Herb & Sea — Restaurant in Encinitas

I'll just start off by saying that these kinds of restaurants are always too noisy for me. The slick floors and high ceilings always create more noise than is reasonable for any sort of conversation.

Having said that, the food was quite good and the service was excellent. Nicki is an excellent server. My group of friends came for a late lunch and then came back for a late dinner after a movie across the street. Both times were a pleasant experience.

For lunch, I tried the mushroom pizza, pita, roasted oysters and bone marrow, and a vodka gimlet and never have I heather. For dinner I tried the caulilini, margherita pizza, Tuscan ragu, and glazed pork brisket.

The mushrooms on the pizza were roasted and flavorful. I enjoy a variety of mushrooms and I was hoping that there would be more than just one type, but maitake are always enjoyable. It's more mild than shitake which lends itself to blending well with other flavors on a pizza. It's earthy and savory and is easily balanced by the pesto. The goat cheese will cut through just about anything so it stands out but there isn't so much of it that it doesn't balance out with the other flavors.

The pita was hot and fresh and was a great vehicle for the baba ganoush. The baba ganoush was rich and was balanced by what I think might have been currants, but I don't know for sure. It was sweet and cut some of the dense savory flavors and ended up being a pleasant precursor.

The roasted oysters and bone marrow was a coin flip for me. I knew going into it that I don't enjoy oysters, but I really wanted the bone marrow. The oysters were briney and pungent. The gruyere didn't help at all. The breadcrumbs were great, but by themselves, they aren't capable of saving the dish. I tried it with and without the lemon and it didn't change anything. I learned that I still don't like oysters. The bone marrow was bone marrow. I love bone marrow. This dish was an exercise in expressing my biases and love/hate relationship with what I know is fundamentally true about my palate. If you like bone marrow, you'll find that it's not enough. I always leave unsatiated by due to the bone to marrow ratio. This was no exception. I still loved it.

The vodka gimlet tasted a little watery. Not that it was weak, but it tasted watery. I got one with a different vodka (Grey Goose) to see if it changed anything and it was clearly a different flavor profile, but the watery taste didn't go away. Grey Goose tends to be a little peppery and I didn't like it as much as the other one. I wish I could remember what vodka was used, but I promptly forgot after I was told. The Never Have I Heather was a fun mocktail. Sweet and floral and pleasantly presented.

I was skeptical about the caulilini but I like broccolini, so I gave it a go. The smokeyness was very forward and the dressing was tangy to cut through. I only had a few bites because I don't particularly enjoy the burnt flavor.

I have to say that the margherita pizza was standard and the Tuscan ragu was underwhelming. I was hoping the pizza was going to be better than most, but it was merely a decent pizza. The ragu was a big let down. It was a bit bland and I only took a few bites.

The braised pork was the highlight of the night for me. I have never had a more delicious braised pork. It was rich and savory. The sauce that it came with was fantastic. It was sweet and tart and cut through the salty and savory of the pork. It was easily the most enjoyable item on the menu. The pork was tender and juicy. Utterly impactful. I'd come back just for this.

Overall, this was a pleasant experience with a lot of great food and...

I really wanted to enjoy my solo dinner plans at Herb & Sea, but they failed… badly. My reservations were for 1 person on a Saturday night. I checked in and the place was packed, but I waited in front of the host stand for 30mins before being seated. I was ignored for 20 mins by 3 different hostesses until I asked what was going on. They had ready excuses and that my table was being bused as we spoke… waited another 10mins then asked to speak to the manager whose name was Luke. Amazingly, my table was ready right away and Luke sat me down and asked about diet restrictions. He recommended and ordered the ceviche with plantain chips for me. I told him I wasn’t going to order dinner anymore specifically bc of the wait time and I had to leave at 9pm and I didn’t trust they could cook and serve me in less than an hour. He said he’d send out the ceviche and I ordered a glass of wine. Nick was my waiter who came over with my wine and instead of standing upright like he did for all the other couples and groups, he leaned and crossed his arms over the other chair across from me. He took my menu and notated/wrote with a star what was gluten/dairy free… like I’m a child or a helpless little girl who can’t read or know what was gluten/dairy free. I ordered the tomatoes appetizer and he only filled my water glass after I pushed it toward him. Nick didn’t refill my water or take my ceviche plate away after I know he looked over at me and my table from the next table over. The tomatoes were served by another buser, but she had no silverware. Nick, at the next table over, heard/listening and turned around to give me a knife and fork then finished with the other table and left without checking in. Nick came by later and asked how was I. I said it was good, but I’d like the check. He leaned on my chair again while refilling my water glass. I told him ‘you know, you don’t need to lean on my chair’. Luke came by again asked about the tomatoes… I said they were spicy and he said that if it was being shared it wouldn’t be so ‘much’ and made it seem weird I was alone. He apologized for the wait and that he’d give me his card for the next time. I told him about Nick and his leaning on my chair and it was rude. I also said, “You know I’m going to do a review, right?”. I told him my evening was ruined by Herb & Sea and that I had planned my night with enough time… reservation at 730 to leave at 9pm for a previous engagement. He acknowledged and comped my ‘meal’ (2 appetizers) and glass of wine. All I can say is I won’t be back and they ALL need to do better. Restaurants are a dime a dozen and I would have loved to actually eat an entree there, but...

Dollar for dollar, one of the worst dining experiences ever.

We reserved a table for 5 and requested a main dining room booth. We were first placed in the bar at a small table with stools and politely refused. We were then moved to a 4-top with an extra chair, seriously. Finally, the hostess (Cassandra?) kindly accommodated our original request for a booth.

Then the nightmare began.

15 minutes after being seated, our dour and unknowledgeable waiter, Vernard, appeared and we immediately place orders for a dozen and a half oysters. 15 minutes later, with the menus still in our laps, the oysters were perfunctorily served by others. No food orders were taken. Two oysters were bad.

We ordered a suite of appetizers and assorted entrees. My appetizer (oysters, Pernod, and bone marrow) was burnt to a crisp (the clarified butter was a black stain on the serving plate; even the toast was bad). The appetizer was inedible and returned. The crab linguini was tasteless. The prime NY strip was drenched in an herbal balsamic goop and overcooked. The pizzas varied, but one was undercooked and the other was floating in a pool of olive oil (a 3rd was quite good).

The service continued to be memorably bad; actually, rude. Of course, the refused and returned appetizer still appeared on the bill, so I had to call a different waiter to the table (because ours was apparently busy elsewhere in the now empty dining room) to have it removed. It was insulting.

The restaurant pretends to be hip with mediocre trance and dub blaring from the speakers...and when the dining room and bar are full you cannot hear the person next to you speaking. Having eaten at excellent restaurants in a variety of cities and countries, I was flabbergasted by the disconnect between the reviews and our experience.

We were a group of five looking for a special post-holiday meal. We spent over $600 for mediocre salads, one pretty good pizza, and a couple of tasty desserts served by someone who clearly disliked both us and his job.

It...