Pectopah (Pomegranate)

Rating: 9/10
Date visited: July 31, 2009
Party of Three
Dinner

I am sorry, I am a bit late writing this review. It was at the draft stage for the longest time and I finally had the time this morning to wrap this up. As you can see, the restaurant got a very high rating from me. So this post will be long and I will highly recommend that you visit the place.

Now, let's start from the very beginning. We found out about this restaurant from our good friend at Maverick's Musing. In her honor we have named our weekly Friday dinner evenings as Maverick Fridays. As you will notice, since we came to San Diego, we have been have checking out a new restaurant every Friday with her.

The name - Pomegranate. How much of a influence does pomegranate have on Russian cuisine is a something I cannot find too many references on. Our Russian and Georgian friends have not extolled on the use of this fruit in their food. I know for a fact that pomegranates is very popular, almost a staple, in Persian food. But Russia and Georgia is far from Persia. So where did this influence come from? Food historians and gourmets, please enlighten me.

Pectopah is located at the corner of El Cajon Blvd. and Lousiana Street. You will find it difficult to spot if you were not specifically looking for the address. Where there should be a billboard announcing the name of the restaurant, all you will find is the number 2302 in copper, with a red pomegranate replacing the zero and an arrow through it. It's a blue, run down building with some metal chairs and tables outside on a makeshift patio and relatively unattractive to any passerby. Believe me, if we did not plan on going there, we would not have spotted it or even be tempted to go inside. It is that inconspicuous.

You enter through a small decrepit door into a dining area crowded with furniture. The decor is intentionally 'wasted' - rough unfinished wood, dissimilar rickety tables and chairs, some cobwebs and dust on the decorations, icicle lights that were not removed from previous Christmas. And I did notice some old (maybe, antique) brass tea servers on shelves.

A presumably Russian/Georgian waiter asked if we had a reservation, and we did not. About 80% of the restaurant was empty, so we did not think that there would be a problem about not having a reservation. Please note, at this time we were sort of taken back by the decor - it did not seem to be a very appetizing place, and then the reservation question. He asked us to talk (plead) with the manager. This manager was sitting behind a tall desk at the far corner of the restaurant, answering phones and doing accounts, and a friend of his was sitting beside him eating a plate of seemingly delicious bbq meats. The sight if the food made us feel a bit better - hmmm, this place may have some good food after all.

The manager sat us at the front corner of the restaurant. My husband and I sat on a bench and our friend across from us. I was brushing against a dusty, carved wooden bear and the bench's padding was ripped and the padding falling off! It was an odd experience; we have been to coffee places with 'ruinous' decor like this, but never to a restaurant. The walls and reachable portions of the ceiling were full of graffiti - comments from the happy satisfied customers in many languages, some Russian too. Reading these comments lifted our spirits a bit.

My husband and our friend ordered Russian beers, I just went with water (designated driver, you see). I was tempted to go for the Russian tea, but decided against it. For appetizers, we ordered the Khinkali. They claimed that they serve Vodka by the inch and Borscht by the bucket - so, we had to get Borscht. And for the main, we went for the Lamb Shashlik. And for dessert, how could I resist the Toad Sweat Ice Cream?

--------------------------------------------------
Beer: They serve a full spectrum of beers from a St Petersburg brewery called Baltica. My husband went for the hard lager (#9 Krepkoe) while our friend had the light one (#1). Both liked their beers, commenting on the crispness, a nice refreshing finish for the long week. My husband liked the high alcohol content as well and remarked on the perfect balance of hoppiness and the alcohol.
No, they did not have the vodka by the inch after the beer. My water with lemon was good too. Heh! Heh!


Khinkali: The menu said that these are peasant style meat dumplings. Seven of those steamed delights were served to us with a sprinkling of fine white pepper on a white plate. The rim of the plate was dabbed with red hot sauce. Now, we had not done our homework on to the right way of eating these sumptuous dumplings (read here ). We just pierced them with our forks and ate the whole, including the 'kudi'. The juices did not escape much, we were quick. They were delightful.

These dumplings reminded us of a lovely New Years Eve spent at our Russian friends place in North Carolina few years ago. In keeping with the Russian tradition, we spent a good part of that evening making scores of dumplings and the devouring them with vodka and other exotic Russian liquors. It was a divine experience and we will always treasure the memory.
Now, they were from Siberia, and the dumplings they made were very similar in taste to the Khinkali we had - only the casings here were a bit thicker. This makes me wonder how different would Pelmeni (also on the menu) would be from the Khinkali. Well, we have to try it next time. By the way, if any of my readers happen to visit and have the Pelmeni, please let me know. I have a soft corner for dumplings.

Borscht: This is a hearty soup of beets, cabbage, potatoes, green beans, parsley, and some meats simmered to meld the flavors. It had a dollop of sour cream, and you could also taste the rich butter in the broth. It was indeed as tasty as promised on the menu, but not served in a bucket! (disappointing!) It came in a plain white bowl.

This dish reminded us of the vegetable stew that our moms would try to inflict upon us on wintry Indian mornings when we were kids, and we used to hate it with a vengeance. Well, our moms' version of the stew of course did not have the meats, nor the rich buttery taste. Even if it did, I wonder if we would have eaten the vegetables. I think as we grow our taste buds evolve and the taste and texture of vegetables becomes more appealing.

Shashlik: This is a kebab type dish served only on Fridays and Saturdays, and takes time (about half an hour) to cook. The menu proclaims that this dish saved the accord in 1944 in Yalta between Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt. Historians, any comments?

We had ordered the lamb version. The dish consists of 2-3inch chunks of marinated lamb grilled on a skewer, like a sheek kebab. They brought the meat on the skewer and then 'de-skewered' it at the table. Just before serving, a pomegranate jus was poured over the meat. It came with a Russian version of a salsa.

Again, too good - worth the wait and quite well deserving of a 10/10. The meat was perfectly cooked, not too rare, not well done - just right. The jus gave a tantalizing aroma to the dish. We enjoyed every bite of the succulent meat.

Toad Sweat Ice Cream - All the menu says about this one is that 'it's not for the faint hearted'. This comment just jumped out of the menu at me as a challenge, and I had to take a shot at this. You know what, I do not want to spoil the surprise for you, and so I will not give you details on what this dish entails. All I will say is that I highly recommend it and please share it with one or two friends - it worth having.
(A hint for those friends who had been to our place in Brisbane - remember Dragon's Crap?)

-----------------------------------------------------
As you can tell, I ranked this restaurant very high. The food is very good. I usually prefer spicy food, and there were almost none in this meal - but I still loved it. The only reason I gave it one point less than the perfect 10 was because of the decor and the inconvenient seating. Yes, the decor as it