+1 (619) 232-4634
www.monsoonrestaurant.com

Indian Cuisine

Restaurant: 3/5

Masala, conveniently located close to the convention center, is comfortable. The modern decor offers a few surprises like a flat panel TV in the toilets.

Service: 0/5

You shall not lie to your customers. Our waiter inverted a lamb and a chicken order. Instead of fixing the mistake, he switched the dishes and lied, expecting that we wouldn’t make the difference between a korma and a rogan josh. There is no excuse for that.

Food: 2/5

I started with a Mulligatawny soup. The soup, served with a poppadom, was fairly authentic. Although a bit too salty, it was very tasty.

Following the soup, I had lamb dhaniwal korma with a side of pulao rice. On the good side, the pieces of lambs were a very nice cuts and the pulao rice was very good. But, while korma is usually very mild, this one was totally bland. Not what you expect from Indian cuisine.

I had to opportunity to taste the chicken rogan josh and the chicken vindaloo. Rogan josh should be medium hot and vindaloo should be very hot but, as the lamb, both of them were totally bland.

Value for money: 1/5

Around $40, including drinks (a mango lassi and sparkling water) and tip. Considering the food and the service, Masala is definitely not a good value for money. I will avoid that restaurant in the future.

+1 (619) 232-3121
www.grantgrill.com

Californian Cuisine

Restaurant: 4.5/5

Located in the heart of San Diego, Grant Grill is both beautiful and extremely comfortable. The decor is modern and chic. From the tablecloth to the china, everything is perfect. I have only one regret: you have to go across the hotel hall to reach the toilets.

Service: 3.5/5

The service was very good. We were accommodated quite late in the evening without a reservation. While our waiter wasn’t the best in the profession, he made genuine efforts to please us.

Food: 4/5

I started with the foie gras. It was fresh foie gras, lightly pan fried, served with apple slices and grapes. Both the apple slices and the grapes (skinless) were cooked in the foie gras juice. In one word: delicious.

As main course, I had braised oxtail, served with vegetables and a salsify puree. The oxtail was served as pieces, without bones or gelatine, sparing me all the tedious extracting work. Both the oxtail and the salsify puree were excellent. That combination create a very well balanced dish.

As desert I had the fresh fruits clafouti. The clafouti was served warm in a copper dish, topped with a delicious home made vanilla gelato. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful meal.

Value for money: 5/5

Around $70, including drinks (a glass of red wine, sparkling water and espresso) and tip. Grant Grill offers an excellent value for money. While $70 is a fair amount of money, it was worth every penny. The location, the restaurant and the food are exceptional. I will definitely come back.

+1 (619) 291-2900
www.starwoodhotels.com

Contemporary American Cuisine

Restaurant: 3/5

Harbor’s Edge is located at the Sheraton hotel in San Diego’s marina. The restaurant is comfortable and offers a very nice view of the marina. The decor is modern with a nautical theme.

Service: 2/5

While our waiter tried to offer good service, his culinary knowledge was at best misinformed.

Food: 2/5

We started directly with the main course. I ordered the rack of lamb with gratin potatoes, pink (medium rare), as any Frenchman would order it. For some strange reason, the rack of lamb is by default served with cassoulet… While I like experimental cuisine, such an association is extremely unorthodox to say the least. The rack of lamb, composed of twice 4 chops, was excellent. The meat, rubbed in seasoning, was both tender and juicy. The vegetables were correctly cooked and the potatoe gratin, while a bit too rich, was very good.As desert, I had the molted chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and berries. What a disappointment! The molted chocolate cake turned out to be something resembling a half cooked chocolate muffin, far too compact and lacking flavor. The vanilla ice cream was a low quality commercial preparation and I had to search my plate to find the berries (2 blackberries, 2 blueberries and half a strawberry).

Value for money:1/5

Around $60, including drinks (sparkling water and espresso) and tip. For that kind of money, you can definitely find a better place to dine. I will avoid that restaurant in the future.