Hi all,
We are back from San Diego, and I wanted to report back in case this helps anyone in the future. Here’s what we ate:
Christmas Eve - We picked up takeout food from Aladdin in Clairemont. We tried falafel (decent but a bit dry), grilled chicken skewers (excellent and very moist), and a variety of mezze (hummus, babaganoush, labneh, pink hummus made w/ beets, pickles, garlic sauce and green sauce) which were all excellent. Also ordered one small pepperoni pizza that was decent. We also ordered some salads (Greek and Fattoush) which were nothing special, but generous servings. With lots of pita bread, we were able to make very nice wraps with these ingredients. Worked out well, and my parents said the folks there were very friendly.
We also picked up groceries at the Vons in Clairemont, and I found it to be very well stocked and had a very decent produce selection.
Christmas Day: We went and explored Balboa Park in the morning after breakfast at the Airbnb, and then decided against dim sum (since most places opened at 10), but instead arrived at Dumpling Inn right at 11 AM when they opened. This was a great choice – easy to get a table for the 6 of us, and we had quick service. By the time we left, restaurant was mostly full, but meanwhile Jasmine Dim Sum next door was super busy with a huge wait (and from what I have read, mediocre food). For dessert, we tried the shaved snow and ube soft-serve at Iceskimo and enjoyed it.
On Christmas night we cooked at the airbnb, plus ate leftover salad from night before.
On the morning of the 26th, we were up early and headed to breakfast at The Cottage in La Jolla. Arriving around 7:45 AM, there was no problem getting a table. I eat here almost every time I visit San Diego, and it was about the same as every other time. Very generous servings, good coffee, great baked goods (cinnamon roll, scone, healthy banana muffin). Chilaquiles were too spicy for me this time, which was a disappointment. Various scrambles were good, including the vegan scramble bowl made. Kid portion of pancakes was huge. After breakfast, we went to see the seals and sea lions, which was great entertainment for our 3-yr-old.
Evening of the 26th we went to Blue Water Seafood in Ocean Beach (after visiting a cool playground in Mission Bay). Overall, the fish was very fresh but I think maybe we ordered poorly and were a little disappointed. Best things were the special shrimp taco and the fried shrimp. More disappointing were the sandwiches and plain (non-fried) tacos. The kids menu fish+chips was actually pretty good too. I think on a future visit, we’d go elsewhere for fish tacos. But this place was easy to get a table and made everyone happy enough.
Hope this helps someone in the future! San Diego is a great city to visit with kids, and very easy to get around.
