Opera Cafe

I just thought I'd do a little experiment and try that new fangled instagram for my iPhone.  You see I had this lovely lunch, and we brought back some delicious macarons, and I wanted to share my little snaps and my thoughts.

I had a ratatouille crepe with salad, and it was a little on the greasy side, but still delicious.  My companions both chose sandwiches which they had with Parmesan truffle fries, an extremely generous portion which was gobbled down with gusto!

We took some desserts and macarons back to the office but they didn't last long!  A dulce de leche opera slice was consumed before even checking email, and we all tried the macarons, which I thought were very good.   I found them to have a pleasing chew and not to be tooth-achingly sweet.  I managed to save my mini chocolate desserts until 3, but they were quickly eaten too.  Just a wonderful selection.

I'd say get yourself down there asap.  Get there a little early to get a nice seat before the lunch crowd shows up or try a Friday evening.  I cant imagine anything lovelier than a nice glass of pinot and some beautiful dessert to start my weekend off just perfectly!

Opera is in the Sorrento Valley area of San Diego

Dining around San Diego and a new cake stand!

I always like to have a picture for my blog posts, so let me introduce my latest cake stand, a square one this time!  My husband knocked it together over a weekend and I think it will be a lovely addition to my collection and a very stylish way to display cupcakes! 

I also tried a few new (to me) restaurants and was a little underwhelmed.  I went to searsucker with some local food bloggers, and the food was ok, but the service wasnt great, they kind of forgot about us, and I found the atmosphere wasnt quite as warm and friendly as some of the more cosy neighbourhood joints I've become accustomed to.

We also tried whisknladle in La Jolla and we had high hopes with some great cocktails, and there was a really nice buzz about the place.  We started with a cheese and meat plate, which was fantastic, and way too big for two.  My husband chose the burger, which was impossible to eat as a burger was intended, even with his table manners he had to resort to a knife and fork.  I tried the scallops, but was a little disappointed at the balance of the dish.  There was a sweet porcini sauce on the top and an extremely salty cabbage underneath, and even trying to get a bit of each component didnt save the dish for me.  I found this to be another place to 'be seen' and everyone was craning their necks to see all the other diners, and it just wasnt a relaxing experience, especially with a huge batchelorette party going on next door in Karl Strauss.  I'd be prepared to give it another try, especially since I've enjoyed lunch at their Del Mar location.

We also recently tried georges again and decided to go all out and experience their dining room and I have to say, it is one of the most memorable dining experiences I've ever had.  The plates were like works of art, and each plate was surprising and just delicious at the same time.  A truly magical experience, with a price tag to match!  We enjoyed a few fun cocktails, then shared the deconstructed fish tacos, a wonderful carrot salad, and some kind of foie gras dish.  I think my main was gnocci and my dining partners enjoyed duck and pork, then the dessert was a peach cobbler and a chocolate cake.  Full marks!

We continue to enjoy Starlite Lounge the best, a nice combination of good food, with an ever changing menu, fun cocktails and interesting banter with the staff, who put up with our terrible jokes and quips!  I never feel like its a competition to see who is best dressed or who is there with who, its just a friendly bar with great food and drinks. 

I'm so sorry, I have a few photos, but I'm just not a food blogger who likes to snap away in restaurants, so you'll have to be satisfied with a picture of a cake stand!! 

Brekkie in San Diego

I generally eat my breakfast at home, our Sunday routine involves slowly scrambled eggs from Schaener Farm, spinach and muffins/bagels and some bacon for my husband. If there are big tomatoes in my CSA I put them under the broiler on a low heat. I like to wake up slowly, have a good brekkie, but not overdo things.

Having visitors, I thought it would be fun to take them out for breakfast, and I wanted to share two outstanding breakfast spots.

I went down to Mission Beach with my beloved brother, and we decided to eat at Mission Cafe. I had the best french toast I have ever had in my life, crusty cinnamon toast with a souffle like soft eggy middle.

My brother enjoyed the Chilaques, which he decided were like breakfast nachos. It was great eating with my brother, we had so much trouble deciding that we ordered these and then swapped half way through, so it was like having two meals. Excellent! I'm trying to think of excuses to get back there asap!!

Another weekend we had a friend in town and we wandered up the hill from our house to Crest Cafe. It has such a cheery exterior, and is really cute inside, and also does a killer version of my favourite breakfast, eggs florentine. They also had a really solid regular breakfast (my husband always orders eggs, bacon, toast and potatoes with an extra side of bacon) and omelette.

