Paradisaea — Restaurant in San Diego

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2 Photos 1 Review Review Highlights “First we started off with Drinks, ordering the Lobster Lounge and Tiger Cruise!!” in 2 reviews

“Now on to food, we got the focaccia, Caesar, mushroom tag pasta, beef tenderloin and fingerling potatoes.” in 3 reviews

“Ranking of the dishes we tried: hamachi crudo, beef tartare, halibut tempura taco, scallops.” in 2 reviews

Location & Hours Map 5680 La Jolla Blvd

San Diego, CA 92037

La Jolla

Mon

Closed

Tue

Closed

Wed

4:30 PM - 10:00 PM

Thu

4:30 PM - 10:00 PM

Fri

4:30 PM - 10:00 PM

Sat

4:30 PM - 10:00 PM

Closed now Sun

4:30 PM - 10:00 PM

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Masks required Outdoor Seating

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Can we walk in for bar seating at 5pm?

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Overall rating

24 reviews

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Search reviews Marilyn G. San Diego, CA 01440 10/29/2022 10 photos Our experience started out five star but ended at about three, so rating at four as an average.

We dined outdoors; nice open space with heaters and a swing rope dividing us off from the sidewalk. Hopefully they will add some plants or other more substantial dividers to further set the space apart but it was fine.

We were seated promptly and our request for one of the available four tops vs the deuce we were shown to was fulfilled. It was our anniversary (which was on the reservation plus I mentioned it to the hostess) and we were offered glasses of "bubbly" to celebrate, and got a nice little card as acknowledgment.

We started with the Beef Tartare and Hamachi Crudo, which were both delicious and complex. The Beef Tartare had a tiny bit of heat, which was just to my taste. I also got a Pina, served in a fun glass. It was mild and I didn't think had much alcohol in it until I stood up!

Then we waited too long for the Pear Salad, which we split. It was light and refreshing, more lettuce perhaps than needed. Personally I would have like more pear and less squash.

After that was quite a long wait for our last courses, Gnocci and Halibut Tempura. We saw the next table (who were seated after us) get two courses of two dishes each. Finally our server appeared, apologized, and said our next courses were being plated. The hospitality person also apologized and they comped those two dishes, which was very nice of them.

The Gnocci were light and tasty but essentially it was gnocci in pesto. My husband thought the halibut tempura were essentially fish sticks and was not impressed with the two sauces.

We ordered the passion fruit whip for dessert and it was tasty, but we didn't realize it basically was a tasty freeze. We kidded that it was a palate cleanser. I love méringue and was disappointed that it was only a few chips.

I went inside to check out the bathroom, which was lovely, and also picked up a couple of charming matchbooks. We have an extensive matchbook collection from our dining out and travels back in the day, so it was nice to add a beautiful new one.

Overall our experience started out as we had hoped, but ended somewhat...

Paradisaea

We were warmly welcomed by the hostess who told us that we had been checked-in. I’m not so sure that anyone cares about this procedural matter. The desk was decorated with a large bouquet of Birds of Paradise certainly a hint to the restaurant’s name that was originally introduced in the 18th century by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus. Is it coincidence that the Chef hails from Denmark and the manager from Sweden?

A short while later we were guided to our table and briefly thereafter offered still or sparkling water that was promptly served. Tevonne(?) asst. server was the first to see if we were comfortable and her graceful demeanor and conversation that ensured was a fine testimony to the hospitality profession. Elisa Marie was our server and guided us through the menu is a comprehensive manner. She was not pushy but had a gentle persuasion that in our opinion works miracles. We ordered a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and a Cabernet Merlot which were excellent for the type of establishment.

Here a compilation of our order and observations;

Sourdough, rich and crispy baked served with a whipped butter. Easy to indulge in but don’t eat too much as there is lots of nice food to come.

Steak Tartare, was made in the kitchen and not table side but a lovely experience. Chive sauce, egg emulsion and Japanese white radish accompanied the seasoned Tartare. Green onions, capers, mustard, herbs were all recognizable accompanied by slightly toasted north European style dark rye.

