“Rest & Relaxation”

Omni Hotel (A: 675 L. Street, San Diego, CA  92101.  P: 619-231-6664.  W: omnihotels.com) is a modern hotel in the historic Gaslamp Quarter.  I had a nice workout in the sizable fitness center until about a dozen thirteen to sixteen year-olds entered and then it became – “spaz babies gone wild”.  Uncoordinated running on treadmills with flip flops, running barefoot on treadmills, yelling, draining the cooler of the free spa water with fresh chunks of pineapple…the list goes on.  Such is life in this VERY touristy town.

Omni Hotel

View: Our Room

“Touring”

Seaport Village (A: 849 W. Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA  92101.  P: 619-235-4014.  W: seaportvillage.com) was the only real sightseeing we did on this trip.  Our focus was more dining and relaxing on this trip so eating, drinking, sleep and college football games in the room were our focus.  Saturday was warm so I left the Elf at the Hyatt lobby while I gave Seaport Village a quick twenty minute perusal.  My assessment is this place is 98% tourist “hoo ha”.  The shops were of zero interest to me as I’m guessing the restaurants would be as well.  Next!

Seaport Village

“Sniffing and Savoring”

Nobu (A: 207 Fifth Avenue, San Diego, CA  92101.  P: 619-814-4124. W: noburestaurants.com).  My buddy Gerardi has spoken passionately of Nobu for years so I’m glad we finally got around to trying one out.  It presents itself as an “exclusive club” with an entrance inside the Hard Rock Hotel with no moniker identifying its entrance.  The Omni Hotel is literally (diagonally) across the street.

The décor inside is ultra-modern with loud music projecting from speakers above.  I know, I know…”if it’s too loud, you’re too old.”  Regardless, don’t expect to do much conversing here as the Elf didn’t appreciate that she had to repeat herself or shout at me (okay the latter she minded less) prior to dinner arriving.  Rating = A.

Nobu: Dining Room

Our menu choices included the following:

“new style” scallop sashimi; sashimi salad with Matsuhisa dressing; lobster Inaniwa with Yuzu dressing; grilled black cod with miso; rock shrimp tempura with creamy spicy sauce or butter ponzu sauce; salmon belly sashimi with Karashi-su-Miso sauce; coconut rice pudding with matcha green tea gelato (it was supposed to be Malaga rum raisin cherry gelato); guava, matcha green tea and lychee mochi ice cream.

The marinade on the salmon belly sashimi is terrific.  I taste or see, orange juice, miso with a slight sweetness and black pepper flecks.  This was my favorite dish of the night.

Salmon Belly Sashimi

The sashimi salad was likely the most ordinary of the dishes but plenty tasty with a nice oniony soy dressing.  The new style scallop was so delicate and buttery with onion flavors as well.

Sashimi Salad

The lobster Inaniwa with yuzu dressing was rather odd for us.  The noodles tasted like thin buckwheat udon noodles and had a lemony taste.  We found them to be nice tasting although this helped confirm that neither of us are big fans of cold noodles.

Nobu: Lobster Inaniwa

The rock shrimp tempura tasted exquisite with the creamy spicy mayo sauce being preferred to the butter ponzu sauce.

Rock Shrimp Tempura

The black cod miso had a very heavy miso flavor with blackened skin.  As good as it was I still prefer sea bass miso due to it having a more delicate and soft texture.

Black Cod Miso

The coconut rice pudding didn’t really work for me as it wasn’t thick and creamy as I’d hoped.  It consisted of brown rice served in a heated mini-kettle.

Coconut Rice Pudding

Bella enjoyed all three flavors of her mochi ice cream.  Per Wikipedia.com, mochi ice cream is a Japanese confection made from mochi (pounded sticky rice) with an ice cream filling.

Nobu: Mochi Ice Cream

Café 222 (A: 222 Island Avenue, San Diego, CA  92101.  P: 619-236-9902.  W: cafe222.com).  We wait outside with a dozen other anxious patrons.

Cafe 222: Exterior

Once seated, we ordered orange pecan pancakes and sausage and eggs over easy.  The coffee isn’t big bodied and tastes pretty harsh even with a generous amount of cream and sugar.  I’m sniffing Robusta beans (versus Arabica beans) all over this subpar java.  The pancakes are huge and way too much for one 41 year-old male.  They taste okay but I’d hoped for more pecans (and more evenly distributed) and a heavier orange flavor.