Other places that I've heard are good are the City Deli, Hash House a go go and the Studio Diner. I've clearly got a lot more eating out to do!

A vacation to the red sea

Sorry, no pictures, I really hate taking pictures in restaurants. But what I can tell you is I had a really good meal at the red sea restaurant in City Heights yesterday.

There was a group of 8 of us and we ordered a veggie combo and a meat combo and I only sampled the veggie but it was great. A big injera with a large dollop of salad in the middle, surrounded by little bits of lentil curries, veg curry and collards. More injera were brought to mop up the delicious curries, and its all eaten family style.

The injera takes a bit of getting used to, its like a sour pancake, similar to the indian masala dosa but made with teff flour. Some people might be a bit intimidated by eating with their hands family style, I'd assume you could order a fork and and individual portion.

We also ordered beers, we had the choice of a 4.5%, 5.5% and stout (although he mentioned there being 7 types of beer) and the beers were quite sweet, but good with the curry.

What was a shock at the end was that this enormous meal for 8 with one or two beers came to $10 each including a generous tip! Recession buster or what.

If you want a trip to the exotic red sea then give this place a try!
Red Sea Restaurant
4717 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92105
619-285-9722

Mille Fleurs-a new dessert place in Hillcrest!

After a fantastic dinner at Kous Kous, I was determined to try the new swanky dessert place that had cropped up on the corner of 5th and University. It looked really beautiful sparkling in the darkness.

I ordered a spiced jasmine tea and we had the opera cake and a layered chocolate mousse cake topped with white chocolate (sorry, cant remember the name. They were both impeccable, delicious and well worth the money.


The waiters were all very dressed up in their long aprons and ties, there appeared to be more staff than customers even on a busy Saturday night, but I guess their throughput is enough that they can make a go of it.

I think this is a great spot for an afternoon tea and cake, but it was a little on the bright side for evening dessert. We're also looking forward to when they get their liquor licence as a glass of dessert wine is always a nice finish to an evening!

A day of beer and sunshine!

Kit Carson
Originally uploaded by jennywenny

It was a fun day out in Escondido, we visiting the spectacular sculpture garden in Kit Carson Park, which was of course very hot, but there were spots of shade to stand and admire the beautiful details.

We then made our way over to the Stone Brewery where we had a nice lunch followed by a brewery tour. We had a great afternoon. The food was good, if a little pricey, the beer was good for the boys, I found it far too bitter, which worked well as I was the designated driver! We enjoyed some delicious buffalo burgers and some interesting tempeh burgers, I probably wouldn't bother with the tempeh again, but you win some you lose some!

The tour was completely free and a lot of fun, we learned about all the aspects of brewing and I was most interested in the yeast. I thought it would be really fun to try their yeast to make some bread, but apparently their yeast is proprietary so we weren't allowed to try it.

After the tour we were treated to tastes of any of the beer we wanted. I had a sip of the pale ale, but the boys really got their moneys worth by trying absolutely everything and were quite rowdy in the car on the way home!!

We continued the festivities by dropping off the car and checking out the new Toronado in North Park, which I liked, but our friend was disappointed it wasn't as grimy as the original in San Francisco.

The evening finished with a nice dinner at Urban Solace. The BLT went down particularly well. We ordered the red velvet cake and the peanut creme brulee. The creme brulee was surprisingly good, it sounded gross, but somehow the top seemed like peanut brittle and the chocolate at the bottom was tasty. The red velvet cake was dry but came with delicious cream cheese frosting which was interspersed with nutty cocoa nibs.

Lucha Libre

I just got back from a very nice lunch at lucha libre, just off the I5 at Washington.

I'd been wanting to try it for a while, and picking up my husbands car from the garage seemed like the perfect opportunity. He had the Tijuana hot dog and I had the veggie quesadilla. The hot dog was pretty good and gave him his usual rush that bacon gives him so goodness knows what he's like now, I'm sure he's giving everyone at work hell!

The quesadilla was delicious, at only $4 it was a bargain. It had delicious grilled veggies, peppers zucchini and onion, black beans and cheese and was served with a dollop of quesadilla. I started to chow down on it and realised that I had twice as much as I thought and it was enough for lunch and dinner, even for a hungry person like me! Bargain!

