Memorial Day Weekend – Solvang

On our 2nd day of vacation in the area, the husband and I decided to venture to Solvang in the morning.  Since my other half detests vegetables, he didn’t eat his breakfast quiche at our B&B, claiming it had been “tainted” and instead, drank an entire carafe of Ghiradelli hot chocolate. (facepalm)  When we reached Solvang, he was starting to get hungry so we had an early lunch.

Solvang - Clock Tower

Solvang, being a tourist destination, does not have a shortage of places to eat.  We decided to stop in at a cafe that had patio seating.  I can’t recall the name of the place but it was near the clock and was part of a little shopping center that had an ice cream shop and a sandwich shop.

Solvang - hot dog

Solvang - Heineken Dark

After perusing the menu (which contained breakfast and lunch items), the husband opted to get a hotdog with cheese and fries along with a Heineken Dark to drink.  I went with the split pea soup in a bread bowl and a mimosa.

I don’t know about the rest of you but I never put cheese on my hot dogs.  My husband is the first person I know who does this and it strikes me as odd for some reason even though, thinking about it, it makes sense.  Anyways…  This was a pretty big plump sausage, not your little wimpy store-bought Oscar Mayer wiener.  They were quite generous with the cheese as well.  The other half thoroughly enjoyed it, stating it was a good juicy hot dog.  The french fries were great – perfectly cooked to give them  a nice crispiness and not overly oily.  I can’t comment on the Heine as I’m biased against most beers.  Guinness is one of the few that I will drink.  And only from tap.

Solvang - Split Pea Soup

Solvang - Mimosa

My split pea soup was disappointing.  I was hoping that being in a Danish town, the soup would have been excellent.  I found it a little bland and grainy.  The bread bowl seemed a little stale so I barely touched it.

The mimosa, on the other hand, was just fantastic.  It possibly could be the best mimosa I’ve had so far.  The champagne to orange juice ratio was perfect for my lightweight self.  However, what really stood out was a sweet, almost honey-like flavor in it.  I asked the waitress if they add anything to their mimosas and she said it was the standard mixture – sparkling wine and OJ.  Hrmmm…

The service at this place was okay.  We were told to sit wherever but it did take a while for our waitress to finally make her way to our table to take orders.

As for cost, the prices here are inexpensive.  I believe we spent around $30-35 for the entire meal.  Would definitely have been less if we didn’t have our drinks but hey, we’re on vacation!

Looking around at other customers’ tables, a lot of people were getting breakfast entrees.  There were quite a number of omelettes that looked tasty.  There were also a number of large sandwiches.  This place also does dinner though I don’t know what is on that menu.

I give this place (if I could only remember the name…) 2 1/2 NOMs.

94th Aero Squadron

The 94th Aero Squadron is a unique restaurant in the middle of an industrial area.  The building on the outside looks like a old French farm house from the WWI era, complete with models of bi-planes and ivy climbing up the walls.  Inside, they continue the theme with old photos, coats and helmets hanging on the walls and music from the times coming from the speakers.

I guess you could say I’m a little biased towards this place since the Mister and I had our wedding reception here.  We didn’t want to hold our reception at a traditional venue (hotel ballroom) and wanted a place that had character without having to break the bank.  The 94th offered that.

Their dinner buffet option was $37-ish a head and included cake-cutting, a glass of wine with dinner, champagne/cider toast, 4 hors d’oeurves choices, 6 “salad” choices, 3 hot entree choices and 2 side dishes.  It all adds up to a lot of food.  They do add on an 18% service charge and of course, there’s the usual sales tax but given how a lot of places charge $100+/pp just for food, this was really a bargain!

The buffet ended up being really good and people were quite happy with the selection and quality.  We had a couple of vegetarians and food allergies on our guestlist but the 94th accommodated us on both with ease.   What little I ate was delicious.  While it’s not cuisine that people are going to rave about, it is good, hearty and filling food that people will be happy with and not go home hungry.

As for the bar, we were able to do an open bar for $1K for the entire time (minus the last hour – give people time to sober up).  They don’t over-price their drinks  - a Jack n’ Coke is like $5 so not only were we able to do the open bar, we didn’t have to limit selections.

The service was fantastic and we didn’t have to deal with any issues at all.

The only issue I had was with the layout which actually worked out in the end.  Because of the size of our party, we ended up having to seat guests in the side room so it sort of separated them from the main room but it did keep our more “liberal” friends from our more “conservative” family.  :D  Our friends actually liked it because it allowed them to be as rowdy as they wanted as well.

