Eating my way across San Diego *UPDATED IN OP WITH NEW REVIEWS

Been here for about 5 weeks now but the eating really got ramped up the past 10 days when my wife visited. Here are some of the places I have been to:

A Must if in SD

Brockton Villa - La Jolla:
- Located right above La Jolla cove, this is one of the best settings I have ever had lunch in. It is an old house converted into a restaurant and we sat on the veranda overlooking the cove and the cliffs to the north. Staff was friendly and helpful. We went at around 2 but breakfast was still available. I don't know what the view would be like at night because I don't know how well lit the cliffs would be but the view in the morning and afternoon is awesome. Definitely a great place for breakfast, brunch or lunch. We started with a cheese plate with gouda, bris, and bleu cheese. It was good. My wife got the strawberry and chocolate chip pancakes which were very fluffy and good. I got a salmon BLT which was different but good. Salmon was cooked well. I highly recommend this place.

Hob Nob Hill - Bunker Hill Area (think that is what the neighborhood is called)
- This one was actually on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives but this place is far from a dive. Breakfast, lunch and dinner offered here. We went for breakfast. Staff and service were also good here. Wife got the french toast which was a huge portion and well done. I got the roast beef hash and two eggs. Nice different choice for breakfast and I enjoyed it. Only problem I had was no substitutions for the side items, but the coffee cake I got with my meal was delicious.

*Little Pepper Gourmet Deli (Clairemont Mesa & Hwy 163)
- New York style deli that I absolutely love. Plus you get a cookie with your sandwich which is always awesome. Few of my favorites: Hot Pastrami on Rye, the Jalapeno Chicken Sandwich, and the Chicken Caesar sandwich. You pretty much cant go wrong here.

*Basic Pizza (Downtown)
- If you want to eat pizza, go here. And if you there I hope you want to eat pizza because that is all they serve. The name doesn't lie. Very cool concept place. Looks like an converted body shop into a restaurant with a large bar area with lounge seating and pool table area in addition to the standard dining area. You can wait for a table or find a place to sit or stand in the bar area and order your pizza there. You start by telling them large or small and whether its tomato sauce or olive oil based and then start adding your toppings. The pizza comes out on a baking sheet and the small is large enough for 2 people and the pizzas are very well done.

*Searsucker (Downtown Gaslamp)
- New restaurant from one of the guys from Top Chef (don't know, don't watch the show). Very trendy type place. Food was excellent. It is a la carte style dining. I had the duck and it was some of the best I ever had. The caprese salad appetizer on a bed of arugula was great as well. My wife got the tuna which was good as well. Only thing that bothers me about this place and I have seen it at a few of the newer "trendy" places is the way the menu is structured. Instead of giving the dish a name and then telling you what's in it, it will simply say: "tomato + mozzarella + arugula $9". Which is fine for a dish like that, but when you have several dishes that have things that most people have never heard of, I don't feel like asking 5 questions about the menu. Picky complaint, but it bothers me for some reason.

*Hash House A Go-Go (Balboa Park area)
- Best breakfast I had in SD and I had some good breakfasts here. The portions are staggering but the quality is equally as good. I had the meatloaf hash which came with 2 eggs and watermelon. Managed to finish most of it and skip lunch that day. My wife got the french toast which was probably the best I had ever tasted and it was enough to feed 2 as well. They also do lunch and dinner here as well.

Good Eats

Donovan's Steak House - Downtown
- Went here for the anniversary. Not a very extensive menu here but the steaks are good. I got the ribeye and the wife got the petite filet and both were great. They also gave us a free creme brulet for dessert. I would compare the steak quality to Keith Young's but again don't expect the other menu options of KY's while there. And being in SD it is of course more expensive but still a good experience.

The Broken Yolk - Downtown
- You want to scarf for breakfast, go here. Very large menu with some good choices. Got an omellette that had chorizo, cheese, jalapenos, and onions and was topped with guacamole and salsa. Sounds aggressive but it was good. Very large portions too. Good kick to the omellette. Also subbed banana pancakes for my toast and these were delicious as well. Don't be turned back by the wait outside for this one. They seat you quickly as the dining rooms are a lot bigger than they look from the outside.

* Las Brisas (Laguna Beach)
- Right on the ocean in Laguna, this place offers dishes from the Western coast of Mexico. I had scallops in a garlic sauce and very much enjoyed them. We went here based on recommendations from several people who had been to the area and it turned out to be a good call.

A Step Below but still decent

Fred's Mexican - Downtown
- Located in the Gaslamp. Our service was below average. Waitress would disappear for long periods of time. The salsa was very good. The food was flavored well also. I give it the below rating for the service. If it were good, this would be in the category above.

Miguel's Cocina - Coronado
- Great atmosphere in this place with outdoor courtyard dining. However, I felt the food was very underseasoned and lacked kick, even down to their homemade jalapeno white cheese queso that they seemed to be very proud of. Service was great though. I will give them credit for trying to go outside the box with a few of their menu items and not sticking to just the typical, but the execution could have been better.

*Hodad's (Downtown)
- An SD staple burger joint by the beach but I checked out the neew downtown location. Good burgers if you want to go get one. Had the Guido burger which has pastrami on it as well and it was good. Large portions as well.

* Lotus Thai (Downtown)
- I place this one here because this was actually my first Thai experience and I have nothing else to base it on. I enjoyed it but like I said, I can't really speak intelligently on this type of food.

* Kensington Grill
- Food was good, service sucked. Also the chairs were probably the most uncomfortable chairs I have ever sat on in a restaurant. Too bad those 2 things took away from the food which was prepared nicely. Little on the pricey side though for the amount you get.

Meh

Dragon's Den - Downtown
- Sushi restaurant right across from Petco Park. Outside dining area is very "cosmopolitan" so to speak. Very small menu. Sushi was decent but I would classify this as more of a cool place to get drinks and a little sushi than as a place to go out to eat at.

In and Out Burger - All over the place
- Figured I had to try it while I was out here. The vegetables on the burgers are the freshest you will get at a fast food joint. However, the burger was average. Not much flavor. Let's just say if I were standing next to a BK and I wanted a burger, I would not go out of my way to go here.

My 2 cents.