I cant wait to go back and try more!

I guess those folks at chow were right this time. The parking seems a bit tricky but other than that I'd be happy to go back anytime!

Mothers Kitchen

Now that I'm finished with my extreme bike training, I know that one of the things I'm going to miss is Mothers Kitchen, situated at the top of Mount Palomar, its a lovely place to stop and have lunch, particularly in the Summer, when its so hot in the rest of San Diego, its just lovely and breezy and the air is clean and fresh.

The cafe is really friendly, with a lovely shady garden outside. The food is rustic and veggie. The last few times I've been, I've become addicted to their grilled cheese sandwiches, but they also do a wonderful lasagne, great mac and cheese and lots lots more.

Its a great excuse for a daytrip up to the Palomar Observatory for a hike and to learn about the stars. Or if you're nuts like me, consider a gentle 45 mile bike ride from Lake Wolford, with around 5000 ft of climbing and a personal photographer too!

Fabulous Foodie Weekend!

Well, I was so excited to return to The Better Half for the third time that I thought it couldnt possibly live up to expectations, but it was just wonderful again. We had a wonderful little mushroom crostini for our amuse, then the boys had a beautiful charcuterie, the highlight appeared to be the 'jewish bacon' pastrami(as described by the chef). I enjoyed an amazing spinach and chickpea soup with moroccan spices. My goodness it was wonderful, I should eat soup more often, its just so filling usually!

We were brought little lemon sorbets, which we loved, it made us feel like giants again and provoked much giggling.

For main course I had the tart de jour, which was delicious, with perfect pastry, and the boys had veal cheeks on a bed of a lentil type legume. They were blown away with it.

Dessert was also just wonderful. A delicious nutty almond and cherry rice pudding, and a sweet creme brulee with maple syrup. I really enjoyed this creme brulee, it was very sweet but the texture was just perfection, smooth and silky as I feel it should be.

Our second foodie trip was to check out Eclipse Chocolate. We had paninis, and they were both excellent, especially the beef one. I enjoyed a lavender truffle with salt on top. I've never had rock salt on top of chocolate like that before and it was truly amazing. I didnt really taste the soapy lavender much. I think it was more an infusion in the salt, which worked much better than other lavender things I've tasted.

Sorry, no piccies, I'm a bad blogger!

Sipz Vegetarian Cafe

For lunch today we decided to make a foray out the Sorrento Valley Food Court (woohoo!!). I think it is almost an extension of Qualcom but no one stopped us for not being an employee!

I had a pho with 'beef' strips and a boba iced tea. I got what I think mmyoso would call a small amount of salad to throw in it then a very small side salad. The whole thing came to $10.67.

I was very excited to try pho as I dont eat meat, so I cant have the normal stuff, this was nice, I gather the thing to do is throw all the salad stuff in with some hot sauce and I had some hoisin too for good measure. It was fairly bland until I added the chilli, then it was SPI-CYYYY!! Lots of noodles, very filling and it made my belly feel all warm and nice. The boba was just an experiment, kind of addictive but not sure why as the tapioca balls dont taste of anything.

My companion had a scary dayglo orange 'chicken' dish with some bland mushroom spring rolls. All ok but a bit synthetic tasting.

I'll definitely be back to try the indian place, Sitar, there was a gigantic line there and the paneer dishes are always my favourite, there were several to choose from. If anyone has ever been there then please let me know how it was!

The Better Half- a lovely hillcrest secret!

Wow. I heard about the better half in the City Beat review and realised it was our second closest restaurant and just had to check it out on Saturday. We loved it.

We were a little confused by the half bottle concept, they only do wine by the half bottle. I dont think they really need a gimmick to appeal to people, the fact that they have a good selection of half bottles is enough. Having said that, we really enjoyed the fact that we had a nice spy valley pinot with our first course and a wine that our waitress suggested with our second course.

We had a duck consomme for our amuse bouche. Being a non meat eater, I didnt have this but I'm assured it was very good. I was really touched that they brought me a slice of terrine instead.

I enjoyed a delicious beet salad which was an impossibly high stack which I had to topple. My companions devoured the charcouterie, and the uncured bacon belly. All wonderful.

They brought us a mango sorbet in a little cone and much hilarity ensued as we decided we were in lilliput with all the small things. Oh dear, the poor waitress.

