Happy Birthday again to my boo! I made him take the day off this past Monday because it was his birthday! I believe you shouldn’t have to work on your birthday regardless if you have plans or not. No one should have to work on their birthday!
So we spent almost the whole day roaming about Little Italy in San Diego. We first went to get some morning coffee at Frost Me Cafe & Bakery. It was across the plaza from the main food court with the big water fountain! He got a macchiato and I tried their lattes. The place is very cute with a lot of open space and fresh air flowing in and out. We were sitting at the bar and people watching some people studying or doing work at the tables. If I lived here I would totally just walk downstairs and grab coffee across the street! They even have a lot of breakfast and sweet options!
Macchiato. Strong and creamy.
Iced Lavender Vanilla Bean Latte. Mildly sweet, creamy and light.
Then we walked across the street to Ironside Fish & Oyster where we had reservations for right when it opened. Now I love, love, love the decor and theme of this place! It’s like octopuses and ships and the sea, which fit perfectly with the food they served! There was a variety of seating everywhere!
Look at this bar seating right here! It moves back and forth individually regardless of the other person. The anchor in the middle is where you can hang your bag! Cool huh?! We sat at the bar seating cause it was mostly empty.
Here are their two own made hot sauces! I liked the 7-pot more and these go well with their raw oysters!
So let’s get some drinks to start!
Peruvian Siesta. Pisco, peach liquor, Sauvignon Blanc, lemon. My boyfriend originally picked this drink and I liked it so much that I switched with him. It is pretty much a white wine on ice kind-of-drink. Sweet, light, refreshing.
Mai Tai. My first time trying a mai tai and I still don’t get what is in them but check out that metal straw?! Super environmentally friendly! And they reuse their menu slices as coasters! Reuse and reuse!
Lobster roll. Brown butter mayo, crispy shallots, chives. We shared a lobster roll and thank you for pre-cutting the lobster roll for us to split! Check out that cross-section slice though! Clean and neat! They were soooo generous on the lobster, which always impresses me!
Octopus A La Plancha. Chorizo, olive, sherry. I LOVEEEEE THIS OCTOPUS!!! This octopus is so soft and chewy, perfectly cooked. The chorizo and sauce is just a perfect, perfect savory touch to the chewy and soft lobster. Added a slight crunch too!
I asked for ketchup for my fries but they don’t have ketchup! Instead, they gave me some of their special sauce! It tasted really good, almost like a similar version to In-N-Out’s spread.
After lunch, we went next door to Salt & Straw for some dessert! We each got an ice cream cone to eat and lick while we walked around Little Italy. Salt & Straw is originally ice cream from Portland and it is my favorite ice cream. I swear it doesn’t matter which location, you can always smell their ice cream from outside! Sometimes even down the block! It is that good and rich.
Sea salt with caramel ribbons and James Coffee & Bourbon.
We went back at 3pm for their happy hour drinks, menu and oysters! Hehehehehe.
Aperol Spritz. Aperol, cava.
Poet’s Dream. Gin, dry vermouth, Benedictine, orange bitters, lemon zest.
Happy hour $1 Ironside select oysters. Very fresh and perfectly shucked.
Cup of clam chowder. Pork, potato, cheddar biscuits. Now let me rave about this clam chowder soup (minus the bacon because I think they added it for garnish and crunch but I can do without it. The clam chowder soup alone is THAT good alone). It is sooo good and rich and flavorful! It is the best clam chowder soup I have ever had!!!! There was plenty of clams. It also came with some cheddar biscuits, which added more flavor and cheesiness. Made the biscuits less dry than their usual.
Okay, so one of the best parts of today was that one of the chefs recognized us from lunch time. We incidentally sat at the exact spot at the bar. One of the bartenders, a waiter and a chef recognized us!! The chef came up to us and said, “Hey! You guys came back!!” How could we not? The food was amazing, the service was superb, the ambiance is great! He said thank you for coming back and keep coming more. “You know what? Just for that, let me fix a little something for you two on the house as a thank you.” SO NICEEEE!!!!
Tuna poke salad on the house. He gave us a little tuna poke! It was soooo good! Perfectly flavored and very light. So refreshing. Not heavy on the sauce but there was still come creaminess to it. And it was free! Thank you thank you for appreciating us for coming back! This was over the top and didn’t even need to be done! We really appreciated it and it totally made us over-the-top happy!
Ironside tiki mug. We noticed some fish mugs at the top of the bar. If you look closely in the back you can see a big blue one and a few smaller ones. They’re tiki mugs that they made specifically with Ironside logo on it. It’s $25 with any drink you want! For my boyfriend’s birthday, I got him one because he really liked this skull tiki mug. It was the last one too!
And as an extra, the bartender washed the tiki mug afterwards, wrapped it in tissue paper and gave us a bag for it.
I didn’t know all of these places were from the same company! How awesome!
A little tidbit: they’re going to open a new breakfast and brunch place soon called Morning Glory.
Happy birthday Babe!
