Pre New Year's Eve celebration at Sushi Ota: San Diego, CA

It isn't quite a celebration until we've stopped by Sushi Ota for an omakase fix. Since Robert had New Year's Eve off, we decided to have our celebratory dinner on Thursday and opted for a chill evening on Friday. We aren't the type to shell out for the overcrowded, overpriced club with a champagne toast experience. We'd rather spend that same amount on a thoroughly tasty and inventive meal. And inventive this meal was. We were treated with some old favorites but also surprised with some new creations. I think that's one of the things that keeps us coming back. Its the superbly prepared time tested dishes but also the new ideas that Robert tests out on us. Please enjoy the eye candy from our latest meal. It's sure making me hungry for our next meal already.

Firefly Grill & Wine Bar: Encinitas, CA

Happy New Year! Hope you all made good resolutions for the new year and are working hard on them. 

EHK and I rarely ever stick around North County to eat despite the fact that we live and work here. The choices just seem so unappealing for the most part. There are a few gems but we head south for the most part. So when M&OH were in town and MK recommended we all meet at Firefly, I have to admit I discounted it at first because of its location. I would be proven wrong by the end of this meal.

SOUP OF THE DAY
broccoli and cheddar soup

After browsing through the menu, I decided to go with pre fixe which turned out to be a fantastic deal. $30 for appetizer, entrée and dessert from selected choices. Ordering them separately would have cost well over. I decided to go with the soup of the day for the appetizer which turned out to be a broccoli and cheddar soup. What a rich, velvety and flavorful soup it turned out to be. EHK shared this soup with me since he got the seafood jambalaya (not pictured) by itself. We ended up battling over the soup. Definitely a winner.

PAN ROASTED WHITE TUNA
chive crawfish butter, fingerling potato hash, baby carrots

I choose the pan roasted white tuna for my entrée and I was just as pleased with it as I was with the soup. The fish was cooked perfectly to a medium doneness, the potatoes were well seasoned and tasted slightly crispy, carrots and beans were equally well seasoned and cooked. To top it off was the buttery sauce that I made sure every morsel got a nice coating of before devouring.  EHK didn't like his entrée very much so I let him eat some off my plate.

ALMOND BROWN BUTTER CAKE
 caramel gelato, drunken fruit, almond streusel 

Lastly, I went with the almond brown butter cake for dessert. I was the only one who got a dessert since I ordered the pre fixe and everybody else went with entrée only. I was nice and passed the plate around with extra spoons. Every meal should end with a little sweetness :). It was an incredibly decadent dessert and I'm glad I shared since I wouldn't have been able to finish it. I think I could have done without the drunken fruit and gone with the fresh fruit instead. The buttery rich sauce and warm moist cake were great but the components together made it a little overpowering.

What a delightful surprise this place turned out to be. I arrived here not thinking very much of it and left more than satisfied with a lovely meal.

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Firefly Grill & Wine Bar

251 N. El Camino Real

Encinitas, CA 92024

(760)635-1066

http://www.fireflygrillandwinebar.com/