Dinner at The Marine Room, La Jolla
Posted on Mar 13, 2009 under Uncategorized | No Comment
Hamachi toule cone
I recently visited one of my favorite restaurants in San Diego, The Marine Room. I was in La Jolla doing a story on San Diego and had to include this lovely spot. Located at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club (2000 Spindrift Drive, La Jolla), this is the best place to share a sunset and wonderful food. Sitting just beyond the sandline within feet of the waves that snuggle up to La Jolla shores, the restaurant offers outstanding French-Colonial cuisine as well as stunning vistas and high-tide waves that splash against the floor-to-ceiling picture windows. My friend and chef extraordinaire Bernard Guillas prepared a lovely tasting menu. We started with a tasty toule cone (edible) of fresh Hamachi tuna with trout roe (above).
Diver scallops
Next came this lovely, huge plump seared diver scallop. Very buttery and sweet, served over mushrooms and a spiced pumpkin bread on the top. Yum.
Beef carpaccio
This appetizer of beef carpaccio came next, with ginger oil, sage focaccia, figs and jack cheese. We really liked the balance of flavors on this plate.
Foie gras and lobster
Next was my favorite, a vanilla leek lobster and foie gras. My friend Sheila doesn’t eat foie gras (poor Sheila, doesn’t know what she is missing) so I ate her portion as well. I just couldn’t let a perfect piece of foie gras go to waste. I could eat this dish all day long.
Pompano with risotto
Chef Guillas then presented us this tasty pompano with Asian crab and a sake infused risotto. We both loved this dish. The light texture of the fish paired perfectly with the creamy risotto. Another fave.
Veal with candy apple
Our meat and final course before dessert was this perfectly cooked veal tenderloin with a roasted candy apple and truffle reduction. The veal was tender and delicious.
dessert, number one
Dessert plate number one included a chocolate pot of creme, lemon tart with hibiscus flower (in the middle, our fave on the plate) and a yummy mango sorbet. We thought we were full, but managed to eat most of this plate.
Dessert, plate two
Our final course and second dessert (yep, we actually ate most of both plates – they were so good and we couldn’t waste them!) had peach sorbet, a minature chocolate cake with raspberries and an amarillo creme brulee. It was a fabulous meal. I highly recommend dinner at the Marine Room – go there to catch the sunset but also for the top-notch food. Reservations at 858.459-7222.