Cafe 222: Sausage and Eggs

Orange Pecan Pancakes

As I approached forty it was crystal clear that there were certain foods that I should leave for the youngsters (i.e. donuts, cinnamon rolls, pancakes, pizza etc.).  With a slowing metabolism I found it is best to avoid or strictly limit anything with too much fat, too many carbs or simply too large a portion size.  Rating = B.

Lion Coffee (A: 101 Market Street, #100, San Diego, CA  92101.  P: 619-299-5466.  W: coffee-hawaii.com) was our post-breakfast stop to get some real brew.  I ordered a small Kona French Roast and a bag of Kona French Roast to-go.  It’s a bit bolder than the traditional Kona coffee I’m used to (Peet’s) given the French roast factor but is still quite smooth and the quality is very good.  Rating = A-.

George’s Ocean Terrace (A: 1250 Prospect Street, La Jolla, CA  92037.  P: 858-454-4244.  W: georgesatthecove.com).  In 2009 we dined at “George’s California Modern”.  Tonight we’re dining at “George’s Ocean Terrace”.

George’s: A Determined Elf Studies Menu…

Our menu choices included the following:

crispy calamari with fennel and Meyer lemon aioli; Asian marinated skirt steak with garlic spinach and buttermilk onion rings; mahi mahi with potato gnocchi, pancetta, artichoke, shitake mushrooms, red-wine grape vinaigrette; pumpkin bread pudding with cranberry orange compote, spiced apple cider caramel sauce and salted caramel ice cream; sticky toffee pudding cake with poached pear, spiced mascarpone cream, salted pecans and bourbon toffee sauce.

The sauce on my skirt steak is a thin and lightly sweetened teriyaki.  I’ve never been a huge fan of teriyaki sauce but this is not overpowering.  There is nice char on the cut strips of steak and it is visually enticing.

George’s: Asian Skirt Steak

The mahi mahi isn’t delicate and flaky like sea bass but it has a pleasant and mild taste.  My sautéed garlic spinach has a kick of black pepper which normally rubs me wrong but works okay here.  More surprising was the fact that the garlic was the ingredient that nearly pushed my palate too far.

My pumpkin bread pudding had a perfect balance of sweet and spice and was scrumptious.  And thankfully there were no nasty ass raisins.  Bella’s sticky toffee pudding cake had a very light cinnamon taste and was a sweeter dessert than mine.  A cappuccino and macchiato serve as companions with our desserts.  Rating = A.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Toffee Pudding Cake

The Mission Restaurant is our stop for our last meal of the trip.  A superfluous amount of peeps are hanging out with us on the porch as we wait for a table.  The day is hot already so hopefully a table will open sooner than later as the sun is unavoidable.

Mission Restaurant: Porch

We ordered soy chorizo and eggs and chicken apple sausage and eggs with rosemary breakfast potatoes and rosemary bread.  This was my first tasting of soy chorizo and eggs which taste drier and less spicy than traditional chorizo and eggs due to the lack of oily sausage meat.

Soy Chorizo and Eggs

Mission’s coffee is much better than what we had at Café 222.  It is smooth, full-bodied and delicious.  Their creamer looks and tastes like soymilk which doesn’t really “cut the mustard” even in the spirit of healthier green living.  I should’ve asked if this “green” restaurant had whole milk or half and half.  Rating = A.

We cut through Petco Park (home of the San Diego Padres) on our way back to our hotel.  Our hotel connects directly to the park via escalators inside of our hotel lobby.

Petco Park

Café Zucchero (A: 1731 India Street, San Diego, CA  92101.  P: 619-531-1731.  W: cafezuccchero.com) is a great place for a cannolo pastry.  I pick-up two cannoli and one donut dusted with table sugar, stuffed with sweetened ricotta cheese and chocolate chips.  I can’t recall the name for it.  It is either a cassatini or a sfogliatelle.  The internet wasn’t any real help and I forgot to check with the bakery staff.  I’m pretty sure it is a cassatini.  Rating = A.