Healthy Twists

I wanted to try one new restaurant a month, and after trying twice, we finally got out last Friday night and visited Zocalo Grill, which is in Old Town San Diego. Now, Old Town is pretty touristy and the Mexican food is pretty sub-par at most places in the area, but I’d heard really good things about Zocalo, and it was more “upscale Latin” than Mexican anyway, so I had a feeling it would be nice.

This was my first time having the courage to take photos in a restaurant (well, partly because my dinner date finds it embarrassing, but whatever!).

We started with some chips and salsa (my WEAKNESS! Especially when they are really good like these were) and drinks. I had a peach sangria and Mitch had a beer.

That white sauce was something I call “dairy dip of death.” I asked the waiter what was in it and he said, “oh, you don’t want to know…butter, heavy cream, sour cream, two kinds of cheese, a little chicken broth, and jalapenos.” Mitch said it was really, really good. It would have to be, since I think the only member of the dairy family it was missing was ice cream.

For my first course I got the adobe chicken tortilla soup with avocado and cotija cheese and Mitch got the carne asada empanadas with salsa verde.

Have I mentioned how delicious avocados are? I ate about half the soup, but all the avocado! The soup had chickpeas in it, which was a unique touch. And I liked how they didn’t put too much cheese on it. Cotija is one of those cheeses I can handle in small amounts, because it just tastes salty (like Parmesan).

Next up were the entrees. Mitch got the Jalisco shrimp—stuffed with jack cheese and poblano rajas, wrapped in bacon and finished on the grill, topped with tomatillo-jalapeño cream sauce. It came with rice and beans and he enjoyed it thoroughly. The bacon-wrapped shrimp looked really good, and I probably would have snagged one had they not been stuffed with the cheese (blech…yes I know what I just said above. I like to confuse.)

And I chose the chili glazed salmon with chorizo risotto and tomatillo-avocado salsita.

I’m not sure what was in that “salsita” but it was SO good! It was like, mango salsa mixed with guacamole. I didn’t like the pool of oil (pesto? not sure) on the bottom, but I left most of the chorizo risotto behind (it was ok but not outstanding), I didn’t get too much of the greasy stuff. I did eat every last bite of the salmon and the salsita. Salmon is one of my favorite foods, and I never make it, so I order it every opportunity I get in restaurants (which isn’t often!).

I also had a mojito made with coconut rum that escaped the camera. Needless to say, my 3-miles run the next morning was a little rough, but I figure I’ve got to learn how to run in all states for my 1/2 marathon…including slightly hungover

For dessert, we both got the zócalo chocolate cake with cinnamon crema. We found out they were more like mini-cupcakes, which was fine with us. We were pretty full at that point, but I wasn’t going to not eat desert…I mean hi, I’m me.

I thought the crema (aka cinnamon-flavored whipped cream) was the best part. I basically ate half mine and half Mitch’s  dessert (his was better! More brownie-like), but like I said, they were small. (Not that I need to justify this to you, but more to myself…yeah, I’m still dealing with food-guilt issues. I actually want to expand on that more in a future post).

So this was obviously a splurge (both in the food consumed and the money spent) but it had been a long time since I had a date night with my boy, and the food was delicious, so it was worth it. I can’t wait to try new restaurants around town as part of my 2010 restaurant challenge!

Have you tried any new places to eat lately? Do you stick to the tried-and-true favorites? OR, do you never go out to eat? I love going out to eat, but of course it’s generally healthier and cheaper to avoid it. But hey, I think all about balance!

WINNER WINNER!

The winner of my one-year-blog giveaway is Ashley of Food Fotos and Fun (the word nerd in my just loves that blog title!). Congrats, girl!

Time to get ready for the week ahead. Man, where DO the weekends go?!?

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