Costa Brava—Pacific Beach, Ca

"Bringing the culture & cuisine of Spain to Pacific Beach"

The Best Sangria!

This unique restaurant is nestled and hidden on Garnet, bringing Spain cuisine to the San Diego PB beach culture. Although I have never been to Spain, and am not up to date on their exact cuisine, I can tell you the food I did have was enjoyable. I’d never heard of this restaurant and when a guy suggested we got there for a date, I was a bit surprised. You don’t find many guys suggesting ethnic cuisine on a first real date…nor do you find many people wanting Spanish cuisines. Normally, Mexican food is what San Diego is all about. But I went with it.

We sat at the bar and chatted over some fine Spanish wine and Tapas. I was very surprised though because this restaurant has a very Spanish feel, even the menus were in Spanish! I could not even read the wine menu because all the wine are actually from Spain. I was impressed! It’s hard to find European wine in San Diego! However, although I am WSET certified, I do not know the regions of Spain well enough to identify the wines. (Guess I’ll have to study that this weekend.)However, the waiter was kind enough to explain which are made from what grapes. The ultimate choice came down to Gamay or Tempranillo…I went with tempranillo.

Our tapas were perfect for sharing and delicious, not your typical style of food! The Tapa menu was very long with hot and cold plates, all labeled in Spanish with a brief English translation under it. I’m not a huge meat eater so I was a little disappointed to see nearly every dish had some form of pork, steak, chicken, octopus, lamb, etc. Thought, the Chicken in garlic and wine sauce was suberb. I would defintley recommend it! My friend ordered a Spanish omelets which turned out to be amazing. We also had some bread & their most popular dish-jamon. It was fun trying new dishes and experimenting with a different culture. Makes me want to go travel to Spain now.

THE BEST THING ABOUT COSTA BRAVE--My data began bragging about how good the sangria was once other people around us were ordering it. He insisted we get a pitcher (obviously I had no objections). Let me tell you, this stuff was AMAZING. Hands down, the best Sangria I’ve ever had…I’ve made many batches of sangria myself, had it at bars and restaurants, but this was phenomenal. Made of wine, triple sec, sprite, apples & other fruits….I’m going to try to get the recipe right!

The ambience of the restaurant infused with so much Spanish culture is really what I enjoyed the most. The bar was decorated with unique liqueurs, decorations, tiles, Spanish things….Soccer was playing in the corner…& the waiters all spoke Spanish and looked the part. For those few hours I felt like I was out of America (& drinking the best Sangria ever). I would recommend this restaurant to people who enjoy Spanish food, want to try something new, seek culture, or just want some good Sangria, and maybe a Tapa or two. They are rumored to have live music on certain nights, which would be an added reason to go experience Costa Brava. AND, they even have a wine store near by where they sell their Spanish wine! After, I learn more about Spanish wines I know where I can find them :) (& some Tapas).

http://www.costabravasd.com/