What was also nice was that there was an outdoor patio for smokers and a huge area with a duck pond for kids to run around and stay entertained.

In terms of regular dining, this place is pretty good.  I’ve been here for their lunch buffet which is alright for the price.  Some of their dishes like the salmon are a miss but there’s a lot more hits.  They are great at doing meat dishes – love the carved prime rib – but not so much on seafood.  I do recommend going earlier in their lunch hours as towards the end, you get the stuff that’s been sitting out for a while.

However, the big thing is the Sunday Champagne brunch.  For $22.95, this is a great brunch buffet.  Omlette bar, pasta bar, fresh waffles, shrimp cocktail, crab legs, mussels, eggs benedict, bacon, bread assortment and a HUGE dessert selection…yummy chocolate cake and chocolate fountain!  I do wish they carried smoked salmon as that is a staple for a brunch buffet in my book but there’s enough other stuff to keep me happy.  And they are not stingy with the champagne.  They will keep filling your glass up till you start acting drunk or tell them you are done.  There’s orange juice for mimosas as well.  It gets really busy though so I highly recommend making reservations for this, even if it’s just for a party of two.

I give 94th Aero Squadron 3 1/2 NOMs.  The food isn’t memorable but the value, service and atmosphere is.

94th Aero Squadron
8885 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 560-6771
http://www.94thaerosquadron.signonsandiego.com

Tender Greens

While the food is pretty and tasty, I just can’t get over the feeling that I overpaid for what I got. They use really good quality ingredients but the portions, especially for the meat, is a little skimpy for the price which usually ends up being around $15/pp (including tax) with a drink.

I usually get something involving the seared tuna. They always get this right and the fish is never fishy-tasting…very fresh. They have great mashed potatoes, creamy and buttery.

Even though I always enjoy my meal here, I can’t get inspired. I never have a craving for this place and we usually end up eating here because someone else makes an executive decision.

The line is usually out the door so go early or late to avoid the lunch crowd rush.

It’s a salad joint; what else am I supposed to say?  ;P

Tender Greens gets 3 NOMs.  This cat prefers to spend her money on food that’s probably not really good for her.  Wait, I think I hear my waistline complaining…

Tender Greens
9523 Culver Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 842-8300
www.tendergreensfood.com

Rush Street – leisurely dining

As I mentioned before in the previous post, another restaurant, Rush Street, opened in the same stretch as Gyenari.  Dan and I have stopped in here for lunch a few times since they started serving.

Rush Street is styled after the hip eateries of Chicago – serving as a restaurant and a bar hang-out.  The two-story space has a dining room and a large bar downstairs while the upstairs hosts another bar and lounge area.  The alcohol list is impressive.  The shelves are fully stocked with all the usual culprits plus some of their lesser known relatives.  The wine list offers a nice selection and as for beers, there’s an impressive array of bottled offerings as well as a few draft selections.  And their specialty cocktails…mmmm.  It’s no surprise that everytime we pass Rush Street, we see a crowd.

The food on the menu is pretty good as well.  On my first visit, I tried the white pie & truffle oil pizza.  This was delicious.  Styled after Italian pizza (I’m talking about real Italian pizza, not American), the crust was thin with a little bit of crisp to it.  Since it’s been a long time, I don’t quite remember what came on it… ricotta, spinach and instead of marinara sauce, it had pesto?  I just remember rich flavor and creamy cheese.

Dan always orders the Rush Street burger ($11) sans onion strings and veggies – just meat, cheese, bacon and sauce.  Usually, the burger is well flavored and moist though on our last trip, it was a little dry and  bland.  It comes witha a side of seasoned shoe string fries.  I love the seasoning but wish they used a fatter fry than shoe string.

I’ve tried the mac n’ cheese ($6) here, too and it was definitely one of the better ones I’ve had.  It’s listed as a side dish.  The smoked duck breast salad ($12) is a real winner.  The salad – spinach, chestnuts, dried cranberries, cherries and currants and a cider vinaigrette was delicious and flavorful.  The smoked duck breast, served sliced and on the side of the salad was cooked perfectly.  Moist and with just the right amount of fatty skin, it went really well with the components of the salad.

As for pricing, it isn’t that bad…unless you order a lot of drinks. 

I recently discovered that they started serving brunch so I will definitely have to go check that out.

Rush Street gets 4 NOMs.

Rush Street
9546 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 837-9546

http://www.rushstreetculvercity.com