The Best Vacation Sometimes is the One Close to Home!

Just another day on my COVID-19 watch. T.G.I.S. (Thank God It’s Someday!)

I’m off to a staycation to celebrate Nancy’s birthday. We were not very comfortable traveling out of the state or going on a plane, so getting in my car and driving less than 2 hours from Temecula to Palos Verdes seemed like something we both could handle during these crazy days. I have been to Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes before, so I was pretty familiar with the Resort. I did not have a chance in my prior visit to sample the restaurants, so this time we were going to check them out. (Check here for my prior blog post on Terranea)

This time though we had to deal with the COVID issue and social distancing. So, no champagne as we walked in the front door. I anticipated this, so we can amply prepared!

Brought champagne (sparkling wine to be correct) from home to celebrate Nancy’s birthday!

We both decided that the pool and the various food offerings of Terranea and the local Palos Verdes area were going to be our primary interests during our stay. We were not denied!

The Vista Pool at Terranea

The first day was a little overcast, but we enjoyed our day at the pool nonetheless. The rest of the days of our stay were close to perfect at the pool; weather in the 80°s and a good ocean breeze throughout our stay.

Evan at the Vista Pool

All our needs from food to drink at the pool were taken care of by the helpful staff. Now to the meals….Our first main meal at Terranea was at Bashi. Bashi’s menu was Asian based with many dishes from sushi to various rice and noodle dishes. I enjoyed a Vietnamese dish, Shaking Beef and Nancy had the Garlic Noodles.

Shaking Beef
Wok Tossed Garlic Noodles with Shrimp

The Shaking beef had to have the most tender and flavorful meat that I have tasted in an Asian inspired dish. I wish the fried potatoes (almost chip-like) would have been fried just a few minutes more. They were just a tad undercooked. The Garlic Noodles were delicious and left no doubt as to garlic being the essential ingredient of the dish. If you are looking for a dish intensely flavored with garlic; look no further!

Our time at Mar’sel was very special. Our service could have been a little more attentive. We noticed that some of the staff seemed to take care of their tables better than the staff that took care of ours; basically, if our waiter would have been a little more attentive, our night would have been very close to perfect. This did not take away from the great food that we had.

Wine and caviar to start

We said to ourselves that we knew tonight’s dinner was going to be a splurge night, so we decided to start off with caviar and buckwheat blinis. The caviar was from Tsar Nicoulai Estate which is from Northern California and is farm-raised. The caviar was nutty and not overly salty with a great pop when eaten. What an excellent start to the night!

I brought a BV Cabernet from home to help us celebrate which was just perfect for our main meal…Ribeye steak with roasted potatoes and lobster creamed spinach. Check out one of my steak recipes here

The flavors were great, the meat was seasoned well, but again, we had an issue of items being under-cooked. The steak was rare in parts and we asked for medium-rare. The potatoes were definitely undercooked and not even fork tender. Not sure how the kitchen missed that. Once we were able to get the attention of our server, he took our food back to the kitchen and took care of our problem and the food came back perfect. Stuff happens! I figure as long as the restaurant successfully takes care of problems, I’m typically a happy guy, so let’s move on…

My brother happens to live about 15 minutes away from the Resort, so we decided to get together for dinner at Avenue Italy which was 5 minutes from Terranea.

Branzino in a wine caper sauce
We brought a red blend, Cinq Cepages to enjoy with our dinner!

The branzino was light and delicate with a very flavorful wine caper sauce. The lasagna had a bolognese and bechamel sauce which is exactly the way I like my lasagna. I would not hesitate to eat at Avenue Italy the next time I visit Palos Verdes. The staff was helpful and the food turned out delicious and satisfying!

The bottom line, we had a great time in Palos Verdes. Food and service were very good, even though there were some hiccups. The Resort had to deal with the rules and regulations relating to COVID and I think they did a fairly decent job of it. Was it pricey? For us, yes. Did Nancy enjoy the sun sitting by the pool at a great resort with wonderful walking trails and enjoy the restaurants? Yes, she did. Our stay was a success and that’s what matters! Sometimes we need to indulge a little and live life! Especially during these crazy times when we don’t know what tomorrow brings.

As a side note, we did miss out on seeing a local falconer at the Resort who weekly demonstrates his craft and knowledge onsite. We really wanted to see him. There you go, a great reason to come back to Terranea!

As always, thanks for Spending Time in My Kitchen!

Sitting at our table at Mar’sel enjoying our meal!

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2 Comments

  1. Everything looks stunning, I’m glad that you and the birthday girl han an amazing time!

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