Printer-friendly version
East
County San Diego provides a rich and varied culinary experience. The
East County Eater is on a mission to discover and highlight these gems.
No
back-country Bar and Grill is too remote, no specialty food restaurant
tucked away in some tiny strip mall is too obscure for this voracious eater.
Food
is my obsession and East County is my beat. Traveling anonymously,
sometimes with a group of eaters, I’ll leave no plate unturned to find
and evaluate the wide variety of eating experiences available to our readers. It’s
hard work, but someone has to do it!
From the Mediterranean Bistro in Alpine
to Oishi's sushi in Santee, East County’s
dining establishments will surprise and thrill you. What do our many Indian
Casinos have to offer? Who has the best BBQ ribs?
Stay tuned – the
East County Eater is on the prowl.
Mediterraneo Bistro Bar & Grill
1347 Tavern Road, Alpine 91901
(619)445-9902.
October 1, 2008 (ALPINE) - Dining at the Mediterraneo
Bistro Bar & Grill,
one can almost imagine oneself savoring a meal near the Mediterranean Sea. Perched
on a hilltop with distant ocean views visible through a screen of trees in rural
Alpine, this eatery has the feel of a sophisticated, upscale European restaurant.
Contemporary and modern décor, colorful artwork, cozy seating and a
well-stocked bar add flair to this backwater watering hole, which also features
cozy seating and large, heated outdoor dining area.
I’ve eaten here many times and am always delighted by the many evolving
features on this restaurant’s menu. On my most recent visit, I
discovered that the Mediterraneo has added lunch specials and, fortuitously,
Taco Tuesdays!
I savored three tacos for just $5, featuring the fish of
the day, halibut. These
were no ordinary tacos. The halibut was fresh-caught, juicy, and topped
with fresh cilantro, cabbage, tomatoes, onions and a tasty ranch-based topping. I
also enjoyed a salad topped by a grilled salmon fillet – also on special
for a very reasonable rate. Superb!
On another recent visit, I sampled
shrimp lobster bisque. Delicious. The salad featured succulent shrimp, avocado
and mango. I also tried one of the restaurant’s
signature dishes—pesto lasagna. It was the best I have ever had--full
of flavor with grilled eggplant, zucchini, sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts.
Fantastic!
Dispelling the stereotype that East County only has redneck
cowboy bars, there’s
not a buffalo head in sight. The only “buffalo: in the place was
the buffalo mozzarella on a brick oven pizza pie, which also included
pesto and fresh asparagus.
Other entrees also looked scrumptious. Although
I was full, I found myself gazing longingly at treats on other tables: coconut
calamari, steak and seafood entrées, Dungeness crab cocktail, great
looking pasta and chicken.
Another favorite of mine include the Mediterranean
Pannini sandwich. With
grilled eggplant, roma tomatoes, French feta cheese and hummus, it literally
melts in your mouth. I also love the carrot-ginger soup, savory and smooth
as silk. A recent menu addition, a cheese sampler platter, also gets
my thumbs up approval.
Having
lived in California most of my life, I relish good wines—and this restaurant
has a better than average wine list that includes European as well as California
wines. I chose the Leal Vineyard merlot from San Benito/Hollister; it
was rich and satisfying. However, I would have preferred the opportunity
to sample some local wines from the more than two dozen wineries located right
here in San Diego County – nearly all in East County. I have sampled
many of these at several recent wine-tasting events and found several of them
to be both unique and exceptional in quality.
In
a previous review, I lamented that the Mediterraneo had just one serious flaw: no
breakfasts! I’m delighted to report that this has
been remedied, as the bistro has now added a breakfast menu full of mouth-watering
special dishes. I can’t wait to go back!
Comments
Completely Disappointed!
We went there for breakfast with a few friends. At first we were a little put off by the pricing but figured that the food and service would be above average to make up for it.
It was a long wait for the food though the restaurant didn't seem very busy. I ordered the slider breakfast for $13.95. What came was three small sliders on a plate. Thats $4.65 a slider! While I did enjoy them I don't find them a very good value for the price.
My mother and husband both ordered the 2 egg breakfast with an english muffin and bacon. What was brought to them was literally 2 eggs over cooked, and an english muffin. (They had asked for over easy)
My husbands eggs went cold waiting for the potatoes that we had to ask 3 times for. When we communicated our displeasure the waitress argued that they ordered their breakfast wrong. (Excuse me? It was read as WRITTEN on the menu, how can that possibly be wrong?)
The potatoes still hadn't showed up, we were told they never ordered the bacon and now the waitress's attitude I had enough and asked for the manager.
The manager came out defensive and argumentative as well before even hearing what we had to say. When we did get a chance to speak and explain they ended up comping the two screwed up meals.
So Sausage sliders at $4.65 a piece, 1 coffee and 2 sprites ran us $23.33. We left completely flustered and unsatisfied.
The rest of our party were mutually displeased with their meal and appauled by the manager's attitude but just wanted to leave as soon as possible. We have all agreed never to return again and to warn friends and family from eating there as well.