Category

660 K Street, San Diego, CA 92101
http://www.soleilatk.com/

It’s just as the name of the restaurant says… Soleil at K Street and 6th and is located on the first floor of the Marriott hotel. Parking is pretty hard to find around downtown, so I reccomend using the valet parking. You get 3 hour free parking at the valet if you are just dining at the restaurant (just remember to have your waiter validate your ticket). The restaurant isn’t too hard to spot because it is on the left hand side when you first walk through the marriott.

It’s always nice to get bread with your meal because it gives you something to chew on while you wait for your food to be cooked. The baguette came in a spiffy Soleil@k bag and to my surprise we didn’t get butter. We actually got hummus instead! Definitely a nice change from the normal bread and butter. The hummus was a little on the gritty side (I personally like my hummus smoother), but Vida said that the grittiness made it taste real and not fake like most other hummus. It was toppped off with a little sprinkle of cayenne and a drizzle of olive oil. All restaurants should now give hummus instead of butter!

For our appetizer we decided on sharing the “Spicy Lobster Quesadilla($15)”. It wasn’t even that spicy and kind of bland. There were a couple of pieces of loster in it, but the slice I got barely had any in it. I enjoyed eating the guacamole more than the quesadilla itself. The sides really did save this dish and without this would have been very bland. I didn’t think this item was worth it for the price and it wasn’t that great.

I just know that someone is going to yell at me one day for always ordering seafood dishes. I got the “Seared Rare Tuna($24)” and I just couldn’t pass on this one. The Tuna is plated on top of a celery root puree(I thought it was mashed potatoes at first), shitake mushrooms, fresh peas, and a chive vinaigrette. While I was cutting into the fish, I thought that the fish was a bit tough; however I suddenly realized I had been cutting against the grain, when I should have been cutting along the grain. Once I started cutting along the grain, the fish was just melting in my mouth. To get the best taste from this dish, the tuna really has to be eaten with a little bit of everything on the plate. The shitake mushrooms blended really well with the tuna and the fresh peas helped give the dish that crunch. They must have used a fine quality olive oil because I could really taste the fruitiness of the olives. Overall this dish was superb and I found myself scraping the dish for the last bit of celery root puree and olive oil because it was just that good.

Once our meal ended, our waiter brought us a big cone of cotton candy. This was a first for me to actually get a cone of cotton candy at the end of the meal. We ended up taking this with us to the sky bar on top of the Marriott, where we had our after dinner drinks. This restaurant is pricey, but then again what restaurant isn’t in downtown. You’re most likely paying for the ambiance. I’d come back again, but it would most likely be for a special occasion.

8oz Filet Mignon($35)

Farm Raised Atlantic Salmon($17)                Local Pacfic Halibut($26)

Taste: 8/10
Atmosphere: 4/5
Presentation: 4/5
Total: 16/20

10911 Westminster Blvd. Garden Grove, CA. 92843. (714) 638 - 8315.

http://royalcapitalseafood.com/

This was sometime ago near the beginning of summer. Everyone was finished with the school semeter/quarter and we all decided to celebrate with some lobster! Hai has been to Royal Capital a couple of times before and tells us that he has actually driven there from San Diego just for lobster. So either this place is really good, or he is just too crazy.

Now, there were about 12 of us eating lobster, so we asked for about 15 fifteen pounds. Of course, you can never get precisely what you want because you have to get a whole lobster, so I think we ended up having 15.5, which is close enough. The lobster meal comes with tons of yummy and thick chow mein noodles underneath.

In the end, we were full and I was broke. Everybody chipped in for the $300 bill and we left in search for a dessert shop. =)
Taste: 8/10
Presentation: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Total: 14/20

8993 Mira Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92126. (858) 537-9683

I was hungry. Therefore, it was pretty easy to persuade me to try a new restaurant… Silver Ark in Mira Mesa. It’s next to Rite Aid (who is apparently welcoming Sav-on customers or at least that’s what their giant sign says).

And when I say new, I mean no one else has heard of this place. We were the only two customers. Even so, the service was poor. After they brought out our food, they didn’t come by to check if we needed anything or ask how the food was. I did like the decor though. The rich blue and yellow. If you look closely at the chairs and the floor, it seemed regal.

