Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Sunny and money on the Hotel Del’s Sun Deck

One born every day

You’re paying for the view
You’re paying for the view

I’m crazily tempted. Me, eating at the Del? Idea has “disaster” written all over it. Except they’ve just opened their completely revamped sun deck. Plus I have two beautiful women with me, expecting me to play the bon vivant. What’s a feller to do?

Place

Sun Deck at the Hotel Del

1500 Orange Avenue, San Diego

We jump up the stairs to the deck that overlooks the Pacific. New glass breeze protectors surround you. We collapse into way-large chairs, and a sofa around a fire pit. Very cool. A new island bar sparkles at the southern end.

Tina’s a classy, half-French American who used to go to a school for girls in Paris. (Hey! Just like Madeline, the fictional kids’ heroine!)

We look down. Feels like we’re floating over the beach below. Kids, dogs, families, diving pelicans, even a capsized yacht wallowing bottom-up in the waters off the beach. Ocean’s luminous blue. Sun’s at its last orange moment behind Point Loma.

“I’m thinking margarita,” says Annie.

My California mezze plate: whipped goat cheese, lemon hummus, falafel add flavors.

“Ooh yes,” says Tina. “Look. They have an 1888 margarita pitcher. Only $48.”

What? I swallow hard. But before I can say anything, the server, Brett, is scribbling down “1888.”

“Why 1888?” asks Annie.

“That was when the hotel was built,” Brett says. “And for you, sir?”

“Uh, beer. Stone Delicious.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Even that’s eleven bucks. But after the margarita, it feels cheap at the price.

The Sun Deck menu is broken down into starters, salads, and bowls, “handhelds” such as burgers, then entrees and desserts. Prices? From $15, for Farmers Market Greens, to $29 for a steak. Heck, even a plate of roasted cauliflower goes for $18.

Things look a little rosier once the ladies start taking merry glugs from their pitcherload of margarita, and I take a long cool slurp of Stone Delicious. I decide what the heck. Just go with the flow. Starve next week! Starters are mostly around $20. And they do look delicious. The seared tuna tostada has sliced blackened tuna, aioli, vinaigrette, seaweed, salmon roe, and crunchy tortilla. Costs $21. Shrimp and avocado is pretty much that plus tomatoes and peas, for $22. The California mezze plate is basically raw veggies, hummus, goat cheese, falafel, pita bread ($22). So far, it all looks fine, but I don’t see nuttin’ that’s gonna grab your taste buds and yell wake up!

At least the ladies ain’t touching the three entrees (flat iron steak, $29, grilled catch of the day, $26, chicken breast, $25). Or handhelds like the Del Double Cheeseburger ($24).

Brett pours some of the $48 margarita pitcherload.

But now I look, the prices aren’t all that different from, say, the starters or salads.

“I’m thinking octopus,” says Annie. I see the “charred octopus” has fennel, that anise-flavored herb that they use in absinthe.

“This is Spanish-style,” says Brett, “with Spanish chorizo.”

“Och, aye!” says Annie.

“Is the noodle bowl spicy?” asks Tina.

“A little bit,” Brett says. “Soba — buckwheat — noodles, but nothing to worry about.”

“I can take any you don’t want,” I say to Tina.

“Ignore him!” says Annie

So Tina goes for that.

Me, I’m just looking for quantity.

“Gimme the California mezze plate,” I say. We’re talking veggies, hummus, whipped goat cheese, falafel. Dip city!

Brett heads off. And I get instant buyer’s regret. The burger! It’s only two bucks more than the mezze. Or Farmers Market Greens: They’re $7 cheaper at $15 for a lot of the same raw veggies.

Still, right now, the sun is saying his farewell behind Tina, and when Brett brings it all, the dishes are bathed in a golden light that makes everything look like a million bucks. My mezze veggies and pita bread are great for dipping in the whipped goat cheese, the creamy green spinach falafel, and specially the nicely tart edamame lemon hummus. Also nice touch: orange-juice-soaked olives.

Tina says her chicken thigh and soba noodles are fine, but forgettable. I offer to help her out again. She starts hauling her plate towards herself.

“Och, leave her food alone!” says Annie.

Best in class - charred octopus. Chorizo kicks it into first place.
Anna Pavlova dessert. Ropes of lemony meringue, holding strawbs, $15.

“Alright,” I say. “Yours, on the other hand, no guarantees.” Because even though her octopus sends that burned, slightly fishy flavor up your nostrils, when she mixes it with the magic of the fennel purée, and with the chorizo chunks in sherry vinaigrette, the savory aromas waft straight to your soul. And the curved rows of seared suckers make it look uber-sexy.

