After our wonderful dinner at Jeune et Jolie we were looking forward to our meal the next evening in Oceanside at the Michelin starred Valle restaurant. The samples of the tasting menu we'd seen really enticed us, and the Missus really wanted to sample the wines of the Valle de Guadalupe. So, after heading to Garden Grove to have Lao food for lunch, we headed back to Oceanside and checked in at the Springhill Suites. Man, I hadn't been in this area for ages and it had changed a lot.
It was much more developed and commercial. We actually enjoyed staying in Carlsbad a lot more. Though, we did have a wonderful time at Frankie's, cause you know why!
We strolled down the Oceanside Pier and then walked on over to the location of Valle. It was quite a modern setting, it's all tasting menu here, we got the Tierra Y Mar (Land and Sea) which was $180 per person and shared a single wine pairing which was $150. The staff was friendly and professional, though not as knowledgeable and enthusiastic as the folks at JeJ.
Though the one cocktail that was recommended was outstanding; the "Maggie" ($20). Now, the Missus isn't a big fan of Margaritas, but She loved this.
It has so clean, so crisp, and yet had that hint of agave. I asked about this cocktail and was told it was made with Cristalino, which folks really disparaged when we visited Tequila and I can understand why. And yet, this was so good, it used the Milk punch method to clarify the components of the drink. It was lovely; we had two…. We got a single pairing with our meal, which was excellent.
Things started with the Botanas.
We loved the chicharron foam/broth, it was so porky, light, and comforting.
The little mini fish "tacos" were also quite tasty; nice maize flavor.
Then things really started out with the Charred Onion Tarte with Kaluga Hybrid Caviar.
As with many of the dishes, quite an interesting presentation…charred black. Good sweet-almost caramelized onion tones. The caviar seemed strangely muted as we expected more of salty-savory counterpoint. Great texture though.
The eye catching Betabel (beet) was next. It was interesting that both JeJ and Valle had beet dishes as components of the meal.
This dish featured Humboldt Fog, which, since you know how we enjoy cheese excited us. But the dish was overwhelmingly sweet, though we loved the anise-mint flavor of the shiso, the flavor of rosemary kind of overpowered things.
Next up was the Trucha, Nopal y Tuna. We love Nopal and this was described as an aguachile.
It lacked a nice citrusy acidity and the trout was really tough in texture.
The one saving grace was the Chardonnay paired with this dish was a favorite of the Missus.
In fact, I've hunted this down once we returned.
The Chancla con corte de wagyu was good.
If I recall in my really horrible Spanish, "chancla" means slipper. This was an decadent slice of what I consider wagyu "lardo" topping….well who cares really…..
Good lord, the avocado crema….the earthy-maize chancla!!!
In total contrast, the Tetela de Birria was quite mild.
Perhaps it was because we were in Jalisco recently (I'll get those posts done soon!), but even the Missus said, "this doesn't taste like birria, where's the bold flavors!"
I enjoy Pescado Zarandeano, I even make a version at home. This was an interesting version as it featured, a tasty "pico de gallo terrine". Which actually tasted much better than the fish!
Which was dry and fairly bland.
At this point, there was an interesting move, the Missus got the Cornejo Alegre, the poached and roasted rabbit.
I thought the Missus would enjoy this. Remember how hard I worked to find that the Missus enjoyed Mole Segueza in Oaxaca. But for Her it was overly sweet and it seemed that the gamy tones of the rabbit was meant to be muted.
I did order the A5 Drunken Wagyu Strip which was an extra $50….let me tell you, this was amazing, even better than what we had at JeJ!
So beefy, with an amazing texture….that was at first firm, that gave way…..good lord, can I say I tasted the soul of beef? Perfectly cooked and seasoned. For me; this was a once in a lifetime kind of thing.
If I were to return…cause the "Maggie" calls to me; I'd sit at the bar and have a couple of dishes. Still, this was a fun experience, though we enjoyed JeJ much more.
Valle
222 N Pacific St.
Oceanside, CA 92054
And after dinner, well, the Oceanside Pier is right there…..
And if you're of my generation; this is called the "Top Gun House".
In case you want to check it out.
Thanks as always for stopping by!
The texture of the ahi was good. Not too much connective tissue. The fish was highly sauced, and the sauce was on the sweet side. There wasn't a huge amount of limu and the sweetness of the sauce pretty much overshadowed any of the briny-oceany flavor provided by the seaweed, though the textural crunch provided much needed contrast. The fish was of decent quality and nicely prepped.
As I walked back to the car, I realized I forgot to ask the folks the burning question about the place I had in mi cabeza. Sigh! Anyway, on this visit, the Spicy Garlic Ahi, wasn't particularly spicy, nor was it garlicky, at least to me. The fish was on the chewy side but decent. As with my previous visit the Ahi was swimming in sauce.
This time, I didn't forget that question, you see, that "fish mash" brought me back to a place that won the 
The dish came with two sauces which we didn't need. I expected the goose to be gamier than duck, but it wasn't. It did have some nice gaminess, was super tender and moist, and nice and rich. The "smoked", which was more like roasted to me had a stronger flavor profile, though the salted version seemed more moist. Both versions were tender and I'd have this again in a minute!
Looking at the dumplings gave me pause. Look at the color; it's very "light", and as I thought, these hadn't been fried long enough and were hard and chewy, rather than crisp. The tops should be somewhat pliant with a slight pull to it. These were a bit on the brittle side. The filling was decently seasoned, but had too much napa cabbage for my taste.
This was pretty bad; the "skin" was hard and brittle. The filling seemed to be half cabbage, the pork mealy, dry, and was quite tasteless.
So, I hunkered down and took a sip of the broth and shook my head. It was really thin, lacking in beefiness, with just a hint of metallic-anise tones. It was in need of more richness. At least it wasn't salty….but on second thought it could have used more sodium and white pepper.
I would skip the "chili sauce" which wasn't particularly spicy, just kinda oily.