Seafood Chow Mein ($12.95 or $13.95) - sorry, but I didn’t take the detailed receipt. I enjoyed the jumbo shrimp on top of the fried noodles. There is a sauce, which is poured over the noodles. It makes the noodles less crispy, which is how I prefer it. There were other types of seafood (fish, squid, and scallops) and veggies, but I didn’t try them. Honestly, this wasn’t my idea of chow mein. It was more like a bird’s nest.

Bowl of rice ($1). I don’t think they should charge extra for a staple such as rice. How else would Asians eat?

Fish Fillet Portuguese Style ($10.95 or $11.95). I felt like having a little adventure and trying something different. Having been to Portugal, I was pretty sure the Portuguese don’t cook with curry in their foods… nonetheless, when I first tried it, I thought it was delicious. The lightly fried fish still maintained a nice juiciness and the curry sauce had a little spicy kick to it. This dish reminded me of the delicious Honey Shrimp at Tea Wiz/ Tea Rex near SDSU. (Too bad it’s not offered anymore.) But after a while, I grew tired of this dish… almost losing my appetite. I’m not sure why.

Anyway, Silver Ark offers seafood, BBQ, and dim sum. We went for dinner and sadly missed out on the dim sum. Maybe that would have been a better experience.

Taste: 7/10
Presentation: 3/5
Service: 1/5
Total: 11/20

675 L Street @ the Omni Hotel, san Diego, CA 92101

http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/

I am such a big lover of seafood that when I found out about this seafood restaurant, I knew I had to try this place out. The restaurant is about 2 stories high and located inside the Omni Hotel. They are known for their fresh sea food and $1.95 bar food(minimum beverage purchase required). The menu is printed out daily to reflect the fresh seafood that the the restaurant gets that day. They have many private booths with closeable curtains for those whom want a more private or intimate setting. The restaurant faces the convention center and the walls are all glass, so the view is just amazing.

While we were being seated, I took a glance around the restaurant and my thoughts were just “muy romantico”. The lighting was very dim and the tables were lit with individual candle lamps. The waitress brought us our sourdough bread and whipped butter on a plate. She then told us about the drink specials and that the drinks were all shaken. Her suggestion made me glance over at their bar and at that point really tempted me to buy a drink. The bar has an extensive assortment of bottles.

Our soup was brought to us and one of the chefs had asked us if we wanted pepper. He then brought out one of those long pepper grinders and cracked fresh pepper over our soup. I didn’t know we had to tell them to stop or else they keep grinding pepper into your soup, so my soup had a little extra pepper. The waitress had asked Hanh, if she enjoyed her soup. Hanh told our waitress she didn’t really like it too much, and the waitress apoligized and said she would take it off the bill. We told her it was ok and she didn’t have to, but she insisted on taking it off. I must say the service was excellent and our waitress was really attentive to us.

Hanh decided on having the “Dungeness Crab and Shrimp Cakes” which came with a red pepper aioli dipping sauce($21.85). The dish came with sides of green beans and carrots, and some wild rice. The green beans could have been cooked a little bit longer because it was on the raw side. Best part of the dish would have to be the aioli dipping sauce. Hanh’s major concerns about the food was that the food wasn’t worth the price and that it was a bit plain. Her comment on it was that, “She had expected more”.

I chose the “White Sea Bass” served with mussles and fingerling potatoes in a curry sauce($18.85). My mussles tasted really fishy, so I didn’t enjoy them too much. I thought the white sea bass was a bit overcooked(but that’s just my opinion because I like my fish cooked medium). I must say the fingerling potatoes were perfect and cooked just right. I thought my sauce was going to be a little spicey, but it was bland. The sauce had a creamy consistency and coated the poatoes really well.

Overall the food was just mediocre for the price we paid. I am going to give this restaurant the benefit of the doubt. I have decided that it might have just been bad choices on what we ordered. I will give this place a second chance because the place is really nice.

Taste: 6/10
Service: 4/5
Atmosphere: 4/5
Total: 14/20