Black and Blue-The Place for Steak- at the Valley View Casino- a very happy birthday party

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog about food.  Kirk is feeling a bit under the weather and so Cathy will blog today about when she ate here -and took photos- not too long ago, so that all of you may have a small diversion from the charred world out there.

Hello again.  This is a little different post about a meal I ate.  I won't be mentioning prices nor have a photo of the menu.  I took the photos of food with no flash also..and apologize for the poor quality...but hopefully you will vicariously enjoy the meal as much as we did. I will mostly just talk about the food. 

Valley View Casino is  located in Valley Center and has what I consider the best buffet of all the Casinos in San Diego County.  I haven't blogged about it, just enjoyed it many times over.  Much, much higher quality food.  Fortunately, the Casino did survive the wild fires and is still open for business.  About a week before the fires, The Mister and I met with a dear friend for a special birthday meal at the Black and Blue Steakhouse located within the casino.  We all ordered what we wanted, and then some.  

I ordered iced tea as a beverage...and-wow- the best iced tea ever.  The cubes of frozen tea ensured that the flavor would never be dilute, and the sides of freshly squeezed lemon juice and simple syrup in carafes so that you could flavor the tea to your liking were such an elegant, fancy touch.

The fresh lemonade beverage (not pictured) was the best lemonade I have ever tasted.  It was made with the simple syrup and fresh squeezed juice, of course. 

We ordered several appetizers and side dishes as well as a couple of main course, again, adhering to the "there are no rules" rule of life...

On the left, lobster ravioli.  These are quite large, although only two...that piece in the center top is just a piece of lobster... the pasta is fresh made, the lobster was sweet and juicy and the sauce was a tomato cream with basil and capers.

On the right, calamari with three sauces for dipping.  The portion size  was quite large and the squid was fired to perfection with a light crust.  The sauce on the left had roe in it and was salty; I liked it the best.  The center sauce was more of an oily pesto and not too garlic-y and the one on the right had a hot kick to it that overwhelmed the flavor of the breading, which had a light spice and was interspersed with fried capers...

Above, two crab cakes with barely any filler, lightly fried so the crust was crisp served atop several swirled salty spicy sauces and with a fresh aoili.

One person came around with a basket of fresh baked (-in the wood burning oven- which is also used to make pizza, which I will order next time) breads with a choice of sweet, savory and just plain white...and served with European unsalted butter, topped with olive oil, sea salt and fresh chervil.

The Cesar salad was very large and, of course, made with crisp Romaine lettuces and a fresh made garlic-y Cesar dressing and served with wonderful olive oiled croutons and fresh made, delicate crisped Parmesan shreds.   

The lobster salad...micro greens on top, lots of lobster-fresh cooked, as in still warm-, a layer of fresh grapefruit wedges, tomato  and avocado, topped with a citrus vinaigrette.  Oh. My. Yes.

Side orders of steak fries and double creamed spinach.  The best fried potatoes I have ever had. Perfectly crispy, potato flavors, not too hot nor too cold.  This was served with a ramekin of ketchup and a teensy serving spoon.   The creamed spinach was made with fresh spinach and real cream..of course.

The herb crusted halibut here on the left was cooked perfectly, was flavorful and juicy and served with broccoli rabe which was sauteed perfectly in a light lemon garlic herb sauce.

The 18 ounce rib eye steak, cooked perfectly rare/medium rare and served with horseradish, baked tomatoes and garlic and a small salad.

More side dishes included the macaroni and (blue) cheese (um...excellent...I don't know what else to say...) and the best onion rings, ever.  The buttermilk based crust on the whole, sweet onion slices was seasoned perfectly with a salt and pepper.

As I said, this was a special birthday and the reason for the splurge.  This dessert plate came out...mostly wonderful tasting fresh fruit  surrounding a chocolate bottomed  cherry mousse cake.  Even the raspberry puree was fresh and wonderful tasting.(Cindy was kind enough to share)   

You must understand the birthday plate was at least 12 inches across, and this platter with hot fudge, wedges of fresh baked nutty brownie atop about a pint of really really good vanilla gelato, topped with vanilla whipped cream was at least 12 inches in diameter.  We all shared.

This meal was one of the best ever, food and friend-wise.

Black and Blue -The place for steak- inside Valley View Casino 16300 Nyemii Pass, Valley Center 92082 (760)291-2130

Comments

[nhbilly]

I'm so hungry now. I'm surprise a casino restaurant is worthy of a review.

[Cathy]

Actually all of the larger casinos in San Diego County have some excellent quality foods on the buffet and especially in their more expensive Steak Houses, Bill. I have been to some casinos with average or less than average foods, but I do think Valley View is the best as far as buffets go...and the steak house is even better.

[Jenny]

I love your blog! ! ! ! I have been looking for food blogs to keep up with. So awesome. I try to write and shoot for my own, but you're blowing me away with your posts. I can't wait to catch up to your archives. :) Thanks for sharing!!

[Keoki323]

Glad to see this post on Valley View. I'd love try the steak house one day, but till then, I'll have to stay satisfied with their buffet! I'm always surprised by the number of folks who turn up their noses at the mention of the word buffet. I believe there are some really great buffets out here -- my personal all time favorite is the Bellagio in Vegas. As far as Indian casino's go, Valley View definitely stands a part from the rest. The only other that comes close might be the buffet at Pala casino. Great post!

[Cathy]

Hello, and welcome, Jenny! Thanks so much for the nice words...there are about 2.5 years of archives, but they are all there. You can always email with questions. I like your blog.

Thanks for your compliments, Keoki. I did blog about the buffet at Wynn when I went to Vegas for the NFR last year...and last month mentioned that even Hometown Buffet is one of my "dirty little secrets"...I do think that you can find something good at each buffet, but the quality and consistency of *everything* at Valley View makes it stand far above the rest. Gotta check out Pala now...

[jayq]

thanks for letting us know of another good steakhouse..... valleyview is far for me, but can you let us know how much for a steak dinner?... if you don't mind, how much the tab for the fabulous spread you had was?..... thinking of bringing my parents there for their anniversary, but want to see if its worth the drive since its so far, or just go to ruth's chris or donovans which is closer.... thanks in advance

[Cathy]

Hi Joey- I sent you two emails to the address you put in when you wrote the comment. I usually do put in prices, but in case Cindy reads this, I don't want her to know...It was worth it and if you look at my posts, you know I kind of go everywhere (just not to, like, Peru) and eat and blog about it. Valley View is worth the drive. Really.

[foodhoe]

whoa looks like a great meal! the onion rings, the spinach, my gawd the butter, the dessert, sigh...

[Cathy]

Oh, yes, FH. This was a great, great meal. I just wanted more sides than regular main courses once I saw the menu...they all looked so good. I do have plans for next time, already...and I am going to do butter that way at home from now on.

[indiana casinos]

It's the best around

[Cathy]

Yes it is, IC. I had forgotten about this great meal. Thanks for reminding me. I think I need to drive North soon...