After a long day wine tasting in Sonoma County, we were 
starving and ready to eat our heart out. El Dorado Kitchen comes to our rescue. Knowing chef Armando Navarro from REDD in Napa, and I was excited to see what he was about to serve us.
El Dorado Kitchen is located in the El Dorado Hotel, it’s such a cute place, open kitchen, a 21-foot-long table fashioned from a single wood plank reclaimed from a Vermont bridge, lots of 
windows for sun light, white trim, fresh flowers, something about this place is so romantic to me. Well, I was in the company of 2 other hot foodies/good friends 
El Dorado Kitchen serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily. We were here for a dinner feast, and I wasn’t kidding.
– Kusshi, South Puget Sound, Baywater Sweet oysters – a dozen of freshness!
– Ahi Tuna Tartare – Soy vinaigrette, wonton chips, asian pear, avocado, wasabi tobiko, micro cilantro – tasty, generous portion.
– Roasted Young Beets – Goat cheese mousse, orange, watercress, pistachio meringue – perfect for a warm summer night in Sonoma.
– Steamed Mussels – Chorizo, chickpeas, garlic, white wine broth, country croutons – the mussels weren’t plumed, but the broth was perfect for crouton dipping. It soaked up the broth and it was so good!
– The Truffles fries – oh goodness, gracious, this order is BIGGER than my head! However, it was perfect for dipping to the mussels broth!
– Chilled Corn Soup – Corn & shrimp salsa, chili oil, brioche crouton – it was nice and smooth, love.
– Pork Belly – cherry tomato, pickled ramps, jalapeño vinaigrette – this was a SPECIAL order, since I’m allergic to watermelon, chef changed up the recipe. I love pork belly and this is why I work out regularly, so I can indulge this kind of goodness!
– Dungeness Crab Cake – Heirloom tomato gazpacho, avocado, sweet 100 tomatoes, pea shoots – fresh and sweet, beautiful plating.
– Housemade Ricotta & Lemon Ravioli – Roasted artichokes, asparagus, rutabaga, parmesan, guazzetto – delicious.
– Pork and ahi tuna tacos, special order from chef Armando Navarro – thank you for this – they offer on the bar menu.
DESSERTS:
– Vanilla Tapioca – Peach, rhubarb gel, brioche, raspberry sorbet
– Baked Chocolate Mousse – Chocolate shortbread crumble, crème fraîche froth, mint chocolate chip ice cream
– Cherry Crisp – Lemon curd, streusel, cream cheese sorbet
For the wine list, El Dorado Kitchen carries almost 170 wines by the bottles and 30 by the glasses, majority Sonoma County, Napa, and decent choices of French wines, I’m impressed. I love that how all the local wines are small mark up, that was exactly what we did, ordered Sonoma wines.
Service was good, the food was so reasonably price point, GENEROUS PORTIONS, so we obviously over ordered ourselves. Thank you chef Armando for the extra love and changed the recipe because I was allergic to the watermelon.
During our dinner, there was a black out in Sonoma Square, the restaurant kept calm, and continue to serve us in extra candle lights, just about 5 minutes later, the light was back on, and everything was as smooth as nothing had happened.
My 2 girlfriends and I couldn’t even move by the time we finished the dinner. We are full, satisfied, and happy. I love it here and I can’t wait to bring more friends and family back here soon.
Follow chef on IG: http://instagram.com/chef_g_navarro
El Dorado Kitchen
www.EldoradoSonoma.com
405 1st St W,
Sonoma, CA 95476
(707) 996-3030
by Manda Bear – @1MandaBear
The dish that I always get when I’m here is the ‘Braised oxtail marrow toasted brioche, 1000 island, and uni topping it off’, if this mouthwatering dish doesn’t get you fall in love at the first bite, I don’t know what does!