Sage Carrot served with a buttermilk sauce made this a very rich exploit.

Red Snapper was served with a fresh corn succotash in a contemporary version. The fish was very tasty and the portion closer to what one would expect in Europe. It suited us perfectly.

Veal Milanese, I have to say that this was the first time that we experienced a European style veal dish that wasn’t beef but real veal! It was cooked to perfection and definitely a dish to be remembered. The portion was more than generous and would have sufficed for three.

We ordered the Gateau Royal as dessert, which was a rich chocolate cream with a tiny cake layer in the bottom. Perhaps a lighter more mousse style (with some fine sugar dough layers) would have kept chocolate lovers happy and a tad kinder to the calorie count.

In conclusion, this was a lovely experience of unpretentious genuine cooking of crossroads between Europe and America, while all accompanying sauces were delicious, perhaps serving them on the side would be welcomed by the lighter eaters. The nice atmosphere with superb service is surely memorable in a time where service is not always a given. The restaurant has bar seats, high tables near the bar, in-door restaurant seating and a lovely terrace with soft evening lighting. The bar had a great -somewhat convivial but contemporary sophisticated vibe. The interior itself had mainly hard surfaces where perhaps a bit more consideration for noise absorbing materials would have been beneficial. We will be back and we would recommend it to friends and family. Team Paradisaea, keep up...

Check the bottom for an update, Paradisea continues to delight with their stand out food. From 2023: We celebrated my birthday at the new fine dining restaurant in our neighborhood, Paradisea. I was impressed - they have live piano in the dining room for happy hour/early dinner - a fabulous touch since this was a Steinway piano showroom for the first 80 years of the building’s life. Everything about the dinner was excellent - the service, the food, the decor. We found out the chef is from 11 Madison Avenue, but the whole thing was not stuffy, which I greatly prefer since we took my young son with us to celebrate. Highlights: the not-sweet slightly spicy and refreshing tequila drink, the hamachi crudo (little flavor bombs, a textural treat served in a thickened tomato water), my dry aged cheeseburger (I added the white truffles on top, a true splurge which made it OVER THE TOP THE BEST BURGER EVER TO HIT MY MOUTH) with duck fat fries (you’ve gotta add the gravy) and the unexpected star of the evening - the passion fruit soft serve with key lime meringues. I can’t wait to go back. Bravo Paradisea!

Edit: we celebrated our anniversary at Paradisea last night. And again, this place just delivers on all points. We got the chef’s tasting menu which is 5 courses for $130 each, and is a great deal IMHO. They paced the meal well and it was a very relaxing 2.5 hours. To start they served us complimentary glasses of champagne (yay!) and an oyster with pepper and shaved lemon ice on top - spicy and cold and tangy and salty MMMM. oh my. Next was a cured ocean trout with slices of honeydew melon - a perfect blend of sweet and smoked umami, with some kind of sauce poured tableside which made the chive oil bloom on the plate. Delish. Next came their sourdough loaf and whipped French butter. My ONLY comment on the entire night was that the butter should have been a salted butter, or more flake salt should have been added on top of the butter. Then the executive chef Anders came out and served a handmade tagliatelle pasta infused with mushrooms, with some kind of tangy lemony sauce, oyster mushrooms so perfectly cooked they were al dente, and crispy oyster mushrooms on top. Such a great touch to have the handsome Dane come out and serve this special course. ❤️ The pasta itself was very thin and not chewy at all, perfectly prepared. Next they served a red snapper with the stand out of the whole night - a fume sauce with tarragon, white wine, and butter - that was poured tableside as well and BLEW MY MIND. I will dream about that sauce now. Last savory course was a Wagyu NY strip, with this crazy tasty fried cube of potatoes that must have had 20 layers of mandolined potato, along with an onion puree and a very well done bechamelle sauce. Dessert was a wine poached pear with some of the famous ice cream. Great service through out - can’t wait to come back....