San Diego Trip Report September 2024

[Mr_Happy]

I visited sunny San Diego last week for a few days.

Taka

I arrived on a Thursday evening from SFO and had dinner at Taka in the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego.

I had the Sushi Omakase ($130). They also have a sashimi omakase (also $130) and a sushi and sashimi omakase ($165), and an a la carte menu.

The first bites - from left to right:
ankimo / monkfish liver - delicious
octopus with a pepper (sansho pepper?) sauce - nice and tender
marinated jellyfish - crunchy and vinegary
oyster with San Diego uni and ikura - delicious

I also had some Asahi Super Dry Zero non-alcoholic beer, which actually tasted a lot like Asahi.

Next, sushi!

Kanpachi / amberjack - very nice

Giant clam - I think this was mirugai / geoduck clam. A little crunchy with a nice wrap of toasted nori

Toro, from Mexico - I think this was chutoro, topped with a little salt. Delicious!

Octopus, with a little umeboshi / salted plum paste I think on top

Aji / horse mackerel

Kinmedai / golden eye snapper - really good

King salmon - also really good, and rich

Marinated yellowfin tuna - I believe this is akami / tuna marinated in a sauce containing soy and mirin. Great!

Halibut fin / engawa - this was torched, very good

Shrimp - I believe this was a spot prawn. It was still kicking before being quickly dispatched and made into nigiri. The head and tail were made into a miso soup later. You also had a choice of deep frying the head instead. Super fresh (obviously) and sweet shrimp.

Uni / sea urchin, local from San Diego. Delicious!

Ikura / salmon roe, which I think maybe had some shiso in there? It had a shiso / vanilla like flavor.

And I forget what this piece was!

The aforementioned miso soup made from the shrimp head and tail. It was a very good miso soup. I picked out the meat from the head.

Anago / saltwater eel, which was served warm.

Tamago / egg, which was a little too wet for my taste.

Cheesecake. Finally for dessert, a little piece of cheesecake that was light and not too sweet.

This was a very enjoyable dinner. The sushi was all quite good. The neta / toppings in particular were very good. Some highlights for me were the toro (natch), the kinmedai, the akami, the king salmon, and the local uni. I’m not a sushi connoisseur but IMHO the rice was good but not as perfectly executed as some of the (usually more pricy) sushi places that I’ve been to. I thought that it was a pretty decent value for $130 considering the quality of food. And quantity - I didn’t feel the need any more food afterwards.

Chef Taka (who is not the namesake of the restaurant), a gracious and affable host.

[Mr_Happy]

Ironside Fish & Oyster Bar

I stayed in Little Italy for this trip, and I had lunch on Friday at Ironside Fish & Oyster Bar in Little Italy down the street from my hotel.

The IG friendly interior has some nautical touches.

To drink - a Virgin Mojito ($5), which had passionfruit. It was tart and refreshing.

I had a half dozen oysters ($21). They were nicely shucked and came with a card with tasting notes. Condiments were fresh horseradish, mignonette, lemon, and some house hot sauce.

And the Fish & Chips ($28) with the fries subbed out for a half order of the chowder fries. The chowder fries are medium cut fries seasoned with Old Bay and covered with clam chowder, which had bacon and whole clams. It works, the fries were very good. I think it would have been even better if the fries were a little crispier. The piece of fish was nicely fried in I think a beer batter, and was white and flaky. It was served with tartar sauce and malt vinegar on the side.

Menu

[ipsedixit]

@Mr_Happy

I had lunch on Friday at Ironside Fish & Oyster Bar in Little Italy

The best part of going to Ironside is getting some ice cream at Salt & Straw next door.

Looks like you had a nice trip, thanks for sharing.

[Amandarama (Amanda)]

Every time we’ve walked by Ironside on vacation they’ve been really busy. One of these days we’ll get there!

We had pretty good bar food down the street at Bar One. Like the sausage plates and the beer/wine selection there. I miss when they used to have a pie of the week!

[Mr_Happy]

I did go to Salt & Straw once later and it was quite good. We do fortunately also have a few Salt & Straw locations here in SF too.

[Mr_Happy]

@Amandarama

We had pretty good bar food down the street at Bar One. Like the sausage plates and the beer/wine selection there. I miss when they used to have a pie of the week!

Cool, will save that on the list for next time

[Mr_Happy]

Juniper and Ivy

For dinner on Friday, I went to Juniper and Ivy in Little Italy.

The space is large and dark with high ceilings.

Menus

I ordered one of each of the items in the “Just a Bite” section of the menu.

YELLOWTAIL TOSTADA ($5)
aguachile / avocado crema / cucumber / j&i tajin
This was a good little yellowtail aguachile tostada.

