Urban Solace: Great Dining In Encinitas

Last year Fran and I visited NorthPark one day, trying to put together a trip for our wanderers group. Part of our trips always include lunch, so we stopped at Urban Solace for lunch. We loved the food, especially the biscuits, but were unable to put together a wanderers trip to NorthPark, so we never went back. Now we have a brand new Urban Solace in Encinitas, right behind the new Whole Foods Market. Ron and I stopped in for dinner on a recent Wednesday night, after seeing Midnight in Paris at La Paloma Theatre. (my second time, I just loved it). We had tried several times to just stop in on the weekend, but that doesn't work with this hotspot. It's very popular with young and old, and a weeknight is best if you don't like lots of noise.

We sat downstairs, which the hostess described as more intimate. The upstairs is louder, more like a lounge. The decor is minimal, with basic looking tables and chairs, and some nice artwork on the walls. The restaurant also has a nice outdoor patio. But the star of the restaurant is the food, and it is delicious. The menu is quite different from the NorthPark restaurant, with more focus on seafood and artisan cheeses. No mac and cheese or meatloaf appear on the Encinitas menu. Here's what we had. As often happens, I liked the starters more than the entrees, so we ordered warm cheddar and chive biscuits, orange honey butter and smokey tomato jam to start. This is their signature dish. For $5.75 you can get a plate of 5 biscuits, but next time I will just order them individually. It was too much. Next we had house made ricotta fondue, oil cured black olive puree on roasted garlic toast for $9. A warm tureen of ricotta arrived, and we dug in. Again, the portion was more than we could eat, but since it wasn't the type of food to take home, I forced myself to finish it. Next, we had the grass-fed beef tartar, poached egg and capers on top, with pickled onions and shaved parmesean. This dish was $10.25, again a very good sized portion. Our final dish was a warm spinach salad, bacon vinaigrette, poached egg and shaved parmesean. Ron thought it was one of the best salads he'd had in a long time.

We never got to the wild salmon with toasted quinoa, beef cheek, mashed sweet potato and smoked tomato jam, or the mustard crusted local halibut, farro stew, with toasted black pepper sauce. They also offer several burgers, a few strictly vegetarian choices, leg of duck confit, and a grass fed ribeye.

Our bill was less than $40, which I feel is reasonable for the exceptionally good, and unique food we ate. I will go back again and again. I can't wait to have another meal there, maybe lunch this time. They have lots of great sandwiches, served with fries for under $10.

If you go to Urban Solace, I recommend trying it on a weeknight. Avoid the crowds and the noise and you'll get a delicious meal and excellent service. Another winner in North County.