El Bizarro Wait

Oops I mean El Bizcocho – one of the top rated restaurants in San Diego. I’d say it would be an understatement to say that this place is a few levels above our economic and social class. But naturally Restaurant Week gives us a chance to try a few restaurants we might not bother to go to otherwise.

Here we were greeted and lead to our semi-private table without any delay – but then there was about a five-minute wait for our menus. The regular menu was on the left side with the restaurant week menu on the right, which seems to very closely match what had been listed online. We must have given the wrong hand signal or maybe didn’t cough correctly as there was an abnormally long wait before our waiter approached for our order. Maybe they though we were reading the wine list. The wait time might be excused if the place was filled to capacity, but upon looking over the dining area, at the time we were seated it was around ¾ full.

Eventually we ordered and the appetizers came out within a couple of minutes. But then there was a long delay before the entrée and a fairly long wait for dessert. Our feeling that the wait time was unusually long was confirmed by our waiter who apologized for the delay in the entrees and the desert courses. Here is what we had as copied from the restaurant week website:

First/Appetizer Course:
Day Boat Sea Scallop with Wine Cured Sausage, Mushroom Flan & Chive Froth

Hamachi “Crudo” with Butternut Squash Puree, Baby Fennel & Ponzu Vinaigrette

Second/Main Course:
Seared Baramundi with Crispy Chorizo, Manilla Clams, Potato Confit & Saffron-Curry Broth

Lamb Loin with Garbanzo Bean Puree, Tomato Confit, Baby Spinach & Olive Reduction

Third/Dessert Course:
Chocolate Veloute with Rum Braised Bananas & Caramel Ice Cream

Goats Milk Cheesecake with Armagnac Infused Winter Fruit & White Pepper Gastrique

The food was good – but extremely small portions. I don’t know if this is typical (French sized portions?) or if they passed out tinier portions because of restaurant week. I guess I’ll assume we were served what we would have received if we ordered from the regular menu any night of the year. I won’t embarrass myself by critiquing food I know too little about. Yes, it there were interesting sauces and reductions. That Chocolate Veloute was sort of a round cake with a soft warm center – we’d call it a lava cake. That Hamachi Crudo and Lamb Loin were just 3 bite sized piece each. Service was very professional – yet friendly and warm. We did see a nearby couple taking pictures but if they were bloggers I haven’t yet seen anything show up online.

El Bizcocho is in the Rancho Bernardo Inn. They do a Sunday Brunch (complete with a Bloody Mary station!) that we may check out at some point – I’m sure they have some pretty great food and since it is all you can eat there won’t be any snacking required once you get home.