Osteria romantica - la jolla

La jolla shores has the scenic beach, cozy alcoves and streets lined with outdoor eating.

The Italian charm is defiantly being played at osteria.

The bread and tomatoe sauce that is complimentary was a disappointment: canned tomatoes with fresh basil and dry bread with no olive oil is not a good way to start an Italian restaurant:


The carpaccio rustico, with shaved Parmesan and arrugola was good:


The chicken finocchio, olives celery and garlic was tasty:



But the highlight of the place was the half off bottles of Sicilian wine:


Be careful for the squaking seagull things high in the palm trees.

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Zanzibar - PB

Cafe Zanzibar, with locations in PB, downtown and the loft at UCSD has great salads and sandwiches to offer.

The PB locale is pretty much your walk up an sit down place, with eclectic pop art on the walls, tattooed servers and an open and chill atmosphere.




The Asian chicken salad with sliced cabbage and tangy dressing was quite nice...


- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Mo's- Hillcrest

Hamburger mary's turned Mo's is your spot for well drinks, flamboyant Sundays and every now and then raunchy drag shows.

But during a weekday, burgers and salads are an option. Divalicious to some, the meaty burgers come with there hosts of finger thick fries:


The tortilla soup with chicken is an interesting play on the classic tortilla soup, tomato and cilantro based broth, chicken strips and tortilla strips with boiled potatoes and avocado chunks makes for a hearty meal:



The outdoor patio area supports smoking which is not a plus, however great cheap basics.

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Fiesta cantina - Hillcrest

For a down to earth beach bar feel and cheap margueritas, cantina is the spot for you. From overly sized drinks, two daily happy hrs up to midnight and cheap Mexican food, cantina is a flip flop central haven for the casual Sunday goers:





The triple stacked nachos are usually seen being scarfed down by late night owlers.


- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Caffe latte-Hillcrest

Caffe latte on uni opened up across the street from Starbucks and next door to another coffee shop called Filter. The timing may not have been the greatest, but a cozy and comfortable interior with couches and tables may have the consulting crowd and work from home group taking shop.

Free wi-fi, panini, desserts, yoghurt and caffeinated drinks, gives you an assortment of options.

The chicken pesto panini with mozzarella cheese, salad and banana chips was quite good for a basic panini:


We'll see how the coffee house competition fares for caffe latte.

Tango del rey -PB

Tango del rey has stopped serving lunch due to the low turnout. However on soccer game days, they are broadcasting and dishing it up.

A spinach an chicken salad was prepared for the chile vs Spain game:



Grilled nicely, went well with the summer buttersquash ravioli :


A little offend beaten path, tango del rey is finding it's groove

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Fidels .. Solano beach

An old school Mexican place tucked in solano beach, Fidels has your basic assortment of Americanized Mexican food, authentic decor and even floating mariachi's that come to your table and serenade you while you drink the house margueritas.



The first room we entered was filled with children! All kinds of kids birthday or gatherings. The food prices are on the low side and the chips and salsa continuously refilled, but the screaming kids were too much.
The plastic spoon in the hot sauce was a bit too much:
The second seating had a better lively environment.






Our singing Mariachi singing away "Cielito Lindo" complimented the grilled fish tacos:


Double wrapped carbs, the fish was nicely grilled.

The environment is clearly catered towards families an there is an upstairs bar if you want to get away from it. The food is ok, nothing special to ride home about but descent grub.

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Hexagone -- bankers hill

Classic French dishes are what you can get at Hexagone, including Julia child's beouf Bourgogne.

Even for french cuisine, american classics have permeated there way onto the menu. The crab cake was a nice spun on a classic American appetizer: lumps if crab were wrapped in philo sheets then baked, giving it a grubby exterior but a little lighter than the breaded Maryland crabcake:


The Atlantic halibut with vermouth lobster in topped served with potatoe galette was fantastic:


The NY steak au poivre was within a hands reach:



The st George nuit burgundy opened up nicely with the evening:


Mildly powerful...

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Toast-- downtown

Here's to a Toast to a new place called Toast.. An enoteca serving wine, panini's and salads.

The crostini with burrata cheese was fantastic:


Fresh mozzarella drizzle with olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar with toasty bread and ripe tomatoes.. Fab

Half and half lunch specials: salad and a panini only 11 bucks.. :


Great greens, shaved Parmesan, ripe cherry tomatoes. Good.

The chicken panini was great as well:


The tomato cheese sandwich also was fantastic. For 11 bucks, you get a hearty portion... None of this half and half.


With outdoor seating... A rarity in SD for some peculiar reason, the Wine selection and bites will welcome another visit.




- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Bread and cie- Hillcrest

The lunch gremlins were out today and led me to the aromatic bakery of bread and cie. Plenty of delightful desserts to select from:


The cheese flatbread was appealing to the gremlins:



Crispy an crunchy, cheesy and gooey... Just good.

The muffaleto grilled sandwhich: kalamata olive spread ciabatta bread with red peppers, jack cheese and genoa salami all compressed so that the juices and flavors intermingle... So good:


The crispy crunch cucumbers on their way to become picked seasoned with a little paprika were refreshing:



Just don't inhale while biting the sandwhich. The dusted ciabatta bread can get bread dust in your windpipe!

