Indigo Grill

I have to admit that I *love* being taken out to eat -- especially when I have free reign to pick where we go, and especially when my dinner date has yet to fully experience my lavish dining habits! So when Dave suggested coming down to SD for a nice meal out, I was more than a little bit excited. :)

After perusing many many many menus, and offering Dave several options to choose from, we decided to go with Indigo Grill down in Little Italy. When I discovered that J&T had gone several times, and tried almost everything off their menu, I was confident that we chose well.

On a dreary and wet Saturday night, we made our way downtown. With the rain still coming down, and Dave a little more stressed than usual, the drive was a little dice-y. OK, not really, but I thought it'd be dramatic to write that. ;) What *was* dice-y, however, was the parking situation. It took many loops around (which I didn't mind since we were early for the reservation anyways) for Dave to concede that we'd have to settle for a lot. Thankfully, at that hour (around 8ish on a Saturday), the flat fee was about $5, which is better than the cost of parking before 7PM (about $8-$10).

As we made our way into the restaurant, I noticed that it was quite bustling, which is always nice to come into from the doom and gloom outside. We were seated pretty quickly at a great banquette table in the middle of the back wall. I scooted in on the banquette side and got a great view of the room -- a few twosomes, a small group to my right, a couple of large groups, a bar near the front entrance. The room had great decor, with a bit of safari-tropical flair, and lots of color and light. The whole space was lovely on the eyes, and felt simultaneously warm & comforting and hip & cool.

Our server Nika brought us menus fairly quickly, and was perfectly attentive all night. We were a bit starved, so we skipped drinks, and dove right into appetizers. Both J&T and Nika had warned us that the portions were ginormous, but Dave was splurging, so we decided to try everything and take stuff home at the end of the night. For appetizers, I went with the Pipian Crusted Brie, which came with jalapeno jelly, honey roasted garlic, grilled nopales, mole negro, and scallion flatbread. (Apparently, "pipian" is now the adjectivized form of pumpkin seed. Who knew?) Dave went with the Stacked Beet Salad, which came with orange segments, shaved fennel, lime-caraway dressing, and dried beet chips. When the apps came to the table, we were floored. They were simply ginormous, totally entree-sized, and absolutely beautiful. Total works of art on super-sized plates.

More importantly, the food tasted absolutely delicious. The melted brie literally oozed out of it's pipian crust, and the mole negro was nice and salty (perhaps a bit too salty?) with layers of flavor. The nopales were grilled perfectly, and the crispy flatbread was a great vehicle for the jalapeno jelly. I'm not a big fan of garlic, so I just had a bite. Dave's salad was quite substantial, with the beets being cooked to just the right consistency -- a good chew without being too mushy. The beet chips were nice and crispy, with a great beet-iness that I could totally taste.

I thought we'd both committed to not finishing our appetizers in preparation for our entrees, but I was clearly wrong. We were obviously starving, because when I looked down at our plates, we'd both pretty much cleared them. Eek! So when our equally ginormous entrees showed up at the table, there really wasn't much more we could do but stare. Yet again, we were met with towering works of art, even more substantial than before. The plates were completely covered in food, in an I've-already-been-dominated-so-let's-see-if-I-can-even-make-a-dent sort of way. At this point, there was a split second when I wished I hadn't ordered an appetizer. However, this thought vaporized quickly as soon as I thought about the yummy, ooey, gooey brie settling nicely in my tummy. :)

For my entree, I decided to go with the Mojo Bone-in Rib Eye, which came with honey-roasted garlic & spicy corn relish, a tamale with mole negro, pipian rojo, and butternut squash with bourbon-walnut butter. Dave had never tried chimichurri, so he went with the Flat Iron Chimichurri, which came with pico de gallo, black beans, a cilantro vinaigrette salad, and a chili honey-glazed quesadilla. I was more than amused with his look of shock when our massive dishes arrived at the table. I sensed that he also felt beaten before the game even started -- and he's quite competitive, shall we say.

I literally couldn't make it through more than a third of my steak, but what I did have was absolutely divine. I ordered it rare, and it came out just so! A rarity in itself. (No pun intended. OK, well, maybe, just a little.) The meat was well-salted, and I could taste the fat. Mmmm.... FAT.... The relish offered a great contrast in taste (tangy) and texture (poppy) to the steak. And the butternut squash was nice and rich and creamy with the bourbon-walnut butter. Unfortunately, all I could get down was a few bites of each. And I didn't even attempt to open the tamale.

Seriously. Beaten. Dave didn't fare much better with his steak, which was also well-seasoned and well-sauced, but remained barely touched. We both agreed that it was probably better to keep the meals fairly intact, so that we could enjoy the whole experience when we got home. OK, whatever, TOTAL LIE. We were simply intent on having dessert, which was the main reason that Dave picked this place out of the list that I sent over. Plus, how can one  truly splurge without having dessert?

Considering that we'd polished off our appetizers, Nika wasn't surprised when we asked her to box up our entrees, though she was probably a little shocked when we asked for dessert menus. We already knew we wanted the Roasted Plantain Cheesecake Flautas, which came with a firewater dipping sauce. But I upped the ante by adding the Rainforest Sorbet Assortment at the last minute. I've read that the sorbet assortment is always tacked on by the pastry chef as a safe choice for diners, but I love having my palate cleansed at the end of a meal. Nika wasn't quite sure of the three flavors for the night, but I wasn't partial either way, and we ended up with mango, raspberry, and guava.

The flautas had a lovely crisp exterior and a warm smooth interior, making for a great textural contrast. I'm not the biggest fan of cheesecake though, so I preferred the berries & cream that came on the side. Dave literally had to stop me before I ate them all off his plate! As for the sorbets, they were delicious in all their variety. The mango tasted just like my favorite Trader Joe's version. The raspberry had a nice tang to it, and I think it was Dave's fave. The guava was my fave because it wasn't too sweet and there was just a bit of bitterness to it. Like grapefruit without the acid. I seriously wish I'd considered the possibility of taking them home (which Dave totally suggested and which we ended up doing) before I started eating big spoonfuls of them all. I would've left more behind! *DEEP SIGH*

At any rate, this was the best meal I've had in a VERY long time. And I was honored and touched when Dave said it was his best meal EVER to date! Apparently now he knows how princesses eat. :) Let's hope he comes back to SD really soon -- with the same appetite in tow!

If you want great ambiance, food, and service, definitely make your way to Indigo Grill. It was a totally unforgettable experience.

Indigo Grill
1536 India Street
San Diego, CA
619.234.6802

http://www.cohnrestaurants.com/restaurants/indigogrill/