Taste of Hillcrest 2012

It's that time of year! Every April, the annual Taste of Hillcrest is held, featuring samples of food from 60 of Hillcrest's best restaurants. Hillcrest is known among San Diegans as one of the best areas for restaurants (although I will argue that there are plenty of areas in SD with lots of fine eating establishments!), so the Taste of Hillcrest is an especially popular and worthwhile eating event. Check out the crowd for tickets in the photo! I could tell you about each place, but that would take quite awhile, with 60 restaurants! So I'll just give some highlights.

I loved the event last year, and I was certain that this year would be just as exciting. Our first stop was to check out Empire House, which occupies the cursed location across from Fiesta Cantina. However, it was pointed out to us that the curse has been lifted! One year and going strong! We enjoyed excellent carnita tacos here.

Next, we wanted to try the Luna Grill. Yes, it's a chain, but I've seen them popping up all over and wanted to try the food. The verdict? Everything was excellent! Loved, loved the spicy hummus.

Our next stop was a favorite from last year, Bombay. Once again, they were giving bindis to the girls, and had non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks to sample. We shared one of each, and both were excellent! Mango juice is so good!

Their sample was set up in their party room, and was a buffet, with Bollywood playing in the background, and a belly dancer! The full treatment! I sampled a mini samosa, saag paneer, and rice.

I insisted that we stop and try Bayu, since my husband has never been, and has never tried Ethiopian! They were sampling the curried split pea dish that I had before, as well as spicy, spicy beef! These were very enjoyable and filling!

Of course we returned to Amarin Thai! Best Thai food in San Diego! They served us chicken satay (yum!), fried shrimp with mango salsa, fried curried potato patties, and dessert! Sticky rice with mango, a Thai dessert staple. At this point, we were stuffed, but we ate every bite because it was so good!

Our final stop on the taste was Gossip Grill, mainly to get a moustache! I love this bar; the attitude is so friendly and fun, and the drinks are strong! We were served a cherry vodka lemonade and veggie dog in puff pastry with a homemade relish.