Our second “living room” in San Diego - Juniper and Ivy. We had many, many great nights at the restaurant and so every time we are visiting the city we always include a visit to this place. And always trying to sit at the kitchen or dessert counter. The food is still great and cooked with a lot of creativity - like many restaurants after the pandemic the timing in the kitchen and service was sometimes a bit off but that didn’t really impacted the overall experience a lot.
Mahi mahi handrolls - sushi rice, yuzu koshi aioli, furikake, tamari
Rockfish tostada - pumpkin gochujang, pickled squash, salsa matcha
Raw fish dishes were always a strength of the kitchen
Caramelized pears - chai spiced pecan butter, petit agour, pumpkin pecan bread
Flavorful spread of the petit agour with the different spices and good sweetness from the pears
Tuna belly crudo - cucumber, cilantro, lime zest, asian pear fish sauce
More raw fish with the asian pear fish sauce giving it a nice funky flavor
Charred green beans - broccoli, n’duja vinaigrette, soft cooked egg, savory smacks
It’s hard to make charred green beans bad but the n’duja and soft egg added a lot of nice flavors
Duck sausage - broccoli, carrot, farro
Comfort food
Agnolotti - black trumpet mushrooms, polenta, parmesan
Really nice mixture of texture and flavors
Reed avocado - crispy pork belly, cherry tomatoes, buckwheat, smoked egg yolk
A play on a BLT with a nice smokey flavor
Uni linguine - chorizo, cotija, kale, sea urchin
Really good variation on pasta carbonara but with pristine uni added to give it a noce briney, ocean-like flavor
Japanese cheesecake - persimmon caramel, cinnamon streusel, oatmeal cookie ice cream
Good combination of flavors especially with the persimmon
Affogato yodel - dark chocolate, vanilla bean snow, espresso ganache
Classic dessert from J&I and in some form always on the menu - for a good reason