SD TUNA HANDROLL ($5)
wasabi mayo / hass avocado / serrano ponzu / ginger furikake
This was great! It was like a hand roll with tuna and avocado but with a shiso leaf as wrapper instead of nori.

Handroll detail

WAGYU STEAK TARTARE ($12)
bluefin tonnato / sundried tomato molasses / pickled habanada / brioche
Yum! Steak tartare on a buttery soft toast with a savory creamy tonnato sauce.

YAKITORI PORK BELLY ($10)
banana ketchup glaze / birdseye sugarcane gel / aleppo oil
The pork skewer was good, with a sweet and sour sauce that had a little heat.

PIXCA FARMS SQUASH BLOSSOM ($15)
wild tiger shrimp mousse / chipotle aioli / espelette
Delicious! This was like a shrimp dumpling filling stuffed in a squash blossom and then fried tempura style, with some savory smoky aioli on the side.

And from the “Pantry” section:

CARNE CRUDA TART ($18)
cotija / jalapeño lime crema / egg yolk jam / masa azul
This was good. It had bit of a Mexican influence with the tostada-like corn shell and the crumbly Cotija cheese. There were little dots of egg yolk “jam” that added more richness.

And then some items from the “Small Plates” section:

OYSTER SISIG ($20)
corn battered / eben-haezer farm egg /calamansi aioli / ginger blossom
This was very good. It was crispy fried oysters with a sour citrus Filipino-inspired sisig-like sauce, and an egg yolk in the middle.

SQUID INK LINGUINI ($32)
san diego uni / smoked trout roe / uni butter / espelette
Great! This pasta dish had some really nicely textured thick pasta with a umami sauce that had uni and a bit of garlic, briny pops of smoked ikura, and a piece of uni on top.

Finally for dessert,

YODEL ($16)
candied bacon goat cheese snow / rosemary micro sponge / whey caramel
This is Juniper and Ivy’s signature dessert. This version (I believe they change it up from season to season) had a white chocolate half cylinder that sat on a top of what I think was the “micro sponge” which were like little cake crumbles. Inside the cylinder were sweet goat cheesy bits, and there were also some sweet fig pieces and a warm caramel sauce poured on top at the table. This was great, a delicious mix of different textures and temperatures and flavors.

This was a delicious dinner at Juniper and Ivy, with some dishes having some Latin and Asian flavors. Some of the highlights for me were the tuna hand roll, the wagyu toast, the stuffed squash blossom, the linguini, and the yodel.

[Mr_Happy]

The Taco Stand

Lunch on Saturday was more casual, at the Downtown San Diego location of The Taco Stand, a chain that originated in San Diego and now has several locations in San Diego and also across the country.

I had a California Burrito ($9.49) - a San Diego spawned burrito variant that has French fries rather than beans and rice. This one had fries, grilled carne asada, guacamole, cheese, tomato, sour cream, and salsa, all wrapped up in a house made flour tortilla. It was good. The fries were nice and crispy and the flour tortilla was flaky and tender.

The California burrito was not as substantial as a Mission burrito, so I also had room for a Baja Fish Taco ($3.89), which was also good. It was on a corn tortilla and the battered fish was nicely fried.

Baja fish taco closeup

[Mr_Happy]

Crudo Cevicheria & Oyster Bar

For dinner on Saturday I went to Crudo Cevicheria & Oyster Bar in Little Italy.

Crudo has seating on the sidewalk and a very open front.

Oyster Platter ($22)
Chile serrano mignonette, lemon
I started with a platter of a half dozen oysters. They were good oysters that came with a slightly spicy mignonette. I neglected to ask what the species of oysters they were.

Two-Face ($23)
Tuna, callo de hacha, guajillo mayo, avocado mayo, crispy shallots, house ponzu, greens
This was a delicious tostada. It had really fresh tuna, callo de hacha / pen shell that tasted a bit like scallop, a bright acidic ponzu sauce, fried shallots for crunch, and avocado and mayo for richness. There were also some bottled hot sauces and a salsa macha provided as condiments for the tacos and tostadas.

Taco de Pulpo ($9)
Octopus, chicharrón prensado, black bean puree, hand-made flour tortilla
This was also great! The chicharrón and octopus, which were fried in a similar fashion, went really well together. The octopus tasted like chicharrón if it were made from octopus. The hand made flour tortilla had a very nice texture, and the black beans kind of pulled everything together.

Blue Crab Tostada ($21)
Blue crab ceviche, guajillo mayo, pickled red onions, avocado, mixed greens, veggie ash
Very good - sweet blue crab on a tostada shell.

Black Mamba ($24)
Octopus, shrimp, scallops, uni, smoked fish & pistachio pate, avocado, recado negro
This tostada had a plethora of seafood, with some avocado for richness and a smoky recado negro, which is a Yucatecan blackened spice paste. It was a fork and knife tostada, and it was very good.

