During our last trip to Europe in November of last year, we managed to spend four nights in Paris. Instead of going for all the Michelin starred places, we just wanted to chill and enjoy; after all we've now been to the city eight times since 2016! Funny thing, the Missus ended up having Escargot four times during our stay! I clearly recalled how much She used to hate snails! My how times have changed! Back in January, we went and did a Happy Hour revisit to Et Voila, something that used to be rather routine for us in those days before Covid. We did manage one very nice HH revisit back in January of 2022, two years ago! We noticed some new dishes on the Happy Hour menu and decided to head on back for HH when we stayed at the Lafayette Hotel and headed on back for one more visit a few weeks back.
We did notice that some of the dishes and drinks had changed a bit and now have pegged our current favorites. I thought I'd go ahead and list our Happy Hour dishes.
Of course, I had always enjoyed the Huckleberry Bourbon (especially when it used to be $7 at HH), though on our last couple of visits it seemed a bit weaker. Still, habits die hard, and I had one on all three visits ($13 at HH).
On my last visit, I noticed a cocktail called the "Months of 'Ber" ($14) which had Mezcal and Aperol. I was curious and ordered it. I mentioned that I hadn't noticed this cocktail before and Ludo smiled and said "it's because you don't visit often enough these days…" Ah, so French!
This was nice, slight smoky, lightly sweet-citrusy, loved the hint of anise.
Of course if one is going to have escargot, a baguette is required. The half baguette aux buerre is now $6…..but it's absolutely necessary.
As for the dishes.
The good.
Well, the Missus does enjoy the Escargot ($11) and the Happy Hour price is reasonable.
It's a bit parsley heavy for my taste; but the escargot are tender enough. The Missus enjoys these and can easily polish it off in less than 10 minutes along with the baguette.
I've always enjoyed the house made Terrine de Porc ($13 HH) and for some reason, the two times I had it during our recent visits I really enjoyed the porky-winey-slightly sweet terrine.
I enjoy the pickled veggies which help to refresh the palate and the nasal clearing mustard.
On the fence:
We had the Beignet de Champignons ($10 HH) on every visit. On the first visit, it was quite nice, crisp, earthy, exactly what made the dish a Happy Hour staple over the years. Though on our last two visits, the mushrooms were over-fried, almost burnt, and extremely salty.
Still, I'm sure we'll keep ordering this.
The not-so-good.
On our first two visits we got another Happy Hour staple, the Raviolis aux Champignons ($15 during HH). Man, they sure foam it up these days, check out what it used to look like.
There was a tendency in the past for this dish to swing into the "too sweet" territory and on both visits this was even sweeter than before! You really couldn't taste the mushrooms and truffle. I think we're crossing this dish off our "list" on future visits.
We tried one new Happy Hour menu item, the Braised Lamb Belly stuffed with Merguez ($20 HH). We love merguez and harissa, so we were quite excited, but this was a let down.
I'm not sure where they get their merguez, but man, it was bland, lacking in the sweet-gamy-cumin flavors we love…same with the harissa as this really lacked spice. The lamb belly was overly chewy and bland as well. In fact, the only item that stood out were the raisins, of which there were too many for our taste.
Well, even though we didn't enjoy every dish at Et Voila, we still have our favorites. And I still think we enjoy the Happy Hour menu more than the dinner menu. And of course the Missus will need Her Escargot fix from time to time.
Et Voilà!
3015 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116
Current Hours:
Sun- Mon 430pm – 830pm
Tues – Thurs 430pm – 9pm
Fri – Sat 430pm – 10pm
Happy Hour – Served at the Bar Only
Sun – Thurs 430pm – 730pm
Fri – Sat 430pm – 6pm
Before returning to our table, right below the statue of "Lucifer". We had already placed our order. Our Server, Jacob was amazing, he encouraged us to check things out. Though I kinda wonder about working with all of this around you! The place was quite quiet, and to be perfectly honest, kinda spooky, before the crowds descended on the place.
I didn't care for the fries which quickly got limp and were over salted. 
First off, the grilled sourdough was fantastic, texturally and in taste. As for the mussels, well the shellfish was tender enough, but the "escabeche" was really weak. I'm used to a good acidic, flavorful escabeche, the addition of paprika for smokiness, more points for garlicky-oniony tones, all of which seemed to be missing here. To be honest, any number of tinned mussels from Tunaville (post upcoming) would be more enjoyable to us then this. But heck, that sourdough was good on its own. On a positive note, this brought back wonderful memories of our lunch 
It was basically standard breakfast fare when we arrived, so we just had some coffee, tea, and water.
Some of which feature ingredients that include Hoya Santa; which, if you read our 
The beefy birria partners well with the buttery-rich bone marrow. This version has some great richness and bulk, we favor this more hefty version to the more delicate version at 
It was somewhat divey, the bartender was super friendly, the decor was quirky and eclectic. The music was what I often call the Unites States' greatest export…rock 'n roll.
La Clave Azul
