What is a trip to Palm Springs without a little Cheeky's?

Cheeky's has easily become our breakfast place while visiting. The service is attentive and the food is great. Let's not forget about the flight of bacon ($4):

Each time we go it's been different strips. This time it was: extra thick, apple cinnamon, pepper, jalapeno, neuske's. We agreed we liked the jalapeno the best.

Rich had the soft scrambled eggs with English white cheddar and prosciutto ($10). It also came with a side of toast. I tried the buttermilk and fresh corn pancakes with blueberries and bacon ($10). It was 2 large pancakes with corn kernels mixed into it. For some reason, I was envisioning the pancakes to be made from cornmeal but I think I read the description wrong. They charged me $1 to add blueberries, which was disappointing since there didn't seem to be anywhere near $1 worth of blueberries in the pancakes. The pancakes themselves were great though -- fluffy, moist and delicious. I love that they also provide real maple syrup.

It's a semi-expensive breakfast at about $30 for both of us, but until we find a better alternative, we'll stick it out here.

Jake's: Living up to the Hype

On Saturday night, we decided to try out our surprise favorite from last year, Jake's Ready to Eat. Last year we thought the combination of good service and value made this a win. But had we hyped it up in our minds and would it live up to our expectations again?

Jake's isn't a big restaurant and although our first reservation time slot wasn't available, they were able to reserve a table for us within 15 minutes of the time we originally wanted. This time, we sat on the outside patio, next to a heat lamp and covered by a tent to keep the rain out. With the dim candle on the table and green hedge of a backdrop, it made for a pretty and relaxed atmosphere.

The amuse-bouche was a beet skewer with goat cheese. Two of my favorites!! Rich was generous and let me have his portion. Excellente.

They added a few new items to their menu since the last time we were here, including an option to get a three course meal for $29. A select number of entrees were allowed for this option. Since I was already planning on getting a salad and one of the entrees, this made more sense economically. The organic mixed greens salad was good (no cheese!) and for my entree, I had the fettuccini a la vodka ($16) with heirloom tomatoes. It was very heavy and rich, but also really delicious. I couldn't finish the entire dish.

Rich had the (surprise!) filet mignon ($26) with mashed potatoes and asparagus. He enjoyed it and said he thought it was better than the filet he had the previous day at Chop House.

For dessert, I was allowed to choose anything on the dessert menu. It was a toss up between the toffee banana crunch cake and the coconut cake, but the waiter said the coconut cake was better (hands down). Rich had a giant brownie ($6) which he said was good, but preferred a less cakey brownie. The coconut cake was very good. It was HUGE (3 layers) and moist with delicious cream cheese frosting. None of that gross buttercream stuff. I only wish there was more coconut flavor in the cake itself.

We were stuffed by the time we finished and they still surprised us by bringing out two bites of a pecan tart, just like last year. The owner (guessing?) also came by to ask how everything was. The service was awesome. We love Jake's.

Nine-Ten: Mercy of the Chef

Jon and I finally got around to celebrating our birthdays (only 2 months late!) and went to Nine-Ten last night. It was my first time for dinner and Jon's first time ever. The restaurant is small and located within The Grand Colonial Hotel on Prospect Street in La Jolla. We didn't have any problems finding street parking on a Wednesday evening, but they do offer valet (for a fee).

I made the reservation through OpenTable and noticed that they surprisingly read my requests because we were seated in a private area and they knew it was Jon's birthday. I was beginning to think no one ever read my requests because they were never honored!

The service was stellar and attentive, without being snobby or pretentious. Almost immediately after being seated, we were given two complimentary flutes of rosé champagne to celebrate the birthday dinner as well as fresh bread.

Jon decided on this restaurant because we were both interested in their "Mercy of the Chef" dinner, which is a 5-course tasting menu of dishes created by the chef's inspiration for $70. We were each brought different items which was great because we were able to sample 10 different dishes!

I am not going to be able to list the details of every dish (sauces, garnishes, etc) because they were quite lengthy and I can't remember them all... even the server struggled to tell us what everything was and couldn't remember the exact names of things!

amuse-bouche:
This was a bite of salmon. It tasted very fresh and not "fishy" at all.