Pan de Elote ($14)
Mexican cornbread, dulce de leche mousse, popcorn
This was fine - a light dessert of a sweet cornbread with dulce de leche mousse, whipped cream, and a sweetened popcorn.

This was a very enjoyable seafood dinner. The highlights for me were the “Two-Face” tostada and the taco de pulpo.

[Mr_Happy]

Fish Guts

Lunch on Sunday was at Fish Guts in Barrio Logan, where I had some of the best seafood tacos of this visit.

Menus

I had a Michelada ($9) to drink, which was nice. You have a choice of Modelo Especial or Modelo Negro, and it had Clamato, lime juice, Maggi sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and Búfalo salsa, with a salt rim on an ice cold glass.

For food:

Tacos Estilo Baja ($10)
modelo beer battered local white fish - Mexican coleclaw -pico de gallo - chipotle aioli
These were Baja style fish tacos. The fish was quite good and nicely battered, and the hand made tortillas were great, they had a really nice texture. There was a creamy and crispy cabbage slaw on top for crunch.

Tacos De Coco ($11)
coconut battered Baja shrimp - Mexican coleslaw - pico de gallo - chipotle aioli
These were quite similar to the Baja style tacos - instead of fish they were topped with some large shrimp that had a batter with shredded coconut in it, which gave the shrimp a very crispy texture and some fragrance from the coconut. They had the same slaw topping as the Baja tacos and the same excellent corn tortillas.

Great tacos! I maybe should have ordered something other than the shrimp or the fish tacos as the toppings were quite similar. The Fish & Chips taco on the menu looked especially interesting. Maybe next time!

[Amandarama (Amanda)]

These both look great! Thanks for this report!

[Mr_Happy]

Animae

Dinner on Sunday was at Animae in Downtown San Diego. Animae is a wagyu steakhouse that also has Asian fusion and Filipino inspired dishes from executive chef Tara Monsod, who is of Filipino American heritage and who was a finalist for the Best Chef: California award at this year’s James Beard awards.

Menus

THE MALARKEY ($11)
thai chili & tamarind syrup, pineapple, lime
I started with a mocktail, the Malarkey, which is probably named after restaurant owner Brian Malarkey. It was sweet and sour and refreshing.

UME OYSTERS ($19)
sour plum vinegar, strawberry, lemon
I had the oysters, which were 3 oysters dressed with a slightly tart mignonette that didn’t overwhelm the oysters. This came out a little out of order and they comped it for me unbidden, which was nice of them.

SHORT RIB KARE KARE ($52)
green beans, eggplant, bagoong peanut oil
This was great! This is one of Animae’s signature dishes. There was a large, super tender, fall off the bone, beefy short rib, in a rich and creamy curry-like peanut based kare-kare sauce. There were also some long green beans tied in a knot, and some tender grilled eggplant slices.

WAGYU FRIED RICE ($19)
beef, pork, mushroom, egg, crispy garlic
I asked my waitress what I could get to go with the kare kare, and she recommended one of the fried rices, with the Wagyu Fried Rice being her favorite. So thats what I had. It was a very good fried rice, nicely fried and not stuck together. There was a bit of garlic and a generous amount of wagyu beef and some meaty mushrooms. It went really well with the kare kare sauce.

BUKO PANDAN ($15)
young coconut mousse, pandan anglaise, pandan gelée
For dessert I had the buko pandan. Buko is young coconut. There was a dense coconut flavored mousse on top of a light cake, swimming in a rich creamy sauce, with green cubes of pandan flavored jelly. It was a nice dessert that was a little rich and not too sweet.

Great dinner!

[honkman]

It’s good to see that Chef’s Monsod’s Philipino influences still play an important role in Animae’s dishes. She is now heading a newer restaurant under Malarkey’s umbrella which focuses more on French cuisine (and in my opinion looks much less interesting) - LeCoq

[Mr_Happy]

Blue Water Seafood

For lunch on Monday I went to the Mission Hills location of Blue Water Seafood, a restaurant and seafood market.

Seafood for sale.

Menus - you order at the counter and get a number.

They have a number of beers on tap - I had a Orderville hazy IPA from local brewery Modern Times.

THREE MINI BEER-BATTERED SHRIMP TACOS ($10.50)
MINI BEER-BATTERED SHRIMP TACOS, TOPPED WITH CABBAGE, TOMATOES, ONIONS, WHITE SAUCE AND CHEDDAR CHEESE SERVED ON A CORN TORTILLA WITH A SIDE OF TOMATILLO SAUCE.
I had three of the “mini” shrimp tacos, which were more small sized than mini. The corn tortillas were a little weak here, I don’t think they are made in house. The filling was very good though. The battered and fried shrimp were cooked to the perfect doneness.

