With Thai, I find that it depends on which chef is cooking that night. At Rama, if Alex the owner is in the kitchen, the food is really spot on. Agree with whomever posted the ambiance is one of the best for Thai places in SD. Same goes with Lotus Thai in Hillcrest. Do not ever eat at Siamese Basil in Encinitas, it is completely disgusting. Think curry that shows up in coagulated lumps probably because there’s more corn starch than there is curry.
For good quality fish for sushi – try Taka downtown. Its pricey, but I’ve never had bad fish there. My other sushi picks for quality fish has to be Sushi on the Rock in La Jolla. I find Sushi Ota to be hit or miss in terms of freshness of the fish. Samurai in Solana can be quite good.
For the Bay Area folks, my hands down favorite sushi place in all of America has to be Zushi Puzzle in San Francisco. On Lombard St. The variety and quality of fish is amazing. None of the fish is from the mainland US – all flown in daily overnighted from Alaska to New Zealand to Japan. Pricey but once you’ve had sushi there, it will change your entire perspective on quality.
I will agree with the Costco comments on quality of meats and seafood. I’ve found fish at many of the large chain supermarkets to be damaged by freezing, so when you cook it, it turns to a powdery mush. Disgusting. I will never buy fish again at Ranch 99. I find their produce to be pretty bad as well. I think I’ll stick with buying packaged products there only – and only ones not made in China.
