San Diego Restaurants

Humphreys

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Step into the main dining room of Humphreys Restaurant and understand how understated opulence is mastered. The large multileveled room is bathed in soft light and flowing panels of pale gray and ice blue upholstery. Juxtaposed against the whimsical softness of the colors are massive exposed beams that lend an anchor to a bay-side view that threatens to draw you in completely. The menu is thoughtful and inventive in the way it continues this balance between the ethereal and masculine – the Mirin Sesame Shrimp appetizer positions two large shrimp atop a bed of mango-mint relish that is refreshingly cool against a wasabi dressing. The menu and decor offer a cohesive gesture of sophistication that may just leave you swooning.

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Restaurant: Operacaffe   Rating:    Date: January.01.2009

User Name: Vickie

Review Title: Fantastic Italian Meal!
We dined at Operacaffe' while visiting family in San Diego. We stumbled upon this warm, authentic little piece of Italy purely by chance while looking for another restaurant in the area and it was the best "mistake" of our visit. Both of my parents, now deceased, came from Northern Italy and I am always looking for a great Northern Italian restaurant that reflects the food and atmosphere that I grew up with. I definitely found it at Operacaffe. My husband and I dined with our daughter, son-in-law and 2 young grandchildren. We were greeted outside by the daughter of the husband and wife owners. She was charming and had that friendly warmth that made us feel comfortable, as if being invited to dine in her own home. As we were being seated at a large and comfortable carved wood table I glanced at the dishes of several of the other guests we passed on the way. What I saw made my mouth water, so I had a feeling we were in for a memorable meal. We also noticed how beautifully the interior of the restaurant had been decorated...classic, refined and comfortable. Our server immediately placed a basked of warm, freshly baked rosemary foccacia bread and french bread on the table, which we dipped in a very good quality extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar while perusing the menu. After asking about the Italian cold cut and cheese appetizer served on a wooden plank that I saw on one of the other tables and something I love and so rarely see on a menu, I decided to leave that for another visit and ordered a Cesare Salad as a first course as did my husband. We both thought it was one of the best we had tasted in a long time. My daughter ordered the house salad and we were impressed at how large it was for a lunch portion and how beautifully prepared it was, lots of fresh veggies and greens. All the food was served on square dishes that looked hand painted and imported from Italy, a nice touch. My son-in-law ordered the minestrone soup for himself and the children and they all loved it. I then ordered a pasta dish that had chicken,fresh broccoli, sun dried tomatoes tossed in a light cream sauce finished with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Fantastic! The pasta tasted homemade, perfectly cooked al dente' and perfectly sauced. My pet peeve. So many so called Italian restaurants over sauce their pasta dishes and sometimes under drain the pasta, so you are served a dish of usually overcooked pasta floating in a watered down sauce that resembles flavorless soup. No so at Operacaffe'. All the pasta dishes we ordered (and we tried 4 different ones) were all perfectly prepared. My husband ordered the Penne with Bolognese (meat sauce) finished with light cream and parmesan, which we all thought was the best of all the dishes we ordered. My daughter the basic linguine with fresh tomato, basil marinara, also delicious and my son-in-law had one of the daily specials, a penne pasta with sauteed jumbo prawns in a creamy tomato vodka sauce. He couldn't stop eating it. They were also very accomodating with the childrens meals, offering to split any dish we wanted for them. We had 3 desserts, the Torta de la Nonna (grandmothers cake), an Italian style creme brulee and a Chocolate Hazelnut Torte. All were delicious and tasted homemade. They also served us complementary mini tarts with creme brulee filling and each topped with a giant fresh blackberry. A very pleasant surprise! We can't wait to get back to San Diego to go to this place again. We loved it and highly recommend it to anyone who wants to experience a first class Italian experience and meal.

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