Vela Restaurant

Hotel restaurants. More often than not, their offerings to captive hotel guests are uninspired and overpriced. Vela's different. They place an emphasis on using fresh, organic ingredients from local growers, and create unique, flavorful and reasonably priced (for hotel food) dishes. At least that's what our server told us... My husband and I were trying to kill sometime between meetings and decided to share a light dinner at Vela. I had the Ahi Tuna Tartare, while he had the Farmer's Greens and Baby Vegetables. Though only starters, both dishes were refreshingly good. My Tartare, served with four lightly seasoned crostinis, had perfect texture and tasted fantastic with hints of garlic. The salad was crisp, with mixed greens (or "weeds," as my husband typically calls them) and thinly sliced baby vegetables. The dressing was light and tangy. A fresh, sliced French bread baguette accompanied our meal. Boy was that bread good! If I didn't care about the repercussions, I would've eaten that and only that (it was that good). Though we didn't order any, the dessert menu sounded devilishly tempting, especially for the dish called, "For Chocolate Lovers Only." I instead opted for a mocha, but was disappointed to learn their espresso machine's steam wand was broken. Boo. The service was fantastic. Our server was friendly and attentive.

Dinner at Vela was a fabulous treat. We walked around outdoors first to admire the firepit and the harbor, then were seated at a table with a harbor view. For an appetizer, our server, Kendall, recommended the prawns, and was I glad she did! Amazing taste and presentation! My husband had the mussels, and, not only were they delicious, but he ended up dipping bread in the scrumptious wine sauce beneath them. I thought my Hawaiin tuna was wonderful until I tasted hubby's scallops---then I wished I had gotten them. They melted in your mouth. I have to go back and order them next time and see if I can con the chef into giving me the recipe for that sauce---terrific. Our server was friendly and knowledgeable about the food, as well as the wine. We were stuffed, but when she described the chocolate mousse crunch, we couldn't resist. It was big enough to share, and light enough to prevent feeling too stuffed. I can't wait to go back again! Nice work, Hilton!

My boyfriend and I are locals to San Diego and stayed at the Hilton Bayfront for a mini "staycation" for our anniversary. We have been to a number of resaurants in the Gaslamp, so we decided to try Vela, which is right on the property. First of all, the look and design of the restaurant is beautiful. There are high ceilings and wide windows that created an open, airy feeling. The view of the water is gorgeous and visible right outside the windows. We started off with the Vela Tasting Board, which had an excellent selection of cheeses, olives, hummus, dried meat, and amazing bread. I couldn't resist trying the Ahi Tuna Tartare also, which was so fresh and had a hint of pear. For the main course, I had the New Zealand King Salmon. It came with a creamy crap risotto, tomatoes and crunchy snap peas. Salmon was perfectly cooked and seasoned, not too dry like some other places. My boyfriend, who is not a seafood fanatic, had the Meyer Ranch Flat Iron Steak. Of course, I had to steal a couple bites. It was a pretty tender steak and flavored with the the most amazing Romesco sauce . The asparagus and potatoes looked amazing also.