Lionfish Modern Coastal Cuisine – San Diego — Restaurant in San Diego

𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 - 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭

Review: Lionfish Modern Coastal Cuisine - San Diego — I recently had the pleasure of dining at the Lionfish Restaurant at the Pendry San Diego, and I must say, it was overall a good experience with a little attention needed on some food.

The decor of the restaurant is stylish and modern, with a touch of coastal elegance. The seating was comfortable, and the dim lighting created a cozy and intimate ambiance. The attention to detail in the design was evident, and it added to the overall experience.

-- Michael Glinter has traveled to 68 countries and 36 states to get the flavor of some amazing foods. His view on reviews is simple – Taste, Presentation, and Service. He believes telling the reader a positive and negative unbiased look at the restaurant is essential.

Now, let's talk about the food. We started with the Kuri squash soup. The Kuri squash base was creamy and velvety, with a rich and comforting flavor. It had a beautiful orange hue that immediately grabbed my attention. It was evident that the soup had been carefully prepared and expertly seasoned, as every spoonful was bursting with a harmonious blend of savory and slightly sweet notes. — My guest has an 8oz filet with blistered tomatoes Demi glacé and arugula, accompanied by a side of Parmesan Caesar Asparagus.

His first comment, one of the best steaks he has had in awhile. Cooked to perfection, the steak was tender, juicy, and full of flavor. The the meat was cooked to his desired level of doneness and seasoned just right. It was evident that high-quality ingredients were used, and the result was a succulent and satisfying steak that left me wanting more.

The blistered tomatoes added a burst of freshness and tanginess to the dish.l, and the Demi glacé, a rich and velvety sauce, elevated the dish to a whole new level. Let's talk about the side of Parmesan Caesar Asparagus. This was no ordinary asparagus dish. The asparagus was cooked to a tender yet crisp perfection, and the Parmesan Caesar dressing added a creamy and tangy note that elevated the vegetable to new heights. The combination of the savory Parmesan, the zing of the Caesar dressing, and the freshness of the asparagus created a harmonious and delectable side dish.

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I had the misfortune of ordering the WHOLE GRILLED SNAPPER with Thai Basil, Citrus, Fermented Chili, Garlic Butter Sauce, and Grilled Flatbread, and I must say it was a disappointing experience. The main issue with this dish was the overwhelming spiciness that completely overpowered any other flavors. You couldn’t taste the fish at all! The chef completely lost focus on the main ingredient, instead all you tasted was Spice.

The fermented chili was the main culprit in making this dish excessively spicy. While I understand that some people enjoy a spicy kick, this was simply too much. It was as if the chef had poured a whole bottle of hot sauce over the snapper, completely unbalancing the flavors and leaving me with a burning sensation that lingered long after the meal.

Overall, the WHOLE GRILLED SNAPPER with Thai Basil, Citrus, Fermented Chili, Garlic Butter Sauce, and Grilled Flatbread was an unfortunate culinary experience. The excessive spiciness completely masked any other flavors, leaving me unable to appreciate the potential deliciousness of the dish. It lacked balance and finesse, and I would not recommend it to anyone who does not have an extremely high tolerance for heat.

Chef JoJo Ruiz needs to rethink this dish. — Overall, my experience at Lionfish Restaurant was extraordinary, however the Snapper left a bad taste in my mouth. I would probably go another time and just...

Lionfish is smack in the middle of the gaslamp district in San Diego. If you’re in town for some thing at the convention center, as we were, the location is very convenient. You can walk to lionfish in five minutes or so. I recommend either walking or hopping on one of the many pedal carts that will pick you up and take you through this very crowded area of San Diego. don’t even think about bringing a car!

I don’t recommend lionfish for a meal, however, especially on a weekend. In addition to the music they pipe in being too loud, other diners were so incredibly loud (over-served with alcohol it appeared) it ruined our experience. Our waiter even apologized.

As an example, there was a booth table behind us, which should have sat six people max. However, during our dinner, multiple people kept coming over and standing in the aisle or squeezing into the booth. Everyone was drinking and shouting above the music to the point that at our table we could not hear one another. Given how many people were standing in the aisle between our tables we were surprised management didn’t intervene. This resulted in a really terrible dining experience for us.

In addition, service was incredibly slow. We had arrived after a long event, and were starving. One person at the table requested bread no less than three times, and the waiter’s excuse for the long delay was that they were still making it… Making the bread?

When the bread came out, it was slightly warm pita bread. It did not appear to have been homemade. Maybe he meant that they were heating it up. It arrived limp and was some of the worst bread we’ve ever tasted - imagine grocery store bread on a plastic bag that’s been put in the freezer then taken out, sprinkled with oil and herbs and heated up.

When it came to our regular food, it was equally disappointing. One of us had ordered salmon, and made a strong point with the waiter that she wanted it rare. His response was that you can’t request rare salmon at Lionfish because it’s all cooked to medium.

This gave us an uncomfortable vision of the food being pre-cooked in the kitchen and then, when someone orders the dish, they/warm it up before serving it. And that’s actually how the food tasted…. All of it felt old and not fresh.

As for the salmon, the waiter suggested my friend try it because he said Lionfish’s medium was always moist and not dry, which had been her concern. So she went ahead with it.

When the salmon finally arrived after a very long wait, it was so dry that it was inedible. I have to commend the waiter for at least taking it off the bill, but after waiting so very long for food, she knew she shouldn’t try to order a substitute meal at that point, so she left lionfish without really haven’t eaten dinner.

The squash soup had an odd texture that I can only describe as grainy, as if some thing was used to thicken it, which didn’t fully dissolve into the soup. The flavor of the soup was a bit off. The sushi roll that I ordered was generous in size and quite tasty which earned Lionfish an extra star on...

The food was good, we ordered a bunch of smaller plates. Only a few things really wowed us. The Salmon sashimi cold plate was excellent. The potatoes were good but they serve them tossed in the harissa aioli, it was a good but a lot and they lost their delicious crispiness pretty quickly. The sashimi salad was overwhelmed by cucumbers. The kale salad was good, nothing epic. The wild mushrooms and the salmon sashimi cold plates were the stars. I ordered a roll which was good but solidified for me that I don't prefer busy rolls. My friend ordered a few pieces of Nigiri which she said was unimpressive. I will say that I was impressed with the portions for the price. They felt like very appropriate amounts of food.

The service was meh. It was a busy Saturday night but the server walked away before we could tell her about not being able to have dairy in our group so we had to flag someone else down. They asked us if we wanted water refills and then neglected to bring it multiple times. At one point she finally went up to the bar to get a water refill. Every time we were ready to place another order, or get something it was like 5-10 min and we had to deliberately flag someone down most of the time. My back was to the front of the restaurant but my friend said she spent as much time chatting with the hostess as she did attending to our table, even though it was busy. For the price and the vibe of this restaurant, I expect a lot more from my wait staff.

The REAL kicker for me is that my friend ended up with a a diary reaction at the end of the night, pretty sure it was the dessert. She asked if any of the desserts were dairy free and the server at first said no, then yes and pointed out a banana coconut, saying it was made with a nut milk. I understand that eating out is always a risk, but when you're paying that much for a meal and you TELL THEM no dairy, and then the server specifically tells you the dish has no dairy, you get a little peeved.

The space was very loud when full and the tables were wide so we were sitting far apart. Not a place to come if you are sensitive to noise, between the music and people shouting to have conversations.

Overall, Idon't really feel like I got my "bang" for my buck. I don't really splurge on meals at this price point often and when I do I like to be really blown away and also not end up with someone in my party having a food reaction we...