BEER-BATTERED TACOS (COD - $6.50, SCALLOPS - $8.50)
TOPPED WITH CABBAGE,
TOMATOES, ONIONS, WHITE SAUCE AND CHEDDAR CHEESE SERVED ON A FLOUR TORTILLA WITH A SIDE OF TOMATILLO SAUCE.
I also had a couple of the regular sized beer-battered tacos, one each of the cod and the scallops. A regular sized taco is pretty substantial. These were on flour tortillas, which I liked better than the corn ones in the mini shrimp tacos. Like the mini shrimp tacos, the seafood was cooked to a perfect doneness, not too raw and definitely not too well done. All of the tacos came with a mild tomatillo salsa.

“TRACK TACO” ($8.75)
TACOTOPIA WINNING TACO 2016
GRILLED FRESH WILD PACIFIC SHRIMP MARINATED IN CHIPOTLE BUTTER TOPPED WITH MAUI ONION AND MANGO SLAW SERVED ON A FRESH CORN TORTILLA WITH MELTED CHEDDAR, DRESSED WITH HOMEMADE WHITE SAUCE, TOMATILLO SAUCE,
AND AVOCADO, NISHED WITH A PINCH OF QUESO FRESCO.
And finally a taco that won an award a few years ago. This was on a fresh corn tortilla which was very nice, and had a plethora of nicely cooked grilled butter basted shrimp. It was a very good taco.

L-R: Beer Battered Cod Taco, Beer Battered Scallops Taco, “Track Taco”

I over ordered a bit. Very good tacos with really nicely cooked seafood.

[brisket44]

Damn that’s a lot of combination options at Blue Water, even without the two daily specials boards! For me fried fish usually works best in a taco or sandwich, as I find frilled fish turn to mush.

I love Taco Stand, they make their tortillas fresh, and the whole casual vibe/system.

[Mr_Happy]

@brisket44

For me fried fish usually works best in a taco or sandwich, as I find frilled fish turn to mush.

Totally, the crispy fried layer definitely helps with structural integrity

[Mr_Happy]

Mabel’s Gone Fishing

After a visit to the San Diego Zoo on Monday, I had my final dinner of this trip at Mabel’s Gone Fishing in the North Park neighborhood.

Mabel’s Gone Fishing, which is named after one of the owner’s late dogs, is a restaurant focused on gin and natural wine, with an emphasis on fresh seafood and with a Spanish and Portuguese bent.

The menus

They had a four course Chef’s Menu ($85), which is what I had. I also added the beverage pairing for $45, which consisted of a cocktail, two glasses of wine, and a digestif.

The first beverage:
SPANISH G AND T
nordes. lemon. grape, sage
This was a gin (Nordes gin from Spain) and tonic with a bunch of herbs and juniper berries and a grape. This was very nice - herbal but not too much, nicely balanced and very refreshing.

Then came a large platter with a bunch of appetizers off of the “Snacks” section.
OLIVES
STUFFED DATES
jamon serrano, almonds
A couple stuffed dates - very good with a crunchy almond inside a sweet date wrapped with some serrano ham.
MUSSELS ESCABECHE
smoked paprika, grilled sourdough, aioli
A couple mussels in a slightly sour sauce. Very good toasted bread.
SMOKED SWORDFISH SPREAD
guindilla. horseradish, sourdough crackers
A tuna salad like spread, only with swordfish.

And then a couple more small dishes.

PEAS + JAMON
jamon agrodulce. chevre. grapefruit. urfa chili
This was a salad of pea shoots and sugar snap peas, on top of a goat cheese spread with grapefruit pieces strewn about and also some crispy fried ham. This was fine, there were a lot of sweet fresh peas which was nice and I liked the pea shoots. Some of the pea slices were a little tough though.

YELLOWTAIL
castelvetrano olive. guindilla, chervil
A crudo of meaty hamachi, which was simply dressed and quite good.

And then the main course, which was a beautiful piece of sea bass (if I remember correctly - the menu says grouper). The fish was nicely cooked, tender and flaky. The skin was covered with a crust of panko and chorizo, which was crispy and salty and flavorsome. The greens that came with fish was chard with pine nuts, olives, and raisins. The chard could have been cooked a bit more tender for my taste.

Also on the side was a bowl of brothy white gigante beans, which was very good. It had slices of fried chorizo that tasted a bit like smoky pepperoni.

Finally for dessert, a slice of Basque style cheesecake with some cajeta on the side, which was delicious. It was fluffy with a burnt caramelized top. The beverage pairing for this was a cocktail of equal parts sweet vermouth and Cynar, which was quite nice.

This was a good but not great dinner at Mabel’s Gone Fishing. I think I maybe should have stuck with picking some more of the small plates rather than going for the chef’s choice menu.