Dining According to Karen: Review: Amaya Restaurant

My husband made dinner reservations at Amaya Restaurant at The Grand Del Mar Resort to celebrate Daughter #1's graduation from UCSD last Sunday. My husband and daughter were very impressed with Amaya when they dined there two years ago. Making reservations through Open Table was easy and the restaurant accommodated us when we had to change our reservations at the last minute. Amaya's decor is consistent with the rest of The Grand Del Mar Resort's upscale Mediterranean design. The restaurant wasn't busy even though it was Father's Day and the other guests seemed to be tourists like us. We were seated outside on the patio with the heat lamps turned on to keep us warm.

My husband ordered from the Chef's Tasting Menu ($55 without wine pairing) consisting of three courses. His appetizer was a cold cucumber soup with three tiny oysters, which were each the size of a nickel. I ate one of the oysters and it just tasted like seawater. His entree was two types of lamb - a tender piece of lamb shank and a succulent lamb chop with polenta and veggies. He gave me one bite of the lamb shank then quietly devoured the rest. For dessert, he was served passion fruit creme brulee with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. My easy-to-please husband raved about his entree, but was neutral about his appetizer and dessert.

Daughter #1 ordered the Center Cut Rotisserie Pork Chop with a vegetable/potato hash ($32). The pork chop was thick and tender, but my daughter thought that the hash was a bit strange. She is well traveled and has tried many different types of cuisine so she is no novice to exotic food. Daughter #2 and I both ordered the Lobster and Crab Pappardelle with tarragon, mushrooms, tomatoes, and Parmigiano-Reggiano ($32). The portion was generous with a big piece of lobster claw meat on top. I loved the extra-wide pappardelle noodles, which were paper thin and nicely incorporated with a light sauce and chunks of blue crab meat. I also had the Butter Lettuce Salad with crispy onion rings, bleu cheese, and buttermilk dressing ($11) which was very nice. For dessert, Daughter #1 ordered the sorbet trio (chocolate, guava, and coconut), which came with "Congratulations" painted on a banner made of fondant. The flavors were fresh and delicious.

The food was very good overall, but we were disappointed with the service. I'm certain that our waiter was new and probably just hired for the summer. He was a very polite and respectful young man, but we had to ask for everything. We even had to flag down the hostess to get the waiter to take our order. He was overwhelmed despite it being a slow night. Both my husband and I used to wait tables at a crazy theme restaurant that required us to sing and make announcements. Therefore, I try to be patient with servers because I feel their pain, but I expect excellent service when I'm paying $30-$55 for the entrées!

Finally, I wanted to pay with traveler's cheques (TC's), which none of the waiters at any of the restaurants we visited during this trip ever saw before they met me. (Yes, I know that nobody uses TC's anymore, but I won't bore you with the reason I had to use them this time.) If the establishment accepts TC's, then customers shouldn't be made to feel uncomfortable and have to wait a long time to pay using TC's, which are supposed to be treated the same as cash. Our waiter had to run to another part of the hotel with my TC's (and ID) to get approval to accept them, then run back to the restaurant with my change. He did the best he could under the circumstances so I gave him a decent tip. On the plus side, valet parking was free with validation.

Overall, I recommend Amaya for special occasions. I plan to order one of the meat dishes the next time because the lamb and pork dishes were absolutely scrumptious!

Amaya Restaurant
The Grand Del Mar
5300 Grand Del Mar Court
San Diego, CA 92130
Phone: (858) 314-2727
www.thegranddelmar.com/san-diego-dining-amaya/