Vessel Restaurant Awards

Vessel Restaurant Restaurant Review:

Kona Kai’s remodeled restaurant has a distinct chic look thanks to Noble House Hotels & Resorts, which took over the property. It’s a casual and fun spot for small plates and handcrafted cocktails, along with live music and sweeping views of the yacht-dotted marina and million-dollar, cliff-side homes on Point Loma. The bar has a teal domed ceiling, and is anchored by a column of lit-up sea glass. Groovy infrared underwater videos fill multiple screens across the wall. Chef Roy Hendrickson serves up coastal fare and gourmet bar food, whether you’re in the mood for pulled pork sliders, calamari frito, clam chowder, mushroom flatbreads or spicy tuna tacos. Lobster mac ‘n’ cheese tips the decadent scale, and several entrées succeed, like his seared scallops with sweet corn succotash or porcini-dusted sea bass with smoked bacon-Dijon sauce. Desserts include chocolate lava cake and Key lime pie. Wines are mostly new-world reds and whites with a focus on California labels. Weekend brunch means buttermilk pancakes with candied banana and bottomless Bloody Marys.