“Look at those suckers!” I say enviously.

“There’s one born every day,” says Annie.

“If I can help,” I say. She ignores me for ten minutes, and then slides the plate across. I take one taste and... oh Mama. Umami! I’d forgotten about Spanish chorizo. Not ground spiced pork a la Mexicana, but long-cured hard sausage chopped into chunks. Really. What a flavor combo!

With the strings of lights turning on, and the sky turning purple, gotta admit, this is the spot to be.

I’m just getting dreamy with it all when Brett drops the check. Ayeee! I stifle a yelp with my fist. Talking $131.46. Plus thirty-buck tip, $161.46. I search for good news in all this. I mean, take out the mega-margarita and we’re talking say forty bucks each. Not so-oo bad. Ok. Bad, but I still have this insane desire to come back anyway, just to enjoy one whole plate of that chorizo octopus for myself.

Brett says the new sun deck is still a work in progress. “We have two more restaurants to launch up here,” he says. “But this soft opening helps us work out the kinks. Like the social distancing thing.”

We get up to leave.

“That was great!” says Tina. She and Annie waltz off arm in arm. “Let’s do this again! Hey, maybe lose the hungry friend next time?”

  • The Place: Sun Deck at the Hotel Del, 1500 Orange Avenue, Coronado, 1.800.HOTEL.DEL
  • Hours: 11:30am-7:30pm, daily; till 8:30pm Friday, Saturday
  • Prices: Farmers Market Greens, $15; flat iron steak, $29; fire-roasted cauliflower, $18; seared tuna tostada (with seaweed, salmon roe, crunchy tortilla), $21; shrimp and avocado, $22; California mezze plate (with hummus, goat cheese, spinach falafel, pita bread), $22; grilled catch of the day, $26; chicken breast, $25; Del Double Cheeseburger, fries, $24; whipped blood orange cheesecake, $13
  • Buses: 901, 904
  • Nearest Bus Stops: Orange Avenue and Churchill Place (southbound); Orange Avenue at Adella Avenue (northbound)
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Next Article

2024’s Best Bitcoin & Crypto Casinos – Play BTC Casino Games Online

Best Bitcoin Casinos (2024): Top 10 Crypto Casino Sites for BIG Payouts
You’re paying for the view
You’re paying for the view

I’m crazily tempted. Me, eating at the Del? Idea has “disaster” written all over it. Except they’ve just opened their completely revamped sun deck. Plus I have two beautiful women with me, expecting me to play the bon vivant. What’s a feller to do?

Place

Sun Deck at the Hotel Del

1500 Orange Avenue, San Diego

We jump up the stairs to the deck that overlooks the Pacific. New glass breeze protectors surround you. We collapse into way-large chairs, and a sofa around a fire pit. Very cool. A new island bar sparkles at the southern end.

Tina’s a classy, half-French American who used to go to a school for girls in Paris. (Hey! Just like Madeline, the fictional kids’ heroine!)

We look down. Feels like we’re floating over the beach below. Kids, dogs, families, diving pelicans, even a capsized yacht wallowing bottom-up in the waters off the beach. Ocean’s luminous blue. Sun’s at its last orange moment behind Point Loma.

“I’m thinking margarita,” says Annie.

My California mezze plate: whipped goat cheese, lemon hummus, falafel add flavors.

“Ooh yes,” says Tina. “Look. They have an 1888 margarita pitcher. Only $48.”

What? I swallow hard. But before I can say anything, the server, Brett, is scribbling down “1888.”

“Why 1888?” asks Annie.

“That was when the hotel was built,” Brett says. “And for you, sir?”

“Uh, beer. Stone Delicious.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Even that’s eleven bucks. But after the margarita, it feels cheap at the price.

The Sun Deck menu is broken down into starters, salads, and bowls, “handhelds” such as burgers, then entrees and desserts. Prices? From $15, for Farmers Market Greens, to $29 for a steak. Heck, even a plate of roasted cauliflower goes for $18.

Things look a little rosier once the ladies start taking merry glugs from their pitcherload of margarita, and I take a long cool slurp of Stone Delicious. I decide what the heck. Just go with the flow. Starve next week! Starters are mostly around $20. And they do look delicious. The seared tuna tostada has sliced blackened tuna, aioli, vinaigrette, seaweed, salmon roe, and crunchy tortilla. Costs $21. Shrimp and avocado is pretty much that plus tomatoes and peas, for $22. The California mezze plate is basically raw veggies, hummus, goat cheese, falafel, pita bread ($22). So far, it all looks fine, but I don’t see nuttin’ that’s gonna grab your taste buds and yell wake up!