First course: salads

Jon: salmon salad with pieces of potato salad, topped with potato chips and roe

Jen: shaved cucumber salad with watercress and truffle oil (sorry this was taken in the middle of eating it because all other pictures were blurred)

These were both very good.

Second course: seafood

Jon: salmon with pomegranate and pureed celery root

Jen: swordfish with fingerling potatoes and olives

I liked these also. I generally don't care for swordish because it's too chewy/tough but these pieces were very tender.

Third course: main

Jon: lamb with yellow and pureed red beets and greens

Jen: turbot over some kind of vegetable with a truffle sauce

The turbot was very buttery and cooked perfectly. I couldn't figure out what else it was served with - seemed like some kind of shredded vegetable underneath it. Jon's lamb was also good. We both think lamb as being too "gamey" for us but this didn't taste like that. His was served with some kind of dark leafy green that I loved - seemed like it was a Chinese green of some sort.

Fourth course: cheese plates

Jon: goat's milk cheese and quince

Jen: a harder, peppery cheese (can't remember the name), toasted almonds

Both were served with different types of bread, including an interesting walnut bread.

Fifth course: dessert

Jon: coffeecake topped with bacon, butternut squash ice cream

Jen: chocolate mousse with creme fraiche, coffee, and banana ice cream

We both got candles on our plates!  Although beautifully plated, I was not as impressed with my dessert. Jon's seemed so much more inventive and unique.

They also gave us a couple of complimentary truffles (sorry, no picture) at the end that were good. Overall, I enjoyed the experience. Though very expensive for us, the food was high-quality, tasted good, and the service was excellent. Definitely a splurge though!

Happy Birthday to us!

Cheeky's Part Deux

Since we were back in PS, we decided to go back to Cheeky's for Sunday morning brekkie. We found this place last year and remember it mostly for the bacon flight!

We had gotten there slightly before they opened at 8 am. There were already people lined up but they had a sign-in sheet which made things easy. We had a nice outside table again. The weather was warm, the sun wasn't in my face, and it was great for people-watching. :)

We started with coffee and tea ($2.50 each). I love the interesting dishware.

Of course we had the flight of bacon ($4):

From top to bottom, it's Jalapeno, Applewood, smoked, Xtra Thick. The side piece is maple. I had a few bites of each. Maple and jalapeno were my favorites.

R was banned from getting the Eggs Benedict. So he opted for the pecan brioche French toast ($10):

I had a few bites and it was very rich but he enjoyed it. 

I love the maple syrup "house":

Even though San Diego does Mexican mighty well, the huevos rancheros ($10) were calling my name.

Those are 2 poached eggs over tortillas and peruano beans. Not a healthy choice, but absolutely a delicious choice.

A very good breakfast before our drive home.

Jake's Ready to Eat

We were looking for a fun place to have dinner that wouldn't break the bank. We were also dressed in hiking clothes so a $$$ place wasn't going to cut it. There seemed to be no shortage of high-end fancy smanchy restaurants in Palm Springs but we found one listed as $$ instead of $$$ or $$$$! Jake's it is!

The atmosphere is casual but comfortable. There is a larger outside patio which looked romantic and a handful of smaller tables inside. We arrived slightly before 6 pm on a Saturday evening and even though the place looked empty, the host asked whether we had a reservation because he was booked for the entire evening. Luckily he found space, and they were able to seat us inside. The service was awesome... not pretentious, attentive and always friendly. They seemed genuinely concerned with whether we were enjoying our meal.

Shrimp cocktail was offered as an amuse-bouche:.

Tasty! Out came our server to deliver a warm dinner roll shortly after.

I started with the Mixed Organic Greens salad with lemon vinaigrette ($6.50). It had a nice variety of vegetables and everything was fresh, but of course, I could have easily eaten 3 plates of this. :)

R had the filet mignon with blue-cheese (are you surprised?). It came atop roasted garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus ($24). It was so delicious he ate everything cleanly - even the vegetables!

