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Barracuda Grill

There's a lot of competition along the main section of 101 through Encinitas. It seems like there's a restaurant in every other window. Barracuda Grill attracted my attention mostly because it wasn't an Italian restaurant. Sometimes, the decision making process comes down to little things like that.

The dining room's architecture was a little strange, though not unappealing. It evoked unplanned spaces and re-purposed buildings that became restaurants only after the initial concept went extinct. This probably isn't the case with Barracuda as everything seems fairly new, but the curving, wedge-shaped interior had been appointed in dark, classy tones and decorated in a reserved, but upscale fashion. I liked it.

According to my server, the chef is North African, by way of France, and he tries to incorporate those culinary traditions as much as possible in his cooking. A Napoleon salad ($8) featured slices of buttery eggplant and bell pepper layered together and broiled with fresh goat cheese. Lightly dressed arugula and a puree of what I can only assume was beets acted as accompaniment.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/09/27518/

Another starter, vegetable samosas ($8), recalled memories of many a trip to Indian restaurants. The fried chickpea pockets, usually oily and satisfying, had a more sophisticated blend of spice and a delicate wrapping that was more like a wonton than the thicker dumpling typical of samosas. I liked the look of Lobster ceviche with strawberries ($10.95), or calamari with harissa (a spicy, North African chilli paste), but the vegetable dishes won out in the end.

The chef demonstrated his heritage with a dish of grilled salmon covered in a tagine sauce ($19.95). The rich, spicy sauce is endemic to Moroccan cooking but jazzed up the grilled salmon perfectly. Major kudos go out to the chef for including a generous portion of delightfully prepared vegetables alongside the fish. Allowing the side dish to shine on its own is a too frequently neglected touch.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/09/27520/

The rest of the menu showed a tendency to cover food in rich sauces: filet mignon au poivre, braised duck with a port jus, and angel hair pasta with calamari and anchovy sauce (that hinted coyly at pasta alla puttanesca) all looked like filling dishes prepared with tried and true cooking techniques. Other dishes, like a linguine with Ahi tuna in a saffron broth, seemed somewhat lighter, but the overall feel of the menu was very substantial and seemed to justify the above average price point.

641 South Coast Highway 101
Open daily at 4:30

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There's a lot of competition along the main section of 101 through Encinitas. It seems like there's a restaurant in every other window. Barracuda Grill attracted my attention mostly because it wasn't an Italian restaurant. Sometimes, the decision making process comes down to little things like that.

The dining room's architecture was a little strange, though not unappealing. It evoked unplanned spaces and re-purposed buildings that became restaurants only after the initial concept went extinct. This probably isn't the case with Barracuda as everything seems fairly new, but the curving, wedge-shaped interior had been appointed in dark, classy tones and decorated in a reserved, but upscale fashion. I liked it.

According to my server, the chef is North African, by way of France, and he tries to incorporate those culinary traditions as much as possible in his cooking. A Napoleon salad ($8) featured slices of buttery eggplant and bell pepper layered together and broiled with fresh goat cheese. Lightly dressed arugula and a puree of what I can only assume was beets acted as accompaniment.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/09/27518/

Another starter, vegetable samosas ($8), recalled memories of many a trip to Indian restaurants. The fried chickpea pockets, usually oily and satisfying, had a more sophisticated blend of spice and a delicate wrapping that was more like a wonton than the thicker dumpling typical of samosas. I liked the look of Lobster ceviche with strawberries ($10.95), or calamari with harissa (a spicy, North African chilli paste), but the vegetable dishes won out in the end.

The chef demonstrated his heritage with a dish of grilled salmon covered in a tagine sauce ($19.95). The rich, spicy sauce is endemic to Moroccan cooking but jazzed up the grilled salmon perfectly. Major kudos go out to the chef for including a generous portion of delightfully prepared vegetables alongside the fish. Allowing the side dish to shine on its own is a too frequently neglected touch.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/09/27520/

The rest of the menu showed a tendency to cover food in rich sauces: filet mignon au poivre, braised duck with a port jus, and angel hair pasta with calamari and anchovy sauce (that hinted coyly at pasta alla puttanesca) all looked like filling dishes prepared with tried and true cooking techniques. Other dishes, like a linguine with Ahi tuna in a saffron broth, seemed somewhat lighter, but the overall feel of the menu was very substantial and seemed to justify the above average price point.

641 South Coast Highway 101
Open daily at 4:30

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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
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