RSS
Home
Del Mar Rendezvous
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
1555 Camino Del Mar, Suite 102.
I'll admit it: as a girl born into a culinarily-gifted Chinese family, I'm pretty much of a Chinese food snob. That's right - I hesitate to visit Chinese restaurants, as I almost always end up being disappointed by the overly-MSG'd dishes. There are times, however, when I give into my friends' demands and join them at a claimed "authentic" Chinese restaurant.
But when I'm sitting at the old table draped by the stained, pink tablecloth and dragging my fingers across the smooth, polished plastic of those restaurant chopsticks, my grandmother's voice suddenly swells up and fills the room with these words:
"Ahh... how could you do this? Didn't you learn to tell between good Chinese food and bad Chinese food? You pay money for this? You didn't pay attention when you were four years old and I made those dumplings from scratch for you every night?"
After that, dinner is pretty much over for me. I throw down the menu, murmur a few embarrassed apologies and scramble out the restaurant before my grandmother can buy me another plane ticket to Guilt City.
So one day, while walking along a boutique-lined street in Del Mar, my friend grabbed my hand and declared, "I've always wanted to eat there!" I followed the direction of her manicured index finger and spotted the sign, "Del Mar Rendezvous."
"What is it?" I asked, brushing back the strand of hair that had tried to escape with the ocean breeze.
"It's a Chinese restaurant," she replied. "A high school classmate's parents owns it."
Now, I'm sure you understand what I'm talking about when I say that there's just something about the salty ocean air that relaxes you and slides you into repose. However, when I heard the words "Chinese restaurant," I reacted as if I had just been plucked from the warm, sandy beach and dropped into a open ice-fishing hole.
"What?" I reacted, panicked. "No, you don't want to eat there. It's a wanna-be Chinese restaurant. It's fake Chinese, which is a no-no for me. If you want Chinese food, just come to my house; that place is just a nicely-presented Panda Express."
"Aw, no, come on," my friend responded, crossing the street to the restaurant. "It'll be okay."
Right then, I fancied, for just a moment, the idea of just leaving my friend behind and walking back to my car. But once I realized the absurdity of such a decision and decided that I really did not desire to click the little "x" associated with my friend's name on Facebook, I hurried across the street after her.
I stepped into the entrance of Del Mar Rendezvous, feeling my grandmother's presence hovering over my head, growing stronger and stronger with each passing moment.
She was, however, quiet.
And I was confused.
I looked at the bar; the glistening wine glasses hung perpendicular to the polished wooden cellar, which was completely stocked with plentiful bottles of wine. The dining area featured intimate, granite-topped wooden tables, on which laid neatly-displayed silverware covered by napkins. The ambiance was warm and inviting, but my stubborn taste buds refused to admit that they were impressed.
We sat down and examined the menu. As vegetable-lovers, we immediately selected our first entree: Buddha's Treasure, a dish comprised of shiitake mushrooms, Chinese porcini, tofu and mixed veggies lightly stewed in a vegetarian oyster sauce. We then chose a variety of dishes: crabmeat mango salad, potstickers, panko shrimp, seaweed salad, mapo tofu, and duck breast a la mandarin. Everything was delicious. The fresh chunks of mango offered the perfect tart element to the rich crab meat, the potstickers were plump with delicious, savory filling, the shrimp featured the ideal balance between breading and shrimp, the mapo tofu was excellently-spicy, and the duck was sweet and buttery. Dessert was caramelized banana cheese xango, a very creamy and sweet conclusion to a meal.
It wasn't until after the table had cleared that I noticed my grandmother's absence during the meal. Why hadn't she admonished me for eating out at a Chinese restaurant? And then I understood: Del Mar Rendezvous is not (nor has it ever claimed to be) an authentic Chinese restaurant. Instead, it's more of an Asian-fusion lounge, with good wines, creative dishes and delightful desserts. And although the dishes were mouthwatering, they cannot be compared to the type of meals my grandmother churned out of her tiny kitchen.
Del Mar Rendezvous is a superb restaurant for all types of events: from casual to business to romantic, every patron can expect to enjoy delectable dishes in a soothing, unrushed, beautiful setting.
Del Mar Rendezvous
1555 Camino Del Mar, Suite #102
Del Mar, CA 92014
www.delmarrendezvous.com/
Related Articles:
Comments
