I declared in my December Discovering San Diego post that January would be less busy, well it turned out February was. Since we were not in San Diego for a good amount of February we had little adventures last month. Almost all of the below happened in January. I felt like I had some good things to share for January, even though I’m super late in sharing them 🙂 The March round-up will be shared in a more timely manner.
FOOD
Ironside
LOVE, LOVE it! This restaurant goes straight to the the top of our best of San Diego list. The cocktails are AMAZING!! We have been twice for cocktails and only once for lunch, but based on lunch I’m sure dinner will be just as good. The service was great and all the staff have been friendly on our couple of visits. You can make reservations for lunch and dinner, which is a nice plus in my book. A dinner review will be coming soon, I’m sure.
Nomad Donuts
OMG, these donuts!! As you know, I fancy myself a bit of a donut connoisseur 🙂 and these are GOOD! They describe themselves as European style donuts, which mean they are a little less sweet than traditional. The fillings are all very fresh tasting, utilizing fresh fruit as a base. They also offer really unique fritters that have sweet and savory components, they are just too hard to pass up.
Kettner Exchange
We went here to celebrate P’s birthday. We heard a lot of great things about it, but the food did not live up to expectations. The space is lovely and interesting. The menu is interesting but execution was flat. We had a few dishes that had fried components, and they were too oily and tasted off. I expected a lot more.
WhiskNLadle
A lovely little place in La Jolla, we visited for brunch. Both the atmosphere and the food was great! You could taste the quality of the ingredients used.
Cardamom Cafe
A little bakery/cafe in the North Park area. Very friendly staff and the food was good. We definitely want to go back to try some of their pastries. They offer some good looking sweet and also savory pastries, all jumbo sized. I was very impressed with the amount of flavor the breakfast quesadilla had, and the monte cristo was tasty but a bit bread heavy (though the bread is really light and fluffy, still bread to meat ratio was off).
Eclipse
We have been big fans of their chocolates for a while now, but only this in January finally made it to try their South Park location for brunch. Both of our dishes were very good. I was surprised with how large the potion were, especially for the combo option. I would like to go back and try one of their dessert dishes, we just did not have the room for more food. Reservations can be made for brunch or dinner, they filled up rather quickly around noon.
Bean Bar
The cutest little coffee bar that Shannon introduced me to! It’s right downtown across the street from the San Diego library. The decor is so cute and the place has huge windows, so it is has almost an indoor/outdoor feel. Their espresso is extremely smooth, it was one of the smoothest lattes I’ve ever had. I also picked up a bag of beans for P on my visit and that coffee was also super smooth and well balanced. If you are downtown, you have to go check them out.
Fig Tree (Breakfast)
This was our second time trying out Fig Tree in North Park, once for dinner and now brunch. I got the breakfast sushi, because how could I pass up a dish like that!! Overall I found mine and P’s dish just ok. The rice in the sushi dish was not seasoned at all so it made the dish overall really bland. I would not recommend it, though I loved the idea. P’s dish was much better but even that lacked seasoning, even though it doesn’t look like it. Sorry Fig Tree, but there are much better brunch options out there.
Bobboi Gelato
The BEST gelato!! I’m so obsessed with this place. It’s in La Jolla or otherwise I would have it at least once a week. We have already been twice, and brought some home the second time. If you like coconut you must try that flavor, it’s so so good. I’ve probably went again since I’ve written this 🙂
Swamis
A deli, featuring a huge menu. P and I went once for lunch, and once for brunch. Both times it was pretty full, and we had quite the wait for our food. They don’t really go in order of who ordered first, it just comes out whenever. Both times the wait has been long, at lunch they brought me the wrong sandwich and then brunch they brought mine out but P’s didn’t come for another 20 minutes. The food is good but I’m not in love with the logistics of it all. This may become a call-in order only place.
Snooze
This place is out of control with a line on the weekends. It is a small chain, but we thought we would see what all the hype was about. Every time we have walked by there is a line. We decided to try it out one Sunday morning and got the 15 minutes after they opened, there was a line forming 15 minutes later. The food was very good, though I’m not sure quite up to the waits I’ve seen. I like that you can order a pancake for a side, that was a big plus in my book 🙂
BOOZE
Rip Current
The only new brewery we visited in January was Rip Current’s newly opened North Park tasting room. We certainly visited several repeat breweries/bars, but nothing else new. Shocking!! 🙂 I really enjoyed the beers we tasted on our visit, they have some solid brewing going on. Their hefeweizen I really liked, and I’m not a hefeweizen fan. The space is ok. I think the layout could have been better thought out. The bar area is a too narrow, and it gets really hard to move from the front to the back (restrooms are in the back), plus the place to order is on the narrow side of the bar and that makes it worse. We would go back based on the beers, but look for less busy times to enjoy it.
OTHER
Flagship Whale Watching Tour
I had tagged whale watching as an activity I wanted to do when we first moved to San Diego. January is suppose to be the prime time to catch the most whales according to the site. We enjoyed the trip, but did not see very many whales, and none very close to the ship. We did have a group of dolphins follow the boat, which was super cool. I’m glad we went, but I would not recommend it as a tourist activity. There are so many other activities you could do with the time spent on the boat. The boat trip itself was not all that scenic. We had a nice day out, but it did get cold on the way back. We took the 1:00 pm tour. I would recommend dressing in layers, you can get out of the cold below deck, but I did not want to miss anything. The above picture was the best shot I captured of the two whale sightings.
