ristorante kaz / clairemont – san diego, ca

I’ve read about Ristorante Kaz on a few blogs so far and finally felt the pressing need to visit. I made it over here on one of my weekly co-worker lunches to try out their prix fixe lunch.

You get to pick one item from under each heading. The first item is the standard or you can upgrade for an additional fee. For the pasta, there are 4 categories, each increasing in price as you go down the list.

And you get coffee or orange juice. I thought this was a weird combination of choices, but I went with orange juice and drank it all before I got my pasta. Maybe it’s because I label orange juice as a breakfast drink when orange juice just wants to be recognized as a beverage that can be enjoyed at any time. I need to stop labeling it and let it be free to be whatever kind of drink it wants to be!

Oh. Sorry. I got a little carried away there.

We got some free bread. On a plate. With little saucers of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Pretty and tasty, all in one.

[caesar salad +$1]

For salads, I chose the Caesar for an extra buck while my cohorts all choose the regular house salad. Parmesan and croutons rule, I tell you.

[creamy corn soup +$1]

David upgraded to the Creamy Corn Soup for an extra buck. He really liked it.

[soup of the day – clam chowder]

The rest of us stuck with the soup of the day, which was Clam Chowder. There was a nice portion of clams in the soup, which was creamy and delicious. It also had bacon in it (mmm, bacon) with nice, small potatoes. Very delicious.

[bolognese with beef and pork]

Matt and Lauren both ordered the Bolognese. They both seemed to like it!

[salmon, salmon roe, and spinach cream sauce]

For an extra $3, David got the Salmon pasta. He let me have a little bite, though I avoided the salmon roe. The spinach cream sauce was incredibly flavorful with a creamy, silky texture. That one bite was pretty darn delicious.

[garlic tomato sauce with shrimp]

I opted to get the garlic tomato pasta with shrimp. I loved that the shrimp were a nice, hefty size. There was also an incredible amount of shrimp. I don’t think I counted exactly but it was 8-10 shrimp just in one dish!

I wished that the sauce a bit more substantial. There wasn’t really any extra sauce and I was wishing for a little bit of a silky smooth texture (or maybe I was just wishing for that because I had a bite of David’s). I would liked a little more garlic, too, but I’m kind of a garlic fend. Overall though it was really yummy.

The other thing I noticed here was that they seem to have a serious love for Michael Buble. We actually heard one song on repeat, three times in a row…

Service was good at first, but as other guests came in and we got to the end of the meal, it took awhile for us to get our check and to get out of there. There was only one girl working to service the whole place. Even though it is only 5 or 6 tables, it would have been nice if she had a little help so we could get out of their more quickly since of sitting around waiting for the check.

I’d like to come back though and try one of the “Japanese” marked dishes just to see the difference in looks and taste!

You can also check out Kirbie’s latest review and Jinxi’s review of Ristorante Kaz. Dennis also visited last year before they had a real name and Kirk did as well. And of course the gals at Convoy Conquest paid a visit! Phew, I think that’s it for the roundup (I hope).

Ristorante Kaz
(same shopping plaza as The Original Pancake House)
3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 565-8861