At least the ladies ain’t touching the three entrees (flat iron steak, $29, grilled catch of the day, $26, chicken breast, $25). Or handhelds like the Del Double Cheeseburger ($24).

Brett pours some of the $48 margarita pitcherload.

But now I look, the prices aren’t all that different from, say, the starters or salads.

“I’m thinking octopus,” says Annie. I see the “charred octopus” has fennel, that anise-flavored herb that they use in absinthe.

“This is Spanish-style,” says Brett, “with Spanish chorizo.”

“Och, aye!” says Annie.

“Is the noodle bowl spicy?” asks Tina.

“A little bit,” Brett says. “Soba — buckwheat — noodles, but nothing to worry about.”

“I can take any you don’t want,” I say to Tina.

“Ignore him!” says Annie

So Tina goes for that.

Me, I’m just looking for quantity.

“Gimme the California mezze plate,” I say. We’re talking veggies, hummus, whipped goat cheese, falafel. Dip city!

Brett heads off. And I get instant buyer’s regret. The burger! It’s only two bucks more than the mezze. Or Farmers Market Greens: They’re $7 cheaper at $15 for a lot of the same raw veggies.

Still, right now, the sun is saying his farewell behind Tina, and when Brett brings it all, the dishes are bathed in a golden light that makes everything look like a million bucks. My mezze veggies and pita bread are great for dipping in the whipped goat cheese, the creamy green spinach falafel, and specially the nicely tart edamame lemon hummus. Also nice touch: orange-juice-soaked olives.

Tina says her chicken thigh and soba noodles are fine, but forgettable. I offer to help her out again. She starts hauling her plate towards herself.

“Och, leave her food alone!” says Annie.

Best in class - charred octopus. Chorizo kicks it into first place.
Anna Pavlova dessert. Ropes of lemony meringue, holding strawbs, $15.

“Alright,” I say. “Yours, on the other hand, no guarantees.” Because even though her octopus sends that burned, slightly fishy flavor up your nostrils, when she mixes it with the magic of the fennel purée, and with the chorizo chunks in sherry vinaigrette, the savory aromas waft straight to your soul. And the curved rows of seared suckers make it look uber-sexy.

“Look at those suckers!” I say enviously.

“There’s one born every day,” says Annie.

“If I can help,” I say. She ignores me for ten minutes, and then slides the plate across. I take one taste and... oh Mama. Umami! I’d forgotten about Spanish chorizo. Not ground spiced pork a la Mexicana, but long-cured hard sausage chopped into chunks. Really. What a flavor combo!

With the strings of lights turning on, and the sky turning purple, gotta admit, this is the spot to be.

I’m just getting dreamy with it all when Brett drops the check. Ayeee! I stifle a yelp with my fist. Talking $131.46. Plus thirty-buck tip, $161.46. I search for good news in all this. I mean, take out the mega-margarita and we’re talking say forty bucks each. Not so-oo bad. Ok. Bad, but I still have this insane desire to come back anyway, just to enjoy one whole plate of that chorizo octopus for myself.

Brett says the new sun deck is still a work in progress. “We have two more restaurants to launch up here,” he says. “But this soft opening helps us work out the kinks. Like the social distancing thing.”

We get up to leave.

“That was great!” says Tina. She and Annie waltz off arm in arm. “Let’s do this again! Hey, maybe lose the hungry friend next time?”

  • The Place: Sun Deck at the Hotel Del, 1500 Orange Avenue, Coronado, 1.800.HOTEL.DEL
  • Hours: 11:30am-7:30pm, daily; till 8:30pm Friday, Saturday
  • Prices: Farmers Market Greens, $15; flat iron steak, $29; fire-roasted cauliflower, $18; seared tuna tostada (with seaweed, salmon roe, crunchy tortilla), $21; shrimp and avocado, $22; California mezze plate (with hummus, goat cheese, spinach falafel, pita bread), $22; grilled catch of the day, $26; chicken breast, $25; Del Double Cheeseburger, fries, $24; whipped blood orange cheesecake, $13
  • Buses: 901, 904
  • Nearest Bus Stops: Orange Avenue and Churchill Place (southbound); Orange Avenue at Adella Avenue (northbound)
Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.