Serea Coastal Cuisine

Serea sits inside the Hotel Del Coronado with a tiered patio that stares straight down the Pacific through a line of palms, and the kitchen backs up the view with real technique. The Baja-caught whole snapper tiradito, sliced sashimi-thin and dressed in pickled fresnos and ladolemono, is the dish to order first. The tableside fish pulled off the open wood fire, still carrying a trace of ember smoke, is the one worth waiting for.

The setting could easily coast on the hotel's reputation and the ocean behind it. It doesn't. Service runs warm and attentive most nights, and the cooking holds up its end of a very expensive-looking bargain. The gripes that surface are real but minor — parking near the Del is a known headache, and a slow night happens — not evidence of a kitchen phoning it in.

Michelin has selected Serea two years running. That's confirmation, not the reason to go. The reason is a plate of tiradito with that view behind it, and a fire-cooked fish that tastes like the ocean it came out of. Worth the trip across the bridge.

Skip it only if you can't stomach paying resort prices for resort views. Everyone else should book the patio.