Because they couldn't make the Tower of Eggplant without cheese (apparently it is pre-assembled), I opted for the sea bass. It was crusted with hazelnuts and came with garlic mashed potatoes and not enough broccolini ($21). Although it was rich, it was perfectly cooked and excellent.  And even though it may look like a tiny portion in this picture (and I did think so when I first saw the dish), I was surprisingly full after I was done.

After gaping at the display case when we went in, I was determined to have a dessert. I mean, look at them!

This picture doesn't really do them justice (R took the picture - hah!).  The cakes are HUGE layer cakes and the brownies and bars (lower shelf on right and left) are as big as my face!  Okay, not really... but close!

It was tough choosing, but the peanut butter lover in me had to go with the peanut butter cupcake ($5):

It was a giant-sized, moist chocolate cake filled with a little peanut butter and topped with peanut-butter buttercream and roasted peanuts. Although I LOVE peanut butter, I shortly realized this probably wasn't the wisest choice as I also detest buttercream (too sweet!), and am generally not a cupcake fan. I can't really complain because there was nothing wrong with it (wasn't dry or flavorless), but I should have chosen something else!

R had the "hostess" cupcake ($5):

His response: Mmmmmmmmmm.

To top things off, they gave us a couple of complimentary bites of pecan bars:

I definitely left with a happy, full belly. This place is phenomenal AND good value. A similar dinner would have cost us much, much more.  We will be back.

Whisknladle

For my birthday, we went to Whisknladle in La Jolla. I was interested because I had heard good things about the place and they seemed to have some "different" items on the menu (bone marrow and sweetbreads, anyone?).

I like that their menu changes seasonally, they us local produce, and that most items are in small portions so you can sample quite a few. However, this can add up quickly and a few small plates can make for a hefty price tag.

We started with the chorizo date fritters ($11.50):

These tasty morsels were probably my favorite of the evening. They are dates stuffed with chorizo and served with parsley and a spicy tomato sauce. Very tasty!

For the main entree, I had the conchiglie. It contained shrimp chorizo, sweet potato, rapini and piquillo “sofrito.” At $24, I wouldn't describe it as "good value" but it was tasty, if a little too greasy for me.

R opted for the flat iron steak ($29.50) which came with fries, watercress and a béarnaise sauce (soooo rich).

I noticed there were no salt and pepper shakers on the table to been seen and I wondered what the reaction would be had we asked for ketchup. Heh. The service was very attentive, if slightly pretentious.

For dessert, we tried the pumpkin bread pudding ($10). I had read they made their ice cream on the premises and the butter rum ice cream served with the bread pudding was delicious! The bread pudding itself was a little too "bread-y" for us though.

 

I think we'd go back and try a few other items but would have to save our pennies for next time.

Mac & Cheese Substitute for Lasagna

In deciding what to bake yesterday, I saw a very tasty picture of lasagna. Being that it was after 8:00 PM, I thought the best way to get fresh, cooked lasagna in less than an hour (if I were to bake it myself) was to buy it myself. There is a restaurant called Sublime Pizza across the street from us. We haven't been there yet, only heard it had good Mac and Cheese. I was craving lasagna but to my surprise, they didn't serve it on their menu. So we decided to try the Mac and Cheese... Wow! What a selection! They had 17 different types of Mac and Cheese filled with everything from italian sausage to hot dogs to applewood smoked bacon. They even had a make your own, which is what I decided to order for the bost of us.

Choice 1 - Mac and Cheese with Monterey Jack and Gouda cheese, Italian Sausage and Red Bell Peppers topped with Gruyere Breadcrumb Crust

Ryan rated this one a 7. He said it could have used more breadcrumb toppings.

Choice 2 - Mac and Cheese with Monterey Jack and Gouda cheese (there were more choices of cheese but I couldn't decide), Turkey Sausage and Spinach topped with Gruyere Breadcrumb Crust (other choice there is parmesan)

Rating is probably a 7 as well. It was decent Mac and Cheese...pretty good but not #1. MUCH better than out of a box and you can tell it wasn't Kraft or Velvetta cheese. It tasted fresh. It could have used more fillings and a little less cheese and maybe a little pepper.

I'd still go again and try out something new and change it up a bit.