Tuesday, May 24, 2011

San Diego Food Experience

Spent a few days in San Diego and was able to eat some really good food while out there. The hotel we stayed at provided complimentary breakfast, so there was no point in skipping free breakfast each day we were there. The breakfast included a buffet of scrambled eggs, bacon strips, sausage links, hash browns, pancakes and french toast. Guests also had the option to order an omelette with a wide variety of ingredients, or even have their eggs cooked a certain way. There were also danishes, bagels, cereal, oatmeal, toast, juice, milk, etc. It was a very good continental breakfast as evidenced by some photos below.





The first day of the trip, we ate lunch on Broadway St. at a restaurant called RA Sushi . We ordered two sushi rolls. The first was a Crazy Monkey Roll and the second was Lobster Shrimp Roll. The Crazy Monkey Roll had smoked salmon, mango and cream cheese topped with avocado, red beet tempura bits and cashews; drizzled with mango & sweet eel sauces. The Lobster Shrimp Roll had lobster, cucumber and avocado rolled and topped with shrimp; served with a pesto sauce. Both sushi rolls were excellent. It was the best sushi we ever had.

For dinner on the first day, we ate at Kansas City Barbecue. It's the place where some scenes of the movie Top Gun were filmed. We ordered The Works in which you get your choice of three meats and two sides. For the meats, we ordered pork spare ribs, sliced beef brisket, and burnt ends. We ordered cole slaw and potato salad as the two sides. The meat was really tender. The meat on the spare ribs just fell off the bone. The burnt ends were really good. The sauce was on the side which was fine. The meat was so good and tender that we really didn't need to have the sauce on the meat, but it was definitely good with the meat. The cole slaw was made with a viniagerette and the potato salad was just right.




The second day of the trip, we ate lunch at The Fish Market which is on Harbor Dr. We ordered the White Tiger Shrimp Ceviche for an appetizer and the Smoked Fish Sampler for the meal. The White Tiger Shrimp Ceviche was fresh and really good.





The Smoked Fish Sampler contained Pacific Albacore, Wild Alaskan King Salmon, Idaho Rainbow Trout, and Nova Lox (Cold Smoked Salmon). All four items were excellent. They were served with garlic sourdough croutons, thinly sliced red onions, marinated brie cheese, and tartar sauce. We could definitely taste the hickory in each of the fish. The ceviche and the sampler are definitely worth ordering.




Because we had a filling breakfast and had a late lunch, we went to Ghiradelli dessert shop to cap off the day. At Ghiradelli we had the Warm Caramel Sundae. It was a good alternative to a chocolate dessert.




The third day of the trip was basically a sugar filled day after breakfast. We had a late lunch at the Broken Yolk Cafe. This was one of the restaurants that Adam Richman (Man vs Food) visited. We both ordered a Belgian Waffle with Strawberry Topping. I have to say, the waffle was nice and fluffy, and there was plenty of strawberry topping and whipped cream to cover the waffle, which is normally rare at most restaurants.




Later on that day we went to Seaport Village and each got a slice of cheesecake at a coffee shop. I had the brownie fudge cheesecake, and my cohort had the creme brulee cheesecake. The cheesecake was really good. Once we left the coffee shop, we went and got some fudge. The flavors were Chocolate Mint, Almond Amaretto, Cappucino, Chocolate Nuts. The fudge was made right there in the shop. Once you walk in the door, the smell of chocolate just hits you. It was nice and super fudgy (if that's even a word). To try to prevent a sugar attack from happening later on that night, we decided to order some fries from the PFC (Pacific Coast) Bar & Grill. The fries were hot, fresh, and seasoned perfectly. It was a good ending to an awesome trip.

Outside of the great places that we ate at, there are plenty of other good restaurants in San Diego to eat at. There were plenty of restaurants on 5th avenue in the Gaslamp District. The restaurants we ate at were reasonably priced for the quality of food that was served.

If you've never been to San Diego, it's definitely a place to put on your list, not just for the food, but also for the activities, sights, and most importantly, the awesome weather.