Category Archives: restaurants

SHIMBASHI Izakaya – Del Mar

Posted on May 9, 2012 | 4 Comments

Disclosure: Our meal was complimentary, but I was not compensated for this review. As always, all opinions are my own.

My office isn’t that far from Del Mar, but I still rarely find myself taking advantage of the delicious restaurants we’ve recently discovered. Some of it is because it’s just a hair too far away for a quick lunch break; the other part is because after work I just want to go home, which is in a completely different direction than Del Mar. When I was offered an opportunity to explore the menu at Shimbashi Izakaya, I figured I might as well expand my list of Del Mar dining options.

What I’m learning is that we should be spending more time in Del Mar eating…

Continue reading →

→ 4 Comments

Posted in food, restaurants

Tagged , , , ,

Zodiac Cocktails at Burlap

Posted on April 6, 2012 | 3 Comments

Disclosure: Our meal was complimentary but I was not compensated for this review. As always, all opinions are my own.

As you may have heard, this guy named Brian Malarkey has been opening restaurants all over San Diego.  Burlap is his second (Searsucker being the first, Gingham the third, and most recently Gabardine) and, to be completely honest with you, I was fairly certain I was never going to set foot in Burlap.  I wasn’t sure about the asian-cowboy-social-dining experience.  I’d already been scarred, but when I heard about their Zodiac cocktails concept, I was admittedly intrigued.

Continue reading →

→ 3 Comments

Posted in food, restaurants

Tagged , ,

Kitchen 1540 – Del Mar

Posted on February 22, 2012 | 11 Comments

For Christmas, Travis gave me the gift of a fabulous meal.  He printed out menus from all sorts of “higher end” spots in San Diego and said we could go anywhere.  We would get to see what San Diego cuisine has to offer and I wouldn’t have to think about how it would fit into our household “dining out” budget.  It was a pretty awesome gift.

After our trip to Portland and fabulously ridiculous meal at Castagna, I was curious about Kitchen 1540.  I had heard really good things about it, but also knew they had recently had a chef change.  I tried not to have huge expectations, but it turns out my fears were unfounded.

Continue reading →

→ 11 Comments

Posted in food, places, restaurants

Castagna – Portland

Posted on February 20, 2012 | 5 Comments

I mentioned we did a lot of good eating over our long-weekend trip to Portland. It’s pretty common for us to cram a lot into a relatively short trip, but even I was impressed that we managed to cross so many tasty bites off our list.  We flew in Thursday morning and then home Sunday afternoon.  That only leaves so many meals, snacks, and beer breaks.  Throw in a day at the coast and meeting friends for dinner, and we really only had our first night in town dedicated to dinner of my choosing.

Based on some Chowhound research and cross-referencing various recommendations, I figured we could either go to Little Bird or Castagna for dinner.  The menu at Little Bird looked to be French-inspired, while the set menu at Castagna looked… well, intriguing.  Intriguing enough that Travis was willing to indulge my curiosity.

Continue reading →

→ 5 Comments

Posted in food, places, restaurants

Tagged , ,

Osetra the Fishhouse

Posted on February 13, 2012 | 2 Comments

Disclosure: Our meal was complimentary but I was not compensated for this review. As always, all opinions are my own.

We don’t spend a lot of time downtown, but I appreciate knowing some good spots in the Gaslamp for when we are in the area and happen to be hungry.  Or, if we’re looking for a special place to go for a good meal.  I had never been to Osetra the Fishhouse, so when the ladies at BAM Communications invited me to check out their special Valentine’s Day oyster shooters, I asked if we could also arrange a little sample of the dinner menu.  Happily, they obliged and I made plans for a fun dinner in the Gaslamp.

Continue reading →

→ 2 Comments

Posted in food, restaurants

Tagged , , ,