We had read of Pamplemousse's great Zagat rating and decided to try it for a Saturday evening dinner since we were staying nearby. We stopped by the same afternoon to secure an 8:00 reservation that evening. They are listed with opentable . com, so in the future I'll make a reservation a bit more in advance.
We had a fantastic experience from beginning to end! To start with, the prices are higher than most places we go so before our server arrived, I was worried that we might be a bit out of our element (our next stop that evening was a show at the Belly Up Tavern!). However, when she arrived to announce the specials, our server couldn't have been nicer! There is no pretentiousness whatsoever here, which seems astonishing to me for a place offering a $175 per person truffle menu (oh, I wish I had an extra $200!!) 8-) Perfect example: the wine menu is immense....yet they offer many wines by the glass under $10. If you have an unlimited budget, come here! If you are on a budget, you have plenty of wonderful choices too! This will be our new 'go to' restaurant when we visit the San Diego area (from Phoenix)
We ended up trying the Kim Chee lobster, shrimp & crab martini appetizer ($20). A wonderful recommendation from our server. It came served in a martini glass and was phenomenal. Extremely fresh and with a perfect blend of flavors ... enough spice from the kim chee, but subtle enough to let the seafood shine through with a bit of sweetness to boot. It's a dish like this that give the home chef inspiration to try this sort of show-stopping dish at home!
For entrees, I had fresh caught scallops over truffled mashed potatoes with fava beans, morel mushrooms, English peas & pearl onions. ($39) Fantastic! The scallops were perfect and the entire dish was perfectly matched. My husband enjoyed the halibut special which was pan seared with a buerre blanc sauce....it was absolute perfection ($40). (FYI - there are other menu options less than $40)
The desserts are all prepared at a station near the entrance (where the fresh breads also come from)...we tried the crème brule trio....delicious! The desserts seemed to be in the $10 range, and all looked fabulous.
Another note: the chef spent a good portion of our time there in the dining room chatting with various tables. I assummed all were special guests, but he even stopped by our table to chat for a second. It made for a very convivial atmosphere. Make sure you stop by the restrooms, if only to check out more of the art (biker portraits identify the rest rooms). Love this place! Can't wait to visit again.
