W Hotels-San Diego

Perfect place to go to for an afternoon lunch!. After a lovely spa afternoon, what better way to enjoy downtown San Diego than with a lovely lunch at Rice? I have eaten here for both dinner and lunch and though I enjoyed dinner, for me, lunch was the more memorable event. Between the two of us, we had a grilled cheese and pear sandwich with tomato bisque and a sandwich; tempura fried green beans with two aiolis, and scallops carpaccio- all AMAZING in presentation and taste. I mean, I would never think to even add a pear to my favorite classic grilled cheese, but they do here and I loved it! Paired with the bowl of tomato soup (and a generous portion too, for a soup and salad combo) AND a mini salad, it really should have been my only order had my eyes not gotten so greedy. But nope, I also had to indulge in the scallops carpaccio, and the tempura fried green beans which came with two aiolis that we couldn't stop dipping into............

Great service, great food, great drinks and good company..........…

Sleek and stylish restaurant in the W hotel serves creative takes on popular dishes.. The Scene
Brown and sage accents in the modern, red-walled dining room reflect off rich, leather booths with throw pillows along the window. Trendy diners in relaxed jeans and stylish shirts sip from the largely coastal Pacific wine list over quite conversation and light techno tunes from the lobby in the background. As the night goes on, the space crowds with downtown hipsters and the music gets louder.

The Food
Although the name might sound Pan-Asian, the menu encompasses all regions of the world that use rice as an ingredient. The seared ahi tuna with sesame represents Asian-fusion flavors, and other delightful standouts include tender pork loin in an almond sauce with no hint of aftertaste and rich sea scallops in cream sauce.…

Upscale and trendy "Modern Pacific" dining in downtown San Diego's Little Italy district. I ate here with my uncle and his date (yeah, I know -- weird combo, eh?) back in February of 2002. We were seated outdoors just as the sun was setting, so the magic hour cityscape scenery was great. We ripped our way through countless beers and cocktails, and indulged in uber-expensive, microscopic-portion "Modern Pacific Cuisine" dishes. From what I recall, the food was great. We spent several hours at our table, but I don't think our server (herself a young hottie) was in any hurry to shoo us away, judging by my uncle's urban hipster wardrobe (backward kangol and sport jacket) and our easily-three-digit bar tab. If you haven't already read about it, Rice is downstairs from the W Hotel's "Beach Bar", with sand and a fire pit. If you've got cash to burn and you want to impress a date, take her here!…

Marginally acceptable for Breakfast, but a Disaster for Dinner. My dinner experience here was horrible. The wait staff didn't know anything about wine, in our party of six, everyone's food was either cold, over-cooked, dry, too salty, too sweet, or all of the above. My steak was well-done (a filet well done!!!!!!), and the panna cotta was rubbery, and you had a sneaking suspicion half the things they served were out of a box/can. We were one of six tables in the restaurant and the food took forever to be served.

As you can guess, I was hesitant to go back for breakfast weeks later, but friends of mine were staying at the W, so I obliged. The chilaquilles were decent, but they couldn't make it spicy enough even after we requested extra spicy. The peanut butter french toast thing was the sugariest thing I've had in my entire life. After three of us each took one bite, we had to push it aside. We were on the patio on a beautiful day and for the two hours that we lounged there, we had countless refills on coffee, but every cup was lukewarm at best, and they said they had no way of producing a hot cup of coffee for us - a "fresh" brew was just as cold as the last.…