One of my personal missions for this year is to visit the beach more often. I remember a prior happy hour visit to Duck Dive where I took my *favorite* overhead shot while a cool ocean breeze ruffled my hair. With a new California and Baja menu at Duck Dive, we accepted a media invitation to revisit this popular Pacific Beach spot. BEACH DAY! Caitlyn was our friendly server for the day.
Mezcal Me, Maybe? $7 and the Peach Bramble $7
What's not to love about having a few drinks during your meal? Dennis's mezcal drink had a hint of smokiness without overpowering the passion fruit flavor! The grapefruit influence was more subdued because we couldn't really taste it! My girlie drink was very peachy and it seemed to have that invigorating fruity appeal you'd find while browsing Bath and Body Works. Has THAT ever popped into your mind during sippy time? A first for me! Both cocktails were on the sweeter side which left me very content.
The annual San Diego Latino Film Festival is hugely popular and recently introduced a foodie festival as part of the week's events. This year marked the second annual Sabor Latino food, beer and wine festival. Similar to Latin Food Fest, there were plenty of fabulous chefs, local and across the Mexican border, sharing their heartfelt creations and spreading their fondness for food. The full ticket also included unlimited beer and wine tastings from the participating vendors.
I've never attended any festivals in Mission Valley so ended up parking farther than anticipated (near the trolley station) of Fashion Valley Mall. Tents were actually set up between two parking structures just south of the AMC theater and food court area.
My plus one and I had general admission tickets which let us in at 2pm (VIP enters at 1pm). We were lucky enough to stop by for some paella from Paella Villa de Cervantes before they ran out! The portions were plentiful which may have contributed the short supply.
I love how this shot of Chef Daniella from Cocina Secret turned out. With their tent's background, it was almost as if we were in some resort being personally served by the chef!
Here's a closeup of her shrimp and quinoa ceviche with mango coconut cream plus a touch of curry. Yes it was tasty.
When a friend visits from out of town, what better way to catch up than over a meal at a new restaurant? It was SDRW and I stumbled upon Old Venice Restaurant, one of the stops from last year's Taste of Point Loma. With a lunch price of $10, we couldn't resist this opportunity to revisit. NOTE: this was last year's price and it went up to $15 for this year.
With our crew of four (me, Dennis, little brother Robin, and friend) we tried almost everything on the prix fixe menu!
Appetizers:
Pesto Baked Feta - sheep's milk feta baked with pesto oil garnished with sun-dried tomato
We basically ordered CHEESE with toppings and it was a delightful starter!
We've been dining at Cohn restaurants for years now (happy birthday babe!) and finally made it out to Sea180° Coastal Tavern. There's one main reason for the tardiness... it's a 40+ minute drive for us to Imperial Beach! Still, the allure of Cohn Anniversary week had us going the distance. A two-course meal was the price of the year which meant $20.17! Street parking was easy peasy in January too!
The restaurant is part of the Pier South Resort. Their patio was perfect for people watching along Imperial Beach shore though there was a bit of chill in the air.
I like the reflection of the waters and umbrella from this entrance. We cozied up on a patio table to browse the anniversary menu. First the appetizers...
Celebrate Latino flavors and culture with us at Sabor Latino Food, Beer & Wine Fest! We invite you to enjoy unlimited food tastings inspired by celebrated Latino chefs, as well as unlimited beer and wine tastings provided by over 20 of the best craft breweries and wineries from San Diego and Baja California! We’ll also have live music and art showcases all day!
All proceeds benefit the Media Art Center San Diego’s youth education and outreach programs.
DATE AND TIME:
Saturday March 18, 2017 from 1-5pm VIP or 2-5pm GA
LOCATION
Fashion Valley Mall in front of AMC 18 movie theaters and “River Plaza” area. This is the south side of mall in between two parking structures on the bottom level.
TICKETS
You can purchase your tickets here and save $5 using code "ohsoyummy". There are also designated driver tickets for those who don't drink. This is a 21+ event.
I'm always telling myself that we need to brunch more. Hectic work week leads to sleeping later weekends (especially for this night owl) but admittedly, good food is worth getting out of bed for. We were invited to check out Dunedin, a New Zealand inspired restaurant in North Park. After lucking out with street parking a block away, we walked into the bustling establishment and were quickly seated by the host.
At the bar, we noticed our first perk of the morning... $1 mimosas! Those all you can drink deals work if your stomach is "bottomless" but seriously, I can only handle 2 or so drinks. This was perfect! We went for the flavors of blood orange (Dennis's fav) and pineapple (my fav) but there's also the choice of the standard oj and champagne. Keep 'em coming!
Shrimp and Pineapple: grilled shrimp & pineapple, peppers, arugula, avocado, peri peri
I first found Trade Winds Tavern after my coworkers set up an impromptu happy hour there. We were lured in by the $3 craft beer special throughout the month of February! My existing go-to for craft beer was happy hour at Crab Hut Mira Mesa but this one was much closer to my workplace! I sipped on a Ginja Ninja cider while waiting for Dennis to pick me up for dinner. Since we were going to Tin Roof that night, I only tried a few bites of their miso cod special.
A few days later, unrelated to that visit, I received an invitation to a media preview. As you can guess, we were more than willing to explore their food and drink menu!
Usually there are more tables inside but they opened up the space for the media event. We grabbed drinks at the bar and sat down at a nearby table. A DJ provided some jams for the evening.
Are you ready for some burger specials? SDCityBeat once again is running their San Diego Burger Week promotion! This year the burgers are $6 with add-on options of fries or beers for a little more!
The dates are February 24 through March 4 for 2017! We'll be participating through our instagram account (ohsoyummyreview) so follow us to join in on the fun (burgers and all kinds of food and drink).
I like my spreadsheets so created one listing all the locations with their specials! These can be sorted by Restaurant name or area! Hope this helps out in your planning!