We then moved on to the pasta which reminded me of something I'd had at trattoria aqua except much better, a seafood ravioli. We also had the pork scallopini and the duck two ways, and were served brussel sprouts, which were nice to try. All delicious.

Even though we'd had a lot to eat, we managed to share the bread pudding, which was sublime, the sour cherries cut through the sweetness beautifully. The creme brulee was good although it seemed a little overcooked. Maybe a bad day.

I'd highly recommend the place, it was wonderful. Very quiet. I hope they make a go of it, its had at least 4 incarnations in the 2 1/2 years we've been in Hillcrest. I really loved the service, being served amuse bouche, and sorbet, then bread rolls with tongs felt very old school and special.

Night out in North Park

We braved the rain on Saturday and got a cab over to North Park. I'm glad we did. We went to Urban Solace for dinner and it was really nice. I was surprised it wasnt as cozy as I'd expected, perfectly lovely decor, mind, but we were immediately happy with the beer selection and we got a seat at the bar while we waited for a table. We were a bit disappointed that reservations weren't possible, but we did get a table fairly quickly.

I'm really happy with the recent trend in having nicer and more diverse beers on tap, that can only be a good thing.

We chose biscuits and 'nibbles' for starters, the biscuits were outstanding and we had lovely pickled mushrooms, salty olives and sweet and spicy pecans. Mmmm.

For entree we had beef cheeks, and I had a lobster pot pie. Really good stuff! The beef cheeks were succulent, the mash was delicious and the pastry was all crumbly and nice on the pot pie. It was really nice not to be paying too much too, the entrees are around $15, which was very reasonable indeed.

I was too full for a dessert, but was tempted by the time we walked to heaven sent desserts. I chose a sarah bernhardt which was delicious, some kind of macaroon with chocolate mousse over it and a layer of dark chocolate. The plate was fussy (look at me, one semester of basic baking and I'm all hoity toity!) and the mexican chocolate I had wasnt great. I didnt care for the atmosphere, it was very bright and family oriented, I'm more interested in a dark and naughty dessert place with a nice dessert wine selection. Having said that, I'd probably find myself drawn to the place for that small confection I enjoyed if I was passing!!

Dede's

Just went for the most delicious szechuan food at Dede's on Convoy. Mmmm.

I steered clear of the husband and wife, as I dont eat meat, but they had delicious cold appetizers with edamame, bamboo shoots and seaweed type stuff.

The dishes that we had and really enjoyed were a dry fried whole chili shrimp, mushroom tofu, green beans, broccoli greens, I'm told the cumin lamb is just delicious, and the szechuan fish was really wonderful. It is really nicely fried with a crispy coating without being greasy and served with a spicy sauce. There were other beef and pork dishes that people really liked too.

I've been before, and I've been a little disappointed with my choices, but if you pick right, and go with tons of people and eat family style its an absolute gem!

Dede's Teajuice City
4647 Convoy St (between Dagget St & Opportunity Rd)
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 279-5999

Eating out-La Vache

Well, we've recently revisited one of our local favorites, La Vache in Hillcrest. Its so close that it would have to be pretty bad for us to stop visiting. The restaurant is a nice cosy little bistro and is usually fairly busy, although they dont allow reservations for less than 4.

They definitely have their positives and negatives, on the plus side, they have delicious crusty bread with a lovely soft interior, with delicious chive butter. They also have a reasonably priced wine list. We find that the service is variable, despite the fact we've been visiting frequently for over 2 years now!!

Its the kind of place that we always order the same thing, the boys just love the charcuterie plate. It comes with some fairly average brie, a lovely pate, and a few different salamis. There is a really nicely dressed bit of salad on the side.

The boys always have exactly the same thing, steak au poivre with fries, medium rare. Its served more on the french side of medium rare and they never order anything else. They feel that there is no point ordering this dish anywhere else, la vache is without equal. The fries are very thin and just perfectly seasoned and cooked.

I order all kinds of different things, the shrimp and scallop salad is delicious, I've had their gnocci and pizza and the fish is ok. I often order the scallops on pastry with a saffron sauce, although I'm always a little disappointed by the over-use of saffron.

We've tried all of the desserts on the menu and they all seem to be from the freezer, bought from outside with the exception of the crepes, which were rubbery. The lemon tart is passable, creme brulee is orange flavored although its not mentioned on the menu. I'd advise going elsewhere.