After a week racking my brain about where to eat, I finally chose
Cucina Urbana after seeing some pictures from a friend on instagram and the 1000+ reviews/4 and a half stars on Yelp. Being apart of Slow Food, I was happy to see the menu advertised the use of local and organic ingredients (+348398394 points). Although I originally wanted a great ocean view, I was fortunate to enjoy a couple moments of the San Diego skyline as the car maneuvered its way up and down Banker's Hill(s).
I will divide this post (and possibly future ones) into three categories:
Environment
The neighborhood surrounding the restaurant is pretty quiet but there are a couple other eateries scattered here and there.
As for the inside, it was dimly lit with two walls for wine, chalkboard drawings, ingredients in mason jar....what wasn't amazing and quirky about this restaurant? I give the decor two thumbs up!
I was also in great company which really set the mood for the night. This was BT and I's third restaurant week outing together.
Service
We had a 9:15pm reservation but was not seated until 9:35ish since it was still bumping at that time of the night. Although a private table was not available to us, they did offer us choices to sit at either the communal table (not favored since it required too much human interaction according to BT) or the pizza bar (watching dough being stretched, topped with goodies, and set into a wood fire oven? YES YES YES). Our water was constantly filled and our utensils/dishes were replaced appropriately. The waiter was incredibly attentive and wonderfulll (I think I have an affinity for gay men haha). On an interesting note, my leftovers were boxed and put in a fridge near the hostess where I could pick it up with a ticket that was given to me by the waiter. As with most nice SD restaurants, the takeout box was made from recycled cardboard instead of styrofoam (+39849085984 more points).
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| Pizza bar seating |
Food
CU offers three different menus for restaurant week ranging from $25 to $35. BT ordered the Kensington white sangria, Farmer's chopped salad, fennel sausage and pepperoni pizza, and ricotta cheesecake. I ordered the proscuitto cotto carpaccio (ham salad in its simplest form), short rib pappardelle, and caramel panna cotta. I have loved sangria ever since tasting it at the tapas bar in Barcelona and this was no exception. It even had real chunks of fruit, and the alcohol was noticeable but not too strong. BT's primo/appetizer was a simple salad, and he really enjoyed the cheese. On the other hand, mine was an interesting and more complicated mix of flavors (I hardly knew how to begin eating it) from the saltiness of the prosciutto to the bitterness of the greens. The truffle aioli and caramelized pearl onions really stood out to me. I got the short rib pappardelle (large fettuccine) because it was highly recommended on Yelp. There was a hefty amount of meat that just fell apart with the touch of your fork. It was meaty deliciousness. BT's pizza had a spicy kick from the sausage and was cooked to a perfect crunch. My panna cotta was definitely the star of the night. It had a nutella "gelato" apparently that was a milder but just as tasty version of nutella from the jar. It was milky and melt-in-your-mouth amazing. I don't even remember how BT's desserted tasted hahaha
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| Farmer's chopped salad |
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| proscuitto cotto carpaccio |
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| fennel sausage & pepperoni pizza |
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| short rib pappardelle |
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| ricotta cheesecake with plum preserves |
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| caramel panna cotta with nutella gelato |
Personal note: We went on 9/19/2012
keep feasting fellow gastronomes,
xoxo Amy
