Kat's 9 Lives

My quest to try new things always has its ups and downs. This week is Happy Hour Week as I mentioned beforehand. I decided to try out the Bluewater Grill since their Happy Hour Menu are separated into categories of $3, $4, and $5. My choice was mainly based on price and location because I wanted to head up to SGV afterwards. Sigh, I shouldn't blindly go try a restaurant out but I take it with a grain of salt. You never know until you go and I do it for my readers so I can warn them! ^_- Bluewater Grill is located at The District near Borders. I should have known that this plaza is definitely not known for their food. Yet, I think I want to try another place for Happy Hour here. O=9 I do like the decor. It's a good mix of rustic and modern mixed together. The small pieces of artwork laid throughout are eye catching and you can see into the kitchen, which looks clean. My favorite part was the cute water with piercing blue eyes ^_-, named Jason. lol
The bread given was Sourdough. I ate a few pieces of bread because the food took a little while and then all the dishes came out at once. @_@ We tried the Shrimp Ceviche Lettuce Wraps with a Ponzu Sauce. This was super bland and forgettable. The Iceberg Lettuce took away any tiny flavor this thing had and the sauce didn't compliment it at all. Even though it looks pretty, the taste was just totally off. I saw another table get the Calamari Fritti and suddenly decided that I wanted one for myself. This clued me in on the portion-size difference. It's a pretty big difference when the price is only a little more than half off. So this was probably not worth it. They claim that they use the finest Pacific Calamari that is known for its 'tenderness'. I thought it was decent but nothing special or anything different from what you get elsewhere.
A funny thing to see here on the menu was the Salt & Pepper Shrimp. It's shell-on Shrimp flash fried with Garlic and Ginger. This is a very common Chinese dish and it is funny to see it here so I was ready to pass judgment. Surprisingly it was decent, but nowhere near as good as what I am use to. They lacked a little in being crispy and flavor. There was also a ton of oil at the bottom of the bowl... hmmm... maybe a little bit more Chinese now lol. j/k The dish that was most worthwhile was the Tenderloin Teaser. It's cuts of Beef pan seared with Salt and Pepper. This was very Asian in taste with an odd twist. There are bits of Purple Onions and Red Bell Peppers. I thought the meat was pretty tender, flavorful, and plentiful! They gave a generous amount of meat for $5. ^_^ **happy Meat-atarian** lol
I was interested in trying their Baked Crab & Artichoke Dip with a hint of Jalapeño. The flavor was decent but nothing really popped. I felt the flavors were a little one-dimensional. I saw that they offered a set of Oyster Shooters for $3 so of course I had to try it. Supposedly it is shucked to order and with Absolut Peppar Vodka, but who knows if they do it for the Happy Hour menu. The Oysters were good but heavily masked with Cocktail Sauce, Wasabi, and Horseradish. I liked it but you really don't get much in there except 1 tiny Oyster. They normally have this for $2.75, so I wonder how many Oysters you normally get. =9 I decided to try the Grilled Tacos that resembled the Wahoo Fish Tacos. Sadly the ones here are not as good and very bland. I tried to add some of the other sauces at the table, but to no avail. Last but not least was the Burger Slider. This actually looked like there might be some possibilities since there were 2 kinds of Cheese spread across the burger. There was a tiny amount of Caramelized Onions, but the whole thing had no flavor really. They put a spin by having fresh Spinach atop but that only made the whole thing more dry. I looked around for more sauces that I can put on the burger. Maybe I should have asked for some.
All in all there was a lot of food leftover and both of us didn't want any part. It was just bland and bad. I don't think I will ever be back. The guy was cute but that doesn't satisfy my tummy! lol Eye candy is good but I am here to have good food. Some stuff on the Happy Hour menu might be a good deal but it seems for the most part it's not worth it. I actually found it quite painful to finish all the food and almost didn't even want to take it back. Thank goodness that I don't have to eat the leftovers. O=9 They totally didn't deliver for Happy Hour Week. If you want to check out places for Happy Hour, I'd definitely skip over this one. Also they have the same menu normally Monday thru Friday.
Bluewater Grill