La Jolla
Here are a few pictures from walking along the water in La Jolla after our brunch in WhiskNLadle. It was a gorgeous day in JANUARY…I was wearing a skirt with no tights, no tights, people!! I’m not sure I can get over how much I love the weather here!! We saw tons of wild life and January is definitely a less crowded time for a leisurely stroll. One sea lion lunged at me while I walked by and P has been telling everyone it attacked me…it was not even close 🙂
Aren’t you jealous of all of this gorgeous weather? It’s something I just can’t get over!
Find out what else we have been up to in San Diego:
Seriously amazing photos from your visit to La Jolla :). They almost don’t seem real they’re so perfect.
Aww thanks S! I was super happy with the pictures from that walk. I think because it wasn’t so crazy crowded I didn’t feel rushed.
I’ve never been to Swami’s but I am a big fan of Cosmo’s which is right next door. That’s where I wrote half my novel!! It’s the same concept of ordering and they bring your food. This weather is so amazing. I am totally loving and I can see that you are getting out and loving it too!
Very neat! I love the weather, love it! We are hoping to maybe get a hike in tomorrow…first one, maybe 🙂
yeah so the first thing i’m going to do when we visit SD is eat all the donuts 🙂
That’s a good goal 🙂 I still have Donut Bar on my list to try, but we are drawn to Nomads since we can walk…that way I feel like it evens out 😛
So many things to love in this post! We like to visit Snooze in Denver – always a wait, but it’s always delicious! Love the shots of the whale and the dolphin!
Thanks Kristin!! It was so neat that the dolphins followed the boat for a good amount of time. Snooze was good! I’m just impatient, we like reservations 🙂
There is some irony in blogging about so many things that require reservations – airplanes, restaurants, hotels, shows – and calling it “No Reservations.” 😀
LOL Kristin!! Maybe “No Reservations**”
**except when required 🙂
Wow, you have been exploring everywhere! I haven’t even been to some of those places! I feel like a slacker now! Those are also some great photos by the way! I’m glad you are getting out and discovering how amazing this city is. I just don’t ever want to leave it! And must get a blogger coffee date or something some time. -Jess L
Yes, I would love to meet up sometime!! Really, you tell me as I’m still not working so I have a completely flexible schedule. We are trying to take advantage of all the great things SD has to offer. It’s been fun so far. I can certainly see why people say, “once you live here, it’s hard to leave” 🙂
Man. You sure do see the sights. I’m so jealous of your exploring adventures! Every single photo looked delicious. And all those seals! They are my favorite animal (besides goats, of course). Keep these coming!
Well, then you have to come to SD to see the sea lions! They are always just chilling out in La Jolla. Though this is the first time I was able to get on the beach with them. We definitely try to take advantage of all the cool things there are to see and do here.
I’ve heard the Snooze in Del Mar is less crowded (I’ve only been there during the week though, so I can’t say for sure if that’s true). Have you been to Brockton Villa yet? It’s in La Jolla by the cove with the sea lions. Their Coast Toast is DIVINE.
Good to know! We have been to Brockton Villa, we went on our house-hunting trip (Shannon from Brass Honey recommended it to us). The french toast was good, our waitress talked us into a half order 🙂 There are so many great places to try!!
I love, love, LOVE your wildlife pictures!! As an avid animal photographer myself I know how hard it is to get good pictures of them – you did such an awesome job! I especially dig the one of the sea lion with the attitude – is he the one who “attacked” you?
I also have a confession to make: I’m not the hugest donut fan out there. I know, I know, the atrocity! But the donuts featured on here look so divine, I want to try them ALL. The sweetness is usually too much for me, so if these ones are less sweet (and contain real fruit!) they sound heavenly to me! If/when 😉 I visit you we will have to go there!
Thank you so much Miriam!! That made my day!! I love getting to share my pictures and was pretty proud of the ones I got from La Jolla. He was keeping his eye on me 🙂
I bet you would like Nomad, and I would 100% take you there WHEN 😉 you come to visit. I’ll even buy you a donut 🙂 They have such interesting flavors, we have such a hard time choosing and they change all the time. We were just there Sunday, and got 4 because we couldn’t decide!
I want to see those seals! And whale watching is on my 40 by 40 list.
I am a sucker for fancy donuts and latte art.
We have no shortage of sea lions in La Jolla! When it was warmer and people were in the water, they would swim right beside the people. Where are you going to go in your search for whales?
I can always do it close to home in Cape May, NJ, or I can do it in New England!
I went whale watching once as a kid and have great memories but it was even better just happening to see some orcas when we were up in Canada.
I want to go to Mexico, where they have their babies! Maybe next year 🙂
I’m jealous, and I would like to know if you and P would care to adopt me. I mean my college and wedding are already paid for, so really you would just be getting an adult child to house and take out on adventures. Sounds awesome, right? 😛
It does sound awesome 😉 Is the husband who cooks all the meats part of the deal? Ha, ha!!
How fun! I love that you’re being so intentional about discovering San Diego and the towns around it. All of the food looks so fantastic. I especially want one of those lattes right now! Guess I’ll just sip my water instead.
We certainly have a lot of fun exploring our new town. We love trying new restaurants and San Diego does not have a shortage. Not too much longer on your only water vow 🙂 What’s the first non-water drink do you think you will indulge in?