Nine Ten, South Beach, Point Loma Seafood, Phil's BBQ, and Jsix @ San Diego

Last but not least, our food adventure at San Diego. 

Nine Ten @ La Jolla

Fennel and Eggplant Soup @ Nine Ten

Organic Greens Salad @ Nine Ten

Pan Seared Salmon @ Nine Ten

Grilled Shrimp Salad @ Nine Ten

Half Baked Chocolate Cake @ Nine Ten

This was our first meal after we arrived in San Diego.  Nine Ten is actually located in La Jolla, and it's known for their fresh and organic ingredients harvested from the local farmers.  They also offer a $24 three course pre-fix menu for lunch.  Due to my guilt of eating so much on the trip, I chose to go with a soup and salad combo instead of the three course meal.  The soup of the day was the fennel and eggplant soup.  I believe it was my first time having an eggplant soup, and surprisingly, I actually liked it a lot.  The fennel and eggplant complimented each others in flavors, and the grilled shrimp that came with the soup was so fresh and perfectly cooked.  For entree, I went with the grilled shrimp salad which also comes with watermelon.  I love watermelons in salad, especially when they are super sweet, the sweetness of the watermelons complimented the bitterness of arugula.  And special thanks to the chef for not overcooking the shrimp, the salad was fantastic.   The bf got the pan seared salmon as his entree, and once again, fresh seafood, cooked just right, and seasoned well, we really can't ask for anything more.  The vegetables on his plate were also delicious as well, I still remember how sweet those white corns were.  The only complaint I had about this meal was the half baked chocolate cake or chocolate molten cake, it's the same thing to me, if anyone thinks differently, please enlighten me.  The half baked chocolate were at best 1/4 way baked, it was too soggy, they should have either baked it a little longer, or let the cake seat for a little bit before it was served.  For the record, Oya @ DC has the best chocolate molten cake, for those who are interested.

Tacos @ South Beach Bar & Grill

We followed one of my friend's recommendation and went to South Beach Bar & Grill for a late night snack.  South Beach is famous for their fish tacos, and luckily, when we were there during their happy hour - $2.50/taco deal.  We tried the oysters, wahoo, shark, lobster, and pollock tacos.  Out of all of those, oysters, wahoo, and pollock were my favorite.  We didn't like the shark or lobster as much, because the shark meat was too tough, and the lobster were not fresh lobsters. 

Clam Chowder @ Point Loma Seafood

Seafood Soup @ Point Loma Seafood

Halibut Plate @ Point Loma Seafood

Fish Plate @ Point Loma Seafood

It was after this meal then I realize how much I dislike fried food.  It doesn't matter how fresh their fish is, there are so many ways I prefer their fish to be cooked than fried.  The halibut was the special of the day, which was worth the extra bucks. However, it also made the regular fish plate minimal.  My favorite item of the meal is definitely the seafood soup.  The clam chowder was blah.

Pulled pork sandwich

Beefy Rib

Baby Back Rib

Thanks to one of my food buddies' recommendation, we had the chance to had one of the best BBQ in the west coast.  Phil's BBQ, over 3000 review on yelp with 4 stars ratings, just by looking at this stunning record, how can you not be tempted to go!?  Like most restaurant that has good reviews, it is guarantee to have a long wait.  Fortunately, Phil's BBQ operates very efficiently, even though the lines almost wrapped around 3/4 of the restaurant, the wait was only a little over an hour.  The longest I have ever waited for a seat was probably close to 3 hours, and I don't mind waiting as long as it was walk-in and the food was worth the wait.  Phil's BBQ was definitely worth the hour wait.  Their award winning ribs are to die for and their onion rings are the best I have ever had.  The disappointment of the meal is the pulled pork, it was too dry even with the BBQ sauce.  I would just stay to the ribs, both beef and pork ribs were really good; tender and juicy.

Roasted bone marrow

Chilled crab salad

Crispy butterfish

King Cole Coriander & Fennel Duck

Chocolate ice cream

Dinner at Jsix, a restaurant which is known for being vegan friendly and gluten free.  For appetizer, we had the bone marrow and crab salad, and the bone marrow tastes much better by a long shot.  The roasted bone marrow paired with sea salt, herbs, and jam on crunchy toast was perfect.  For entree, we hare the butterfish and duck.  Butterfish or escolar really, has a flaky texture, pan seared so it was crispy on the outside, soft and tender on the inside, one can't ask for more than that in a fish.  The duck dish on the other side was mediocre, all I can say is, I had better duck before.

Overall, I was pretty satisfy with our food adventure from the West Coast, and I am still trying to lose those extra weight I gained on the trip!

Coming Up: Cafe Milano