Cafe Chloe – San Diego

Cafe Chloe is a French inspired restaurant in downtown San Diego.  Located on the outskirts of the Gaslamp Quarter away from the hustle and bustle, which makes parking and finding the restaurant a little easier.

Beet Salad
Beet Salad

The Beet Salad is bursting with color mixing red and yellow beets.  Dotted with chunks of funky blue cheese, and citrus segments.  Greens add a bitter and slightly peppery punch to the dish.

Mushroom Bisque
Mushroom Bisque

The Mushroom Bisque, which was thick and creamy was sorely lacking in salt.  Paired with a crusty piece of bread, just a little more seasoning would have made this dish better.

Steak Frites
Steak Frites
Sauces
Sauces

The Steak Frites was cooked to a nice medium rare.  Topped with herb butter to add a little more richness.  Roasted white and purple cauliflower added an earthiness to the dish.  The frites were crunchy, but on the cold side.  The table next to us also noted the cold fries, which is something that should be made to order instead of “holding” them.  After all, this isn’t a fast food restaurant.  The frites came with a trio of sauces:  ketchup with a hint of horseradish, saffron aoili that was overpowered by the amount of garlic in it, and a watercress aoili.

Salmon
Salmon

The Salmon had a nice crust, but still retained its moisture.  Roasted mushrooms, root vegetables and a small side salad rounded out the dish.  There was a luxurious beurre blanc sauce.

Bread Pudding
Bread Pudding

The Bread Pudding was a large portion topped with ice cream and flooded with a whiskey sauce.  What’s not to love?  The bread pudding was a little on the soggy side, which is the way I like it.

Chocolate Pot De Creme
Chocolate Pot De Creme

The Chocolate Pot De Creme was thick and rich, with a nice dark chocolate bitterness.  Paired with a rosemary shortbread type cookie, I thought this was a somewhat strange combination.

Overall, this was a nice meal, but with the price point execution should have been a little better, and nothing cold should be coming out of the kitchen.

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