California English in Sorrento Mesa

 California English is a bright, large, beautiful restaurant serving modern pub food with a generous dash of California fresh.  The menu includes pub staples like tikka masala, Scotch eggs, pasties and scones.  There are also fusions with California cuisine, like a Yorkshire beef burrito.  There are also fancy dishes like a tartare, ahi crudo and grilled branzino.

We both started with the asparagus soup.  I thought the base was a bit bland.  It didn't taste strongly of asparagus and was under-seasoned.  There were great, meaty slices of mushroom that were delicious and made the soup very filling.

For a main course, we had the panzanella salad.  The cherry tomatoes were terrific and the pieces of bread were toasty, chewy and excellent.  This was another filling plate of food.  I ordered a Scotch egg with my salad.  A Scotch egg is a cooked egg, wrapped in sausage and then breaded and fried.  The egg was perfectly done with a soft yolk.  The breading had some curry spice, which played very well with the spices of the sausage.  It also smelled divine!

We finished our meals and felt comfortable, but then felt like we didn't need any dinner at day's end.  

I will certainly return.  I'm very excited by the offering of tea with three sweets.  This sounds like a great 4 PM pick-up.

If you come at lunch-time, avoid getting into the car line for the fast food restaurant adjacent.  There is plenty of parking.  The restaurant is in the BioVista building on the ground floor.  It is easy to find and has outdoor seating, as well.