Seasons 52 (Seaport Village)

Our friends were in town visiting for a wedding and invited us to join them for a late dinner. We met them at Seasons 52 in the Seaport Village, a short walk from their hotel next door. It was also a special night because they just celebrated their 5 year anniversary the night before!

The hostess led us to our seats inside. It's dimly lit in the restaurant during the evenings. There's also an outdoor patio that looks quite comfortable with firepits and lounge chairs, but the nights have cooled down enough that it felt chilly wearing a skirt. I don't have any pics because it was a bit too dark around the restaurant.

We were handed a menu to browse. At the top it stated "Week of Sept 1" so suddenly it clicked how the menu and restaurant name fit together! The current autumn menu is attached at the end of the post. The menu is divided into sections and on the far right is the chef's recommendations if you need suggestions.

We ordered the Trio of Roasted Mushrooms Flatbread as an appetizer. When it came out, I noticed that the edges looked quite charred. It was overly crispy like a cracker but at least it didn't taste burnt. The mushrooms and cheese were good but it felt so thin and wimpy in that form.

Our waitress also took our order after we received the appetizer. She was scarce otherwise but it did seem to be a busy night. I think it was a 20+ minute wait for the main entrees so in the meantime, we caught up with our friends. It always feels good to meet with old friends in person rather than other means. I also found a kindred spirit in Nicole because she has her own blog EatSleepPlayBlog.com. Hers has a slightly different focus, more though-provoking about kids and family and life but as writers, we have similar struggles. Check it out if you have the chance.

Soon our food arrived.

Both Dennis and Nicole ordered the Caramelized Grilled Sea Scallops. These were mid-sized with six scallops per serving served with lemon butter. Dennis thought these could have used a little more salt as well as a little more caramelizing and grilling per name. They were on a bed of butternut squash risotto which was very lumpy and frankly not that tasty to us. The one side I liked was the steamed broccolini but that's because I like to have healthy greens in my diet!

My entree was the Asian-Glazed Chilean Seabass. This piece of fish was quite huge, probably one of the biggest portions I've had except for our wedding banquet a couple years ago at Pearl. Most of it was supple and buttery smooth but the outside did seem to be a little more rubbery. Perhaps it's hard to cook the fish consistently at this size. Once again, the base of this dish did not really impress us. The black organic rice base was overly flavored by the asian glaze while the insides were plain and sticky. There were three slightly overcooked snap peas and shiitake mushrooms separating the fish and the rice.

Our friend ordered the Maui Tuna Crunch, which comes with seared tuna and salad. I liked how the salad came contained in a cylinder shaped bowl with no top and bottom, then removed so that the salad fell out of its column shape! We didn't try that dish.

After the meal, all our plates were taken away and the waitress returned  with a huge dessert tower with several different dessert shots to choose. Since it was our friend's anniversary, they were able to get two on the house. They had also received a little congrats card after being seated which is nice.

We selected the pecan pie treat. The best part (of any pecan pie) is the sweetly toasted pecans and I got exactly what I wanted! The cream portions weren't overly sweet so together worked out to a good choice.

On the happy couple's side, they had a peanut butter version and a smore version. The peanut butter was decent though I don't rememeber much. The smore version had a marshmellow on top and the inner layers were very chocolate-y rich. I think a chocolate lover would be fine but it was a little too decadent for me.

After getting the bill, Dennis whispered to me that this was the most expensive, unsatisfactory meal we have had in a while. Both entrees were each around $30 but there were ups and downs leaving us feeling less than stellar. The best part ended up being the $3 dessert shooter. I guess with all the seasonal changes of the menu, there are bound to be a few pairings that don't quite work out. At least our company was good until Nicole and I got carried away talking about bloggerland. Sorry guys! It's part of the job!

Anyway, Seasons 52 is participating in San Diego Restaurant Week with a $20 lunch and a $40 dinner. With some completely different entrees on the SDRW menu, hopefully your meal will turn out better than ours!