Well, everyone has to start somewhere.
So today, one of my good friends Kelly flew into San Diego for a visit and clearly that means we had to celebrate! With food! I've been wanting to try The Marine Room for a very long time now and luckily, Kelly and Alice let me choose the restaurant so off we went.
This is a copy of their list of offerings for the evening.
Sea of Cortez Crab Timbale
Butternut squash nectar, Vanilla Pearls, Trout Caviar
Kelly and I started off with the blue crab timbale, because let's face it--real women do not eat salad. It's times like this where I am so thankful for the feminist movement. I was really curious to taste the caviar but since the presentation was so muddled in the nectar, I wasn't sure how to isolate a single caviar. If it was what I thought, it greatly resembled and tasted like a salmon roe--like the ones you get on sushi rolls. Overall, the timbale was wonderfully balanced. I was kind of nervous that the sweetness of the butternut squash nectar paired with the natural sweetness of the crab meat would be too overbearing, but it was perfect. A very light dish to start.
Hokto Kinoko Farm Trumpet Mushroom Soup
Truffle Croutons, Pine Nuts, Mt. Tam Cheese, Aged Madeira
Alice, on the other hand, chose to start with the mushroom soup. I only got to try a little bit of her soup, but from what I tried, it was really good. It had the texture of a chowder moreso than a soup and was hot, but not scalding. It was interesting because it had a curry-esque undertone which gave it another layer of complexity in flavor.
Dill Pollen Spiced Diver Scallops and Wild Prawn
Carrot Tangerine Risotto, Green Papaya, Tarragon White Port Reduction
This was my choice for the entree course. To be completely honest, I'm not a huge fan of scallops and it's very easy to do prawns wrong for me, but I wanted a larger variety of pictures for my first blog post so each of us chose something different... and I was the last to choose so I got what was left. I ate the deep fried lotus chip garnish first and it tasted... like a deep fried chip. The scallops were seared and seasoned perfectly but I felt like the prawn was a tad overdone. I always imagine prawns as being extremely juicy and succulent and I'm not sure if the prawn was overcooked or if it was the seasoning, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations. I really enjoyed the risotto though. Initially, I was really concerned that it would have too much citrus in in because of the use of tangerine as a descriptor, but it ended up being very mild in taste and creamy in texture.
Center Cut Angus Filet Mignon
Cipollini Potato Puree, Quince Chutney, Garnacha Sauce
So again, I only had a small bite of Alice's steak, but it was one of the best bites of steak I've ever had. It was the perfect temperature and a beautiful melt-in-your-mouth texture and the sauce was deliciously sweet. Being Asian, I'm a sucker for sweet sauces. I almost cried tears of joy when Alice offered me a second bite of her steak.
Red Walnut Crusted Butterfish
Black Thai Rice, Fennel Mango Salad, Saffron Yuzu Essence
Kelly chose the butterfish and was gracious enough to give me a bite as well. The bite that I had had a great nutty essence. She also gave me some of her black thai rice, which tasted very much like--huge surprise--rice, just maybe a bit harder.
Dessert Trilogy
From left to right: Orangecello Pot de Creme, Honey Chestnut Gelato, Cacao Nib Cordillera Chocolate Dome
We were each given a dessert trilogy to end our meal. I tried the honey chestnut gelato first. It had the icy texture of gelato but I wasn't a huge fan of the flavor. I couldn't taste the honey at all; now that I'm blogging I'm surprised to find honey as a descriptor for the gelato. I feel like chestnut as a flavor is very distinct and either you're a fan or you're not. Next, I tried the orange pot de creme. The berry on the top was actually infused with alcohol so my first bite just tasted very alcoholic. However, the pot de creme was infused with alcohol as well. I think it was probably orange liquer. The alcohol taste was a little bit too overwhelming for me. Also, I had creme brulee that my roommate Jenny made me just last night and I was comparing the pot de creme to that. Seeing that her creme brulee is one of my favorites, there was really no contest. I wasn't sure what the chocolate dome was when I'd read the description, I thought it would be similar to one of those chocolate bomb cakes. It ended up turning out to be a very dark, very rich, very thick chocolate mousse. I feel like if I had taken the chocolate dome with the chestnut gelato, it would've offset the richness a bit but I finished the gelato in two bites at the beginning so the chocolate wasn't as pleasurable as I'd hoped. Unfortunately, the highlights of the dessert for me were the orange and berry reduction used in the plating.
Our server Hector was attentive enough throughout the night; however, the service was pretty stuffy. I guess working at The Melting Pot with all of my coworkers has made me very accustomed to very personable service. I was pleasantly surprised that I was satisfied at the end of the meal. Too often, I find myself still hungry at the end of a fine dining experience. The view was beautiful, but I'm sure it'd be much more beautiful in the day. They have a huge glass window so you have a great panoramic view of the ocean front. I'd really love to come for high tide brunch. The next one is on February 9th or 10th, so hopefully I can convince someone to go with me! All in all, it was a steal of deal at $40 per person before tax and gratuity.
So whew! That's that, my first post ever! That was a lot harder than I thought it would be. A shout out to Alice and Kelly for a lovely evening, and Alice's contribution in "liking the word 'decadent'" for its inclusion in my blog's URL.
The Marine Room
2000 Spindrift Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037
