Smoked ham, gruyere, fried Glaum eggs and mornay sauce served with breakfast potatoes. $15
Solaire Restaurant + Bar, Santa Cruz CA
This croque madame tasted ok – nothing special. But I will say that it was HUGE if that turns you on. The ham looked like cheap deli slices so I wish they had used better ingredients. The mornay sauce was on the cheesier side, but the potatoes were great with lots of flavor.
Ketchup.
Orange-yellow hibiscus flower (Malvaceae), The Mystery Spot.
Glaum Ranch poached eggs, dungeness crab and hollandaise with breakfast potatoes. $16
Solaire Restaurant + Bar, Santa Cruz CA
This dish was ok. The crab cakes had such a strong Old Bay flavor that they didn’t quite work in a benedict. It ultimately tasted like a crab cake on top of an English muffin with an egg and hollandaise sauce thrown in – not very harmonious.
Coffee. $3
Mystery Spot holding area.
Flash fried, lemon chips and basil. $13
Solaire Restaurant + Bar, Santa Cruz CA
These were SO disgusting and I’m annoyed that a restaurant kitchen would actually send these out. The calamari was way overcooked to the point of being hard and super dry. They tasted like they were freezer burned before being fried; they definitely didn’t taste like they were made from fresh squid. This dish was overpriced for such poor quality. LAME!
Car covered in Mystery Spot bumper stickers.
Daily’s bacon, sweet gem lettuce, pickled onion, avocado, turkey, vine ripened tomato and house made chips. $12
Solaire Restaurant + Bar, Santa Cruz CA
This sandwich tasted great and I really liked the pickled onions. I just wish the turkey was of better quality, but the home made potato chips were amazing! I’d order a bowl of the chips by themselves next time. Unfortuantely, I had to go hunting for our poolside server when we wanted to pay. I walked around everywhere and finally had to clear my check with the manager. What a waste of my time!
Hotel Paradox poolside. Unfortunately, there were SO many screaming kids everywhere! Not my idea of relaxing by the pool.
Salsa, tortillas, Rio Zape beans, queso fresco and fried Glaum eggs. $12
Solaire Restaurant + Bar, Santa Cruz CA
This dish was lame. The sauce covering the tortilla chips was cold and the tortillas were way too soggy. The Rio Zape beans were bland and boring, and the eggs were overcooked and dry.
Freshly brewed coffee. $3
Mixed redwood forest at The Mystery Spot.
Fresh berries and maple syrup. $10
Solaire Restaurant + Bar, Santa Cruz CA
These were just your standard French toast. They tasted fine but they weren’t anything special.
Chicken sausage. $4
These sausages were pretty sad especially when they cost four bucks!
Ketchup, maple syrup and butter.
Santa Cruz 75: bubbles, elderflower and lemon. $8
Bubbly Berry: bubbles, berry, lemon, pomegranate and hibiscus. $8
Solaire Restaurant + Bar, Santa Cruz CA
I don’t know why I think that soju cocktails are ever going to please my palate. I always have a false sense of hope that I’ll finally like how they taste. Well, I was wrong yet again! Solaire doesn’t have a proper liquor license so they’re stuck with serving hard liquor replacement cocktails. Both of these were especially sweet and nauseating.
Solaire menu.
Hotel Paradox pool area.
Vittle Monster 