So, in my croissant post on Nature Forward Socal Bistro, I mentioned noticing Shakshuka on the menu. And while I wasn’t impressed with the “croissant”, I was interested in trying the Shakshuka, especially since the place had outdoor seating. Little did I know that I would have a opportunity so quickly! It just so happened that I placed a takeout order from Joyee for when the Missus got home for dinner. JJ and I went to pick it up at around 1030 on a recent Saturday. After placing our food in the car, I decided to take JJ for a short stroll and I noticed that the front patio of Nature Forward, which is usually quite busy on weekends, was empty!
Well, I guess this was a “sign”, right? I decided to have an early lunch with JJ. I got the really nice young lady’s attention and we were seated in the front patio.
In the shaded table in the corner.
The young lady brought JJ a bowl of water with the menu for me to review. Of course, I knew what I wanted….the Shakshuka ($19). I place my order and just relaxed….based on previous experience I knew it was going to take a while…and with just the young lady working the register and front of house doing everything I wasn’t going to complain.
Eventually, my Shakshuka arrived. It came with roasted potatoes.
The potatoes seemed to be seasoned with rosemary. As you can see, it was unevenly roasted, not enough crisp brown parts, it was lukewarm, so I’m thinking it had been sitting under a heat lamp somewhere?
As for the Shashuka, it had a ton of feta cheese and was really tart from the tomatoes.
The eggs had been poached in the tomato sauce nicely and were really nice and runny.
It came with a few slices of pita bread which were hard and over toasted.
Like I mentioned, a bit too tart and sour for my taste. There was supposed to be jalapeno in this, but I could not make out any spice at all. Though I prefer this to what I’d had at Flora.
I do like hints of garlic and even cumin in my Shashuka. And while this was not even close to what I’d had at Jachnun Bar in Jerusalem….I really didn’t expect that. This was really one dimensional.
Overall, not bad, good portion size, but I think I’ll stick to making my version at home.
Nature Forward Socal Bistro
8935 Towne Centre Dr. #110
San Diego, CA 92122
Current Hours:
Sat – Tues 8am – 5pm
Wed – Fri 8am – 8pm
The food did take a while with the Huevos Rotos arriving first.
Though the eggs were overcooked; the yolks dry. 
As we figured, this wasn't an aguachile in conventional terms. It wasn't overly acidic, but quite mellow. Though I will say the seafood, especially the bay scallops were sweet and tender, so were the shrimp. Both of which weren't over-cooked and tough. The sweet and ripe avocado and the briny cucumber added another layer. But what clinched it all was the nicely toasted and salted sour dough, which was the perfect foil for the dish. Yes, it's not a conventional version of the dish, but we enjoyed it. We both wished that the octopus had that nicely toasted sour dough with it as well.
The highlight of the dish for us was the pillowy and warm pita. After that, well, everything was way too sour. Man, that chicken might have been ok, but the puckery-tartness overwhelmed things. Same with the green salad. Yikes, the sharp sourness just took over. Kind of a bummer.
The fried oysters were an interesting touch, I guess it was there to replace the usual egg yolk, and of course BLC is a seafood based restaurant. but we didn't care for the fishiness it added to the beef which was almost mushy. The horseradish cream was excellent; adding the palate and nasal cleansing pungency to things. It seems like everything was minced too finely. The fries were crisp and lightly dusted with what seemed to be the "BLC Spice". In this instance it seemed to work fairly well.
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 
I'm glad we headed out early as we spent a good amount of time checking out various galleries and all the wonderful art!
In what was a very classy move, I was brought out a cup of the bisque as well since I had to wait for my next course! Super cool! The bisque was decadently smooth and velvety, but the Missus said there wasn't enough earthy mushroom flavor for Her. Of course, She's become 
Perfectly seared , this wiggly slice of heaven was delici-yoso, with the duck demiglace adding another layer of rich-savory flavor. The "French Toast" teetered on the sweeter side, but the foie gras nicely brought it back to earth.
This was a nice meal, with classy, yet warm and unstuffy service, and worth the price in our mind. The Missus enjoyed the wine pairing. It was a great way to end our time in Santa Fe.
