La Jolla/San Diego, what don't you have?

[Eden]

My Aunt & Uncle are coming up to visit from La Jolla, and I'd love to pick a restaurant that's not a cuisine they can easily get at home. Obviously I'm not taking them for Mexican but is there anything there's a dearth of down in that area?

Thanks for any advice.

[Kouign Aman]

Sushi is always fun when near a different body of water.

Its easier for me to list what's there, and perhaps you can figure what they are missing? I've eaten all of these in the La Jolla village and nearby areas.

Persian

Indian

Moroccan

Greek

Italian

Spanish

French - maybe not recently, I cant remember

Mexican

Chinese

Thai

Vietnamese

Japanese

bad-English-pub food (very nostalgic for some)

'california'

steakhouses

There is very little middle-European food in the area. The only Polish place I knew of closed, as did the two German places. There was a place specializing in ristafel (sp?) but it didnt last long. Im not sure if it was going from the Indonesian or the Dutch side of things. I've never seen a Hungarian or Russian place (doesnt mean it isnt there).

I dont think we have a chophouse. (see above disclaimer).

I hope you'll follow up with where you do go!

ETA: Are you in the Bay Area? S.F. Chinese restaurants are thought to be better than ours. Also possibly considered more authentic. Certainly, Chinatown is fun.

Edited August 2, 2007 by Kouign Aman (log)

[Eden]

I'm all the way up in Seattle, and thanks to your very helpful list I'm thinking about maybe Puerto Rican or Afghan or NW seafood. (They love Copper River Salmon but couldn't make it up for the season this year)

[Octaveman]

Just because La Jolla or San Diego as a whole has for example, Persian restaurants (or insert your own choice), it's possible they may have never eatin the food...right? Rather than trying to find a particular cuisine that La Jolla doesn't have why not find out what they've never eatin before.

I would also think quality of food would be more of a deciding factor that choice of cusine. As a steak lover, I'm always up for eating a good steak regardless of where I live or vacation. Local places are more attractive for dining than chains.

Do they like Fondu? That's always a fun choice if you have a good place where you live.

[kalypso]

You can find just about any type of cuisine in San Diego and/or La Jolla. How good it is, is a horse of a different color And since SD has an extremely high quotient of people that have moved there from somewhere else, there is a certain amount of gripping about what San Diego lacks.

Mostly what it lacks is a serious fine dining scene with the corresponding level of service, as well as New York-style pizza, anything remotely related to good deli food, and/or kosher/Jewish food. The vast majority of the Mexican and Thai food in San Diego is mediocre to average, but Vietnamese, sushi and a few Chinese regional cuisines are done well. There are a plethora of steak houses most of them respectable or better. And there are any number of mid-range restaurants turning out very good mid-range specialties including the ubiquitous tuna, pork tenderloin, flat iron steak, short ribs, along with the requisite pasta and vegetarian entree. Some of these are remarkably good, but they are generally more casual and laid back than similar restaurants in other cities.

If you've got restaurants that do killer seafood, I think that would be an option. Even though San Diego is home to Chicken of the Sea, restaurants doing really good seafood are pretty few and far between, other than Oceanaire. There are no really outstanding Japanese (other than Sakura) or Korean places in San Diego. Nor is there any really good BBQ or Louisana/Cajun food, tho' Phil's and Bud's seem to fill those niches well enough for locals.

I wouldn't worry about treating them to something they can't get in San Diego or La Jolla. I think, perhaps, showcasing what Seattle does best might be more interesting. Sometimes when people travel the objective isn't to eat what they can't get at home so much as it is to try and experience the food as the locals do at the desitnation.

[mizducky]

I'm all the way up in Seattle, and thanks to your very helpful list I'm thinking about maybe Puerto Rican or Afghan or NW seafood.  (They love Copper River Salmon but couldn't make it up for the season this year)

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As someone who used to live in Seattle, I'd say one thing I seriously miss from that town is really *good* Thai food. Yes, there are Thai restaurants here in San Diego, including some that many people think of as "good" ... but IMO the average Seattle Thai restaurant is head and shoulders abouve the average San Diego Thai restaurant.

Otherwise, I'd second the NW seafood suggestion.

Mostly what it lacks is a serious fine dining scene with the corresponding level of service, as well as New York-style pizza, anything remotely related to good deli food, and/or kosher/Jewish food.  The vast majority of the Mexican and Thai food in San Diego is mediocre to average, but Vietnamese, sushi and a few Chinese regional cuisines are done well.  There are a plethora of steak houses most of them respectable or better.  And there are any number of mid-range restaurants turning out very good mid-range specialties including the ubiquitous tuna, pork tenderloin, flat iron steak, short ribs, along with the requisite pasta and vegetarian entree.  Some of these are remarkably good, but they are generally more casual and laid back than similar restaurants in other cities.

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Heh. Gayla, I understand where you're coming from with the San Diego Mexican food scene, but let me assure you that Seattle's Mexican food scene, with maybe a very few exceptions, has much much less to offer.

[kalypso]

Heh. Gayla, I understand where you're coming from with the San Diego Mexican food scene, but let me assure you that Seattle's Mexican food scene, with maybe a very few exceptions, has much much less to offer. 

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I hear you. I really didn't mean to imply that Mexican in Seattle was better than San Diego, as I've heard it's not. I simply meant to say that neither Thai nor Mexican are very well done in San Diego. Clearly, I missed the mark