Have you been to Restaurant Week yet? There are many restaurants vying for your business and you can check out the list here. Not everyone is participating in week 2 so pay special attention to that before you get too excited. The cost got raised by $5 but many of the pre fixe menus can be a good deal if you do a little research ahead of time. Seasons 52 is one of those that we felt gave great value for the amount you pay ($35 for dinner). And if you hurry up you may catch them before Restaurant Week ends tomorrow!
This particular Seasons 52 restaurant is located in the UTC shopping mall next to Sears and Corner Bakery. It was the first to come to San Diego with another location opening next to Seaport Village at The Headquarters not too long ago.
As you can see from the menu they served a five course dinner!
The first course is a shared course so we selected the Grilled Garlic Pesto Chicken flatbread. Besides chicken, garlic, and pesto there was red peppers, onions, and arugula on top. The components blended well together with just enough pesto and salt to balance the sharp, somewhat peppery and bitter taste of the arugula. The flatbread is thin with a crispy bottom crust and soft interior. One of the reasons we like the flatbread is that it doesn’t weigh you down and allows you to go on to the next course with a pep in your step.
There were two soup options so we ordered one of each. The first was a butternut squash with shiitake mushrooms and chives. Butternut squash is a soup that I have to be in the mood for. It tends to favor the sweet side which my mind can’t handle most of the time. This one was no exception. I’ve had better before but I’ve also been subject to some bad ones. So chalk this up as better than average. The shiitake mushrooms added a nice texture to an otherwise one trick pony. The other soup was a chicken curry soup. Again, there wasn’t much texture aside from the chicken but none of that mattered as the first soulful spoonful hit our tongues and slowed everything down. If you like curry look no further.
Anh is still in her caprese phase so her automatic mechanism triggered and the Warm Roasted Tomato Caprese made it on the waitresses pad before we even sat down. She was weirded out a little that the caprese was warm and not cold. All of the ones she’s had recently have been served cold. I tend to prefer stewed tomatoes over raw ones and was open to this version. The tomatoes were large and very juicy. An extra bit of balsamic vinegar would have gone a long way here.
One of their regular menu items are the Grilled Chicken Skewers with a fuji apple slaw, toasted pine nuts, and dried cranberries. When these two appetizers came out we were already getting full. The portion on this was fairly substantial, especially given it was part of a five course menu. But I’m definitely not one to complain about that! So the three chicken skewers really got the party started. It ended up being one of my two favorite dishes all evening. The poached pear mixed with cranberries, pine nuts, and perfectly tender chicken made me jump for joy. They could have overdone it but boy was it right on point.
For her fourth course, Anh ordered the Cedar Plank Salmon with carrots and asparagus. The salmon was flaky but not as juicy as it was the first time I had it. It also was a little under seasoned. Salmon is my least favorite fish and the first time I had it I actually ate the entire portion. This time a few bites were enough for me.
The Caramelized Sea Scallops was my other favorite dish of the night. Anh also enjoyed this more than the salmon. The scallops themselves were not huge but they were plentiful to go along with asparagus and cous cous. They had a little caramelization on the outside with a light and airy inside. If it wasn’t for us getting full from the previous courses we would have licked the entire plate clean.
Not to be forgotten we had a choice of their multitude of mini desserts which they invented at Seasons 52. Although a tough decision was upon us, with a supreme mix of confidence and reluctance, we went with the Belgian Chocolate Rocky Road and Tropical Fruit Cheesecake. The Belgian Chocolate Rocky Road didn’t have any walnuts in it and exuded chocolate from beginning to end. The small chocolate bits and marshmallows on top worked nicely. And as far as the cheesecake, the bits of fruit at the top along with the graham crumble at the bottom paired well with the cheesecake. Overall we were very happy customers and for $35, felt this is what Restaurant Week was created for.
If there was one small gripe it had to be that the timing of our dishes was not the best between the third and fourth course. About five minutes after receiving our third course we were served our fourth course. While not a huge deal, it would have been better if it was any other dish combination. The appetizers were large and we couldn’t possibly finish them up and get to our entrees before they got a little cold. I heard the person who brought our food out ask the waitress if she should bring the entrees back to the kitchen after realizing we barely touched our appetizers, but our waitress told her to just set them down. I’m not sure what restaurant etiquette is in this case and I wouldn’t want to waste the food, but I know it wasn’t really our fault either. In any case, it didn’t ruin our meal and we still had one of the best Restaurant Week meals I can remember. Even with the $5 increase there is hope that you can find a great meal for a great price!
Seasons 52
4505 La Jolla Village Drive Suite C-1
San Diego, CA 92122
(858) 450-1252
www.seasons52.com
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You guys went to a couple of great SDRW places this year! I like this 5 course menu that you found, especially the flatbread and scallop pictures! I would go to more places but it could easily burn a hole in your pocket plus the price increase! I only made it out to 2 but we also did Cohn anniversary week twice in January.
This year we went crazy for SDRW! I don’t think we’ll hit as many next time but we’ll see…We did Bo Beau in La Mesa during the Cohn anniversary as well. Time to start fasting!