd (women want ___; men want ___; women decide on where to go, so we added food for the women!). But it sounded like they had good Neapolitan pizza.

Atmosphere: chill, sophisticated neighborhood bar, cool for being in the Lomas Santa Fe strip mall near the tire store.

Entryway: oh! they have gelato from Bottega Italiana in UTC. I'd know that mojito gelato anywhere! 

Servers: friendly, helped me with my carryout.

Food at home: 
--Boys each got a kids' size pizza for $8.  They were quite large.  SuperBoy liked it, but Cute Husband did not. It really had a "kids" taste to it - mixture of mozzarella and cheddar, pretty sweet.  CH is not interested in going to this place again.

--"Italian inspired" Caesar salad for $12.  Fine, but very ordinary. Not humongous. Not worth $12, especially to eat at home.

--My margherita pizza: added eggplant to it. Tasty, not great.  Certainly better than having to drive to North Park for neapolitan pizza. However, they told me it would be 30-40 mins. for takeout, and by the time I got there and brought the pizza home, it was C-O-L-D.  So I had to heat it in the microwave and it lost something.  Was tasty for dinner - not sure I'd spend time going to that restaurant v. other choices.

Looks like a cool place to have a drink with friends if you have time for that. Not my perfect place for a GNO. Not sure I'd do takeout from here again.  HOWEVER, it's nice to have that gelato available in SB, and I think the place is open all day, not just for dinner. Yum....pistachio/coconut/chocolate/mojito gelato near Marshall's and Sprouts!

Quick takes: Gaijin Noodle House (Gaslamp), Be Beaming BBar (Solana Beach)

Have been to a few new places recently, but no time to blog.

GAIJIN (Gaslamp): disappointing. High prices, very small portions.  Some very interesting flavors, though. Loved the vegetable plate - 5 very yummy tastes. But noodles with tuna poke was miniscule. Spent a lot, left hungry. Wanted to like it!  Full of big groups of sake-drinking dressed-up 20somethings on the town.

BBAR AT BE BEAMING (Solana Beach, in same shopping center as UrbanPi across from Flower Hill mall): happened into this place near Del Mar Swirls because I had a cold and the idea of juice sounded appealing. Holy mackarel - where did this place come from and why are there so many people waiting 20 mins. for a $13 raw organic vegan non-GMO juice smoothie???  In truth: my smoothie was super tasty. Got the Lean and Green: delicious hemp-avo-spinach-almond flavor.  Would be $11 but I added vitamin C boost. I suppose if you're going to get a $13 smoothie, it might as well taste as good as this. But really? Are there that many people in RSF, DM, SB and CV trying to get cleanses. Clearly the answer in 2013 is: HELL YES!!  Do try it, if some money falls from the sky.  Otherwise, you can be "thrifty" and just get a $9 Suja "Fuji" smoothie at Jimbo's (yummy, lots of vitamin C and Vitamin A, and feels like a bargain compared to the BBar). They also have yummy-looking desserts, salads, and raw soups, all priced in line with the smoothies.

Recent bites around town: Beach Grass, Ki's, Waters (Solana/Cardiff)

Too busy to eat out a lot much less write about it lately. Here are some of our recent meals.

Hit Beachgrass today.  Service was a bit slow at first but once our order was taken the food came quickly. It was very delicious and we all enjoyed our meals. Cute Husband got french toast (too cinnamon-y for me but he liked it).  SuperBoy got a kid's pancake with mickey mouse ears and a funny face made of raspberry puree.  Very yummy - mom finished the rest. I had too many delicious choices but settled on the buffalo mozzarella, tomato and fresh basil omelette with potatoes and fruit. Fruit was very good quality, and the potatoes were super yummy. Liked the omelette too, but would try something different next time.  My sis came here a few weeks ago and got the gruyere omelette and brought leftovers to me - that was yummy too.

Ki's: Ki's has the best eggs. I need to remember that next time I go! I got the tempeh sandwich, which is an old standby of mine, but I stole some of CH's hash browns and scrambled eggs, and they were both super scrumptious. Veg stew is ok but not the greatest. My Mom got the veg stir fry, which was tasty, but I wouldn't get it on my own.

Water's:  Quick stop at Waters after Beachgrass.  SB enjoyed a choc chip cookie, CH his Valrhona brownie (snuck a taste....yum), and I got a little slice of sweet potato cheesecake. Can someone say: YUM?   I don't recall seeing that or having it there before. Not overly sweet or rich - a perfect little treat.  Luckily I also took home some roasted vegetables; butternut squash gratin; stuffed shells; and egg salad. It will be movie and Water's night here at home!

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!

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....

Blanca (Solana Beach)

So this is not a new visit, but since Mr. Manvite wants to know what I think of Blanca let me post quickly.

Jason Neroni: genius (though a testy one, according to news articles). LOVED his food. The chestnut agnolotti were little pillows of heaven.

Service: Ill-informed and inefficient. Slow. On top of this, they lecture you about the chef (after asking already if you know about him)...that's the most time they spend at your table. WOULD NOT GO AND EAT IN THAT DINING ROOM AGAIN. Naomi Wise had a better experience with her server (rvwd in Reader a few weeks ago).

Recommendation: Before he leaves town (and if other people are getting service like we did, how can they be successful?), HIGHTAIL IT OVER TO HAPPY HOUR. That way you can eat his delicious food and not have to deal with the servers - presumably the bartender will be too busy to lecture you, and you'll be in a prime position to get alcohol while you're waiting for food (my wine did not arrive until after my appetizer at a table).

Solana Beach Fish House (SB)

Yo, NYUGirl, this one's for you! (and you too, my other dear readers, but this is more in NYUGirl's neck of the woods).

Toddler and I successfully broke free from going to Coco's for our night out - woo-hoo! In honor of you all, we tried a new place ....Solana Beach Fish House (the Dad is at the NCAAs, so no prob that it's not his kind of place!). Verdict: yummy! Not a must-do, but definitely a nice option to have in SB, esp. so close to the beach and the Fletcher Cove playground.

It's right across from the train station on the north side of Lomas Santa Fe - little unpretentious place on the 2nd floor of a strip mall. Relatively inexpensive, super-fresh fish - grilled or fried into sandwiches, platters, tacos or salads. Coupon in get1free.com and other flyers that come to the house. Beer! (though I didn't let myself have any).

Mom had: grilled seabass sandwich (exceptionally fresh and delicious), with french fries for Boy, plus sides of salad (meh), black beans (delish) and veggies (carrots and zucchini sauteed in garlic: respectable). Grandma had: grilled salmon salad (salmon: 10, salad, 4). Boy enjoyed hot fresh dinner roll, salad, and french fries, but wasn't all that into his fish taco (is very picky about when he likes or doesn't like fish). Off-menu, turns out you can order grilled cheese or a quesadilla.

Ambiance: Boy did not like the restaurant inside - wanted out. However, there are tables on the sidewalk (with a view of parking lot, Lomas Santa Fe, and out toward ocean - may not sound scenic for you or I, but kept Boy very interested - he watched neighborhood kids on scooters, people coming in and out of restaurant, trucks delivering food [fresh fish even on a Sat. night], etc. etc. And when he wanted to get up - well, we were already outside! Staying power in his seat in this environment: a 7, definitely better than many alternatives.

Definitely worth at least one visit!