With two conferences in San Diego this year, I knew I had to step my game and find the best spots in town. This time, I decided to go with a more seafood-based roaster. Nestled along the stunning Pacific coastline, San Diego boasts some of the freshest and most diverse seafood offerings on the West Coast. My goal this visit to San Diego was to have as much uni as I can. Harvested right off the coast, local divers bring fresh sea urchins to markets and restaurants across the city, offering a taste of the Pacific. 

Born & Raised 
Born & Raised is a steakhouse featuring mid-century art deco decor and waiters dressed in tuxedos. I loved that they all looked so polished in their pink velvet suits! Dessert is served from a push cart as well as starters done table-side. The standout from my meal was the Uni Spaghetti with chili oil and cured yolk. Fantastic, flavorful, very briney and sweet. I highly recommend this. I also had the 8 oz filet, because you can’t go to a steakhouse without ordering a steak! I opted to pair the filet with the dirty hash browns, a recommendation from my waiter. They’re more like deep fried mashed potato blocks topped with trout roe and crème fraiche. The filet was cooked perfectly, and was so tender. For dessert, they rolled the cart over and I ended up going for the Carrot Cake, which was multi-layered and so moist. 

Callie 
Callie is a Mediterranean restaurant that prides themselves on using ingredients from the SoCal area, including San Diego Uni that is provided to the restaurant weekly. Callie was my favorite meal of the entire trip. I’m not exaggerating! Everyone that I encountered at Callie – from the hostess, to the waitstaff, were phenomenal. My waiter gave such great recommendations and really seemed to know the menu. 

To start, I had the Uni Toast with Jamon Iberico de Bellota, tomato bread, and garlic aioli. A perfect, two bite starter. If you’re on the hungrier side, I would suggest ordering this and another starter. For my main, I had the Lemon Saffron Linguine with Calabrian chili, San Diego Uni, and bottarga breadcrumbs. By far, one of the best pasta dishes I have ever had in my life. Uni was so fresh – I hear they bring them in weekly from divers. For dessert, I had the Turkish Rice Pudding with coffee-date jam and pistachios. This was delightful – just a bit of sweetness from the coffee-date jam and a little bitch of crunch from the caramelized sugar topping. Really light and refreshing dessert. 

Choi’s 
Choi’s is a Korean-fusion restaurant with delicious Korean-inspired cocktails and comfort food. To start, I had the Gangnam Way, which is their take on an espresso martini, made with Jinro Soju, Makgeoli, Coffee, and Cocoa Bitters. I really enjoyed this and loved the twist of using soju and makgeoli. For my appetizer, I had the Scallops on the Half Shell, which is a Scallop Tataki on the Half Shell with Korean Chili Oil, Barrel-Aged Shoyu, Micro Cilantro, and Sesame Seeds. This was beautifully presented and tasted great. For my entree, I went with a recommendation from my waitress and ordered a new item on their menu, the Lemon Garlic Salmon with Fermented Rice. The salmon was cooked perfectly, but the star was the fermented rice, which really just tasted a lot different than other rice that I’ve had. The texture was just so unique! For dessert, of course, I had to order the Hotteok with Vanilla Ice Cream. This ended up being on the house, as I got a free dessert via email for joining their mailing list! I highly recommend this dessert – it was so good!