First of all, big thanks to those of you who sent me suggestions for our anniversary weekend. We had an excellent time! We stopped at Dana Point on the way down to Del Mar and we ate lunch at the Heritage Brewery. The service was TERRIBLE but the beer was worth the wait! I guess they weren't expecting a crowd, as it had rained all night and morning. But by the time we got there it was gorgeous weather for sitting out on the patio. We ordered their blond and red ales - both were excellent. Very fresh, their beer never gets bottled, just strait from the vats to the tap. We had fresh oysters to start and they were VERY fresh and went down great with the beer. They serve homemade potato chips with salsa while you wait. Some of the potatoes weren't crispy enough, but they were passing. We ordered the Heritage Classic Pizza (whole wheat crust, pine nuts, artichoke hearts, parmesean and mozarella) which was nice and crusty, very good! Overall, I'd give the place a B. The fresh beer and good food make it worth trying again. On Sunday we ate at Cilantro's which is just east of Del Mar proper, across the street from the polo field. The decor was a bit.... over southwestern, not creative and too neutral for my taste, but it didn't annoy me either. They served tricolor chips with salsa cruda while you wait to order. The chips were very good, light, crisp and tasty. The salsa was a bit lacking in intesity - I like hot food and this was a bit watery and bland. We also had margaritas - the one's with Cuervo 1800 in them - very tasty, but I'm not sure 6oz of margarita is worth the $4.75 they charged! (I'd order wine next time!!) We ordered fried calamari with jalapeno cocktail sauce and chile tarter sauce and a Cesar Salad to start. The Cesar was basic, good flavor but NO anchovies - which is a sacrelidge in my book! The calamari was over done and too chewey, the cocktail sauce had a good bite but was too tomatoey, the tartar sauce was basic, uninspiring. My husband ordered the Flank Steak salad (grilled beef, mixed greens [including, red leaf, dandelion, radicchio, arugala, watercress], avacado, and tomatoes). It was served with an excellent cumin vinegrette which was addicting. I had a chili relleno wich was great! Stuffed with goat cheese and pine nuts and served with a red pepper sauce, mmmmmmmm! Overall we gave this place a B+. We had a few slight problems with the service, but the manager?owner? made up for that by listening to our comments on the calimari and asking if she could remove it from our bill [we didn't, it was still edible and tasty!]. The menu is huge and I'm sure there are lots of excellent things on it, we heard people raving about the food all over the restaurant! By the way we went ballooning too and if you need a reccomendation on which company to choose - the one we went with was VERY good! They were responsible, Professional and tried to create a romantic atmosphere - not to mention they served oodles of champagne after we landed!! So send a message if you'd like their name, I don't really want to list it here - inappropriate! Vickie McCorkendale Wife of one year!!
San Jose, CA