Before, during or after your round on The Grand Del Mar’s delightful Tom Fazio-designed course, you’ve got to sample the equally delightful cuisine. The team can be found working their culinary magic at Club M, located in the golf clubhouse, where everything from pre-round pick me-ups to late-night cravings can be satisfied. Club M is one of three full-service restaurants at the resort, but it’s the one catering its menu towards the golfing bunch.
“Nearly 90% of our customers are golfers,” said Alessio Marini, the restaurant’s manager. “The menu is really designed around them, trying to create healthier dishes that give someone that extra bit of energy.”
The manager describes the menu as “casual California fair, with some south-of-the -border influences.” While for breakfast and lunch guests can find a couple golf course staples — eggs and smoothies for an early morning meal or sandwiches and burgers for a mid-day fueling — dinner features a global tapas menu that you typically won’t find at a post-round eatery.
Breakfast and lunch menus feature high-protein dishes and grab-and-go items. You can find American staples such as eggs and bacon, French toast and pancakes, but if you dare to be different, you’ll try the strawberry, blackberry, peanut butter smoothie. We guarantee you’ve never had anything quite like it.
Lunch features big salads and casual sandwiches, but Latin influences subtly highlight the menu with a white shrimp quesadilla and a Baja-style fish taco trio. For those out on the course, the turn menu features specialty wraps and a tuna cup, which you can order on a computer and have delivered to your cart within minutes.
It’s post-round where Club M sets itself apart. While the menu features 14 different tapas items, Friday and Saturday nights put the “club” in Club M, bringing in live music and DJs beginning at 7 p.m. and lasting until 1:30 a.m. Food is served until 10 p.m, with both indoor seating and a heated outdoor patio that overlooks the scenic 18th hole of the golf course.
“We’re able to keep the California cuisine theme, but put our own spin on things,” Marini says of the tapas menu.
He is especially fond of the chicken mole and tacos, where the chef draws on influences from the foods he ate as a kid. The healthier themes from the menus earlier in the day don’t necessarily stick around for the evening time, as the chicken mole features a fried chick drummette served in a Oaxacan mole sauce, with a cool cilantro and cabbage micro salad that pairs nicely with the heavier wings that have a bit of a kick to them. The Baja-style fish tacos are a bit heavy on the batter, but the fish is superb, perfectly cooked and insanely fresh. Those come with fresh, local tomatoes and a perfectly paired lime sauce.
The best thing on the tapas menu may be the lightly fried calamari, which is true to its name with a light breading and a perfectly cooked interior. It comes with a cayenne-chipotle aïoli that’s not to be overlooked as well. It pairs great with one of the more than 25 specialty cocktails and martinis the restaurant’s bar serves up.
And while it may be the heaviest thing on the menu, ordering the wild mushroom ravioli is worth the extra calories. It comes with two large raviolis, sitting in a deliciously rich cream sauce. Flavorful mushrooms, fresh roasted garlic and freshly grated parmesan top the dish.
Once you’re pleasantly full, you have a choice to make. If you’re committed to the full Club M experience, get ready to dance, as the post-meal music and dancing on Friday and Saturday nights can sometimes draw up to 700 revelers.
Club M
5300 Grand Del Mar Court San Diego, CA 92130 USA
http://www.thegranddelmar.com/club-m
Friday – Saturday
Live Music: 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Guest DJs: 10:00 pm – 1:30 am