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Urban solace-- north park

Urban solace offers new American comfort food in an element exposed interior. Brick lined walls, dark furniture and and an airy space give it a comfortable feel.

The seared albacore chop chop with avocado and lime juice, pine nuts and crunchy crisps was great citrusy starter:



The sweet potatoe French fries and buttermilk dressing dip were definitely tasty, though not as crunchy as regular frittes:


The Pan roasted mussels with smoked almost sausage tomato sauce were fantastic:



The sassafras marinated shrimp were skillet grilled to perfection. Large and chunky, blackened with favor, served with a chile grit:



The infusions were also quite refreshing. Good bites.

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Athens market- downtown

Greek hospitality in a comfortable restaurant is what you get at Athens market.

Maria, the owner of the place, has been sprucing up peoples' lives for 25 years. Classic sit down comfort in that established homely environment is one of the feelings you get.

Trio dip app: eggplant, hummus And sadziki:


Olives and feta drizzled with olive oil:



The chicken souvlaki was fabulous. Tender and plump, with grilled onions. Not sure what the green beans and rice were doing since I've never had those in Greece, but the chicken was good:


The Santa Barbara Pinot was chilled just right, mildly bold and fruity:



The cinnamon baklava was interesting. Usually not heavy with cinnamon in greece but good. Rich honey and walnuts :


- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Sushi Ota.. How we miss thee

Long gone are the days where business meetings happened over good sushi. Well let's kick this recession recovery into high gear and get our groove back!

A favorite in the work hood, sushi ota has some fantastically fresh seafood options. Everything here is good, from the service to the specials to special service if you are a repeat customer.

Japanese business men and la jolla desperate housewives, the crowd gets rowdy.



Combo options offered succulent salmon, tasty tuna, crunchy crab and outrageous octopus (ok even the last one was a stretch), but oh so good.

So cute, properly arranged. Just waiting to be plucked and consumed.


- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Amarin Thai...Hillcrest

Local staple Thai was packed tonight. Starting with a golden bang:


Tom yum soup with chicken and straw mushrooms, lemongrass and spice:


Flaming hot


Gaprow level 5: Thai green beans with chile, chicken, basil and oh lots of love:


Chile lemongrass garlic basil... Dragon breath galore....

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Barrio star - bankers hill

A vibrant Mexican restaurant has sprung out of the ground on 5th and nutmeg. Isabella Cruz new addition to the scene promises to bring Mexican soul to the bankers hill neighborhood.

A brightly colored place, with an entire wall of glass gives it an open comfortable airy for the small space that it occupies.

From tamales to carnitas, this places brings some basic an authentic flavors. Not overly created to the point of mexi-Cali confusion, the tacos and guac were definately attractive.



Our lime infused guac and roasted salsa were great with good corn tortillas. It only took about 3 reminders to our hostess.. So the groove is still in it's workings.

The carnitas tacos were fantastic:


Small hand pressed corn tortillas, chile and cumin drenched tender carnitas with sprinkled cilantro and corija cheese, served with a little bucket of fire an black beans.. Delicious.

The steak tacos looked equally tasty:


This should evolve onto a great spot for casual meals, great happy hours with a high bar and a walks from the old globe and park. Brunch just started as of the 19th so get your taco tamale on!

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Carne asada y mariscos-- Pérez HQ

Fathers day BBQ had a trip out to to the LA suburbs..




Carne asada was on the grill, cooking alongside some whole corn coated with a Korean BBQ sauce... (when it comes to food, we don't discriminate ;))

Full spread of mariscos with chunks of avocado, ceviche, paella, salads and roasted veggies. Call it an evolved collection of tasty bites:


Mariachis were playing in background as the food was prepared:




The diets were apparently on hold as the feast continued with a celebration of three different cakes: mango n' cream, fruit tart and a strawberry cake.

Great weather, good food and lots of family chisme to catch up on.

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)

Buonissimo Hillcrest

Bueno, the pinochio charm was definately out last night. Buonissimo, a playful cozy Italian presence that took over the former California cuisine spot is was one of the few places that has a great little outdoor venue for intimate an engaging interactions over good wholesome meals.

Engaging it was.. My favorite line from the entire evening was "and my favorite, I mean favorite aspect about Moses was when he walked down the mountain"

Well, it was gepetto not Moses that delivered last night. Brushetta are offered as complimentary bites.. Tasty and crunchy but these southern California tomatoes need to be genetically enhanced or imported as they miss the boat all the time. That is particular to our geographical location and not the restuarants fault, but the grassy and I would say cold pressed olive oil was delightful:


Dipping oil with good warm bread is always a way to start:



The spinaci salad, lightly topped with bacon pieces, shaved Parmesan cheese was an improvement from last time...



The roasted seabass with veggies and olive oil is becoming a simple favorite:


The gnocchi with seafood, light gnocchi cooked in a seafood based cream sauce was pretty good, but a little chewy. Still the casserole presentation was great:



The veal scalipini.. Veal braised with mushrooms what it appearedt to be looked fantastic:


For dessert, the chocolat was out! The panna cota recieved a lot of critiques from the table as it was off on the density. The semifreddo with hazelnut was the winner:


The cannoli were light and crispy wrapped puffed pastry things which went around and disappeared:


Overall the main dishes were solid and good.

- Posted using mobile cam.. Eating and blogging on the go, excuse spelling mistakes :)