For our first dinner in San Diego, we took a short Uber ride to the Banker’s Hill neighborhood for dinner at Cucina Urbana. The California-inspired Italian kitchen and wine shop opened back in 2009. The cozy rustic ambiance was very welcoming.
Dinner at Cucina Urbana
I had to push back our reservation a couple times. They were very understanding and accommodating. We arrived around 8:30pm and waited a few minutes while they prepared our table. The menu sounded so good.
Menu
I was in the mood for wine and ordered a glass of Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir
My coworker ordered a cocktail made with gin, jalapeno, ginger-flavored liqueur, lemon, and basil.
Il Zenzero
For our appetizer, we went with the stuffed squash blossoms.
Stuffed Squash Blossoms
They’re stuffed with herb ricotta cheese then battered and deep fried. They were served over opal basil pesto and lemon aioli. They were hot and crispy and yummy. The coating was not too heavy.
Crispy
For my entree, I was leaning towards a pasta. Unfortunately, they just ran out of the short rip pappardelle. Bummer! I was really looking forward to trying that particular dish.
Dinner is served
My friend went with the whole roasted branzino served with saffron couscous, pine nuts, currant, capers, and a caramelized leek vinaigrette. It was delicious.
Branzino
I decided to order the lemon mascarpone agnolotti with baby scallops, spring peas, dill, malt butter, and bottarga (a delicacy of salted cured fish roe).
Lemon Mascarpone Agnolotti
The sauce was very tasty with acidic notes of the lemon. The pasta and baby scallops were cooked perfectly. It was a solid dish.
Baby Scallops
We really enjoyed our main dishes and couldn’t help peeking at the dessert menu. We were sold on the Nutella ricotta zeppoles!
Nutella Zeppoles
The zeppoles were nice and hot. They were made to order and have not been sitting around. They were served with a sweet and tangy raspberry sauce. Yum!
Raspberry Sauce
Dinner was delicious. The pizza looked incredible as well. The wine and cocktails were excellent. Great service and our waiter, Jonathan, was very nice. I would definitely come back to try other dishes. I want that pappardelle!
 Cucina Urbana
505 Laurel Street
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 239-2222
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