For breakfast, we went to Cheeky's, located in downtown Palm Springs (622 N. Palm Canyon Drive). Cheeky's is open every day of the week, except Tuesdays, from 8 am - 2 pm.
They serve seasonal, locally grown, and mostly organic food. This resulted is very fresh, healthy tasting items, but it wasn't always a good thing. For instance, my Grandma orderer the fruit plate, which had some great, unique choices: Asian pear, kiwi berries, and kumquats. The Asian pear was delicious, the kumquat was okay, but the kiwi berries were awful. They weren't ripe at all. Kiwi berries are one of my favorite forms of berries, and it was disapointing to be served such an unripe version. It was like Cheeky's wanted to serve something unique, cool and local, but those goals outweighed the most important requirement - that it still tasted great.
Cheeky's changes their menu weekly to match what is available in the market, which I think is really cool. It would be fun to live in Palm Springs and know there is always going to be something new. They also make all the batters, sauces and dressings in house. Below is what we ordered, and I think our total came out to be $41, which is pretty reasonable for 3 people eating in downtown Palm Springs.
Bacon Flight $4
Pretty lame, actually. The idea was fun - five different kinds of bacon, and the bacon was cooked exactly how I like it (crispy). However, it is pretty sad when there are five different flavors and we can't really tell them apart. I can make more flavorful bacon at home (sprinkle brown sugar and cayenne over bacon, place in oven, then die from happiness). This would be yummy if you just want five strips of bacon at a good price, but keep your expectations low for something called a "flight" of bacon. We did enjoy whatever flavor it was that had thyme on it.
French Herb Omlette with Avocado and an Apple Frisee garnish
This was a great omlette. The addition of avocado was genius - it made it creamy and smooth tasting. The apple frisee garnish sounded more like a salad on the menu, but this just went on top of the omlette. The apples were cut into cute tiny slices, and we loved the flavor of apple with onion.
Tomato and Asparagus Frittata
This is what my Mom got and it was good too. Big halves of grape tomatoes, and the asparagus provided a nice crunch.
Truffle Tater Tots
This was my favorite. These could quite possibly be the best tater tots I have ever had. Perfectly crispy, not greasy at all, and nicely salted. I am not sure what makes them "truffle" though - maybe they are cooked in truffle oil? There is no unique taste, but the texture is superb. Only problem? The ketchup was way too tiny!
Fruit Plate (see above)
The drinks sounded great, but were way too expensive. Orange juice, which I am sure is fantastic, was $6. However, I think it came in a carafe, so that is probably more than one serving. The slushee/smoothie type drinks sounded great, and they also had mimosas. I think the mimosas were $11 though, so I passed. They also had Intelligenista coffee and Mighty Leaf teas.
While the drinks you had to pay for were out of our league, the water was divine! The water came with no ice, but stayed chilled the entire meal. It was served in a large fancy looking carafe. It was great water - yes, it seems like water would be hard to mess up, but this water just tasted fantastic!
We didn't get any pastries, but they are supposed to be wonderful. They are all baked on site, by pastry chef Deb Menduno. She makes whatever appeals to her that day, which adds to the element of surprise in dining at Cheeky's.
Cheeky's also does catering
I love magazines, so I was really excited that Vogue recommends checking on Cheeky's. In their 2011 Guide to Coachella , Cheeky's is one of four restaurants they list as must-dine spots. Citing the restaurant as cheerfully laid back, but with a "menu that means business," they recommend trying the duck confit hash or the chilaquiles with homemade chorizo.
I recommend checking out Cheeky's. It was fun, totally in the spirit of Palm Springs, and healthy. We had a great brunch that didn't break the bank, and left feeling full but not that awful stuffed feeling. The service was perfect - the waitress knew when to stop by, but wasn't intrusive or rude.
We went around 10:00 am on a Thursday morning, so we were seated immediately inside. If we had elected to sit outside, there was a 10-15 minute wait, and I think on the weekends you can expect to wait much longer. However, they did have a civil sign-in sheet, which I appreciate. I hate when waiting in line is a free for all.
Definitely check this place out!
For dinner, we went to Shanghai Red's Oyster Bar in downtown Palm Springs.
Shanghai Red's is located at 235 S. Indian Canyon Drive. There is also a La Quinta location (78575 Highway 111 Unit 100, La Quinta CA 92253). Dinner is served at 5:00 pm. We were there at 8:30, so we made it onto the late night happy hour menu valid from 8 pm to close and all day Sunday (no drink specials, but great discounts on food).
When you get to Shanghai Red's, most of the parking spaces say parking reserved for the Fisherman's Market and Grill. I was a little nervous, as that was not the restaurant we were going to. However, the two seem to be intimately combined, so I think you can confidently park in those spots, even if you are going to Red's rather than the Market and Grill.
The oyster bar is a tiny little restaurant, so don't expect a big spacious dining room. However, they have plenty of outdoor seating, so if you go on a warm night, you can guarantee yourself a bit more elbow room. We went on a Tuesday and the place was packed. Apparently Friday and Saturday they have live music. That sounds fun, but I would caution against going on a weekend if you want to sit and enjoy your dinner. I imagine that place gets pretty crowded
!
We had one appetizer, two glases of wine, two vodka tonics, a soup and two entrees for $86.
Here is what we ate:
Seafood platter - $15.95
Coconut Shrimp, Oysters Rockefeller, Clams Casino, and Stuffed Mushrooms
Bowl of Clam Chowder - $7.50
Crab Enchiladas - $14.95
Hand rolled corn tortillas stuffed with Blue Crab and cheese, with salsa verde and sour cream sauce.
Seafood Fettucine - $15.95 (non-happy hour price is $17.95)
Sauteed shrimmp, crab, scallops, and mushrooms served over fettucine alfredo.
Ruben and Ozzy's Garlic Cheese Bread - +$3.95 added to any entree
Yelp
We found out about this place because of the fantastic yelp reviews - 4.5 stars and 145 reviews.
Here are some of the reviews:
"This place is a lot of fun - a little bit of grit and attitude in a very tidy town" I agree - this is the kind of place where you could quickly feel like a regular.
"The service is always great and the food is always consistent." Our service was about a 3 out of 5. Not terrible; not exceptional. The waitress took 20 minutes to take our order, but it was understandable, considering the place was pretty busy
"Gumbo - excellent." Must have been good because they were all out of it.
What we thought of the food
We all loved the garlic cheesy bread - six [small] slices, very garlic-y, and loaded with cheese.
As for the appetizer platter, the coconut shrimp was a crowd favorite. This was great to split between 3 people, as each item was served with three. It came with a delicious orange marmalade to dip the shrimp in. My mom didn't like the Oysters Rockefeller (baked with spinach and cheese) but she doesn't like oysters, so that isn't saying much. I thought it was okay, but I greatly prefer mussels and clams. Clams Casino was clams with cheese and bacon, which my mom and Grandma liked. I thought it was okay - I prefer a lighter clam. The stuffed mushrooms were good, but those are hard to mess up.
The clam chowder was a big flop. It was served cold, which is completely wrong, as everyone knows clam chowder should be piping hot. My Grandma asked for it to be warmed up, but it still came back not-very-hot. I have had better clam chowder out of a can. It just wasn't very exceptional, and certainly not how I would expect it at an Oyster Bar.
We loved both our entrees. I absolutely loved the seafood fettucine. It wasn't just seafood thrown over pasta. There was an actual sauce, and tons of seafood mixed in. One negative note was that we were scammed out of our garlic bread and too polite to inquire about it. However, was my favorite dish of the night.
We also got Crab Enchiladas, which were my mom's favorite. I thought they were okay. I have no reason for not loving them; I just didn't. They were a bit on the spicy side, and covered with a verde salsa. The pico de gallo was a nice touch, as was the side of lemon. I loved the rice pilaf, but again, nothing special.
Service was okay. Very slow to take our order (though I am not sure whose fault that is), forgot the garlic bread, and the soup was cold. I did get drink refills and she was sweet, but nothing outstanding.
Overall: Go here! It is the kind of place that will make you feel like you discovered something and you are experiencing something the tourists are not. Don't get the usual (clam chowder) but go for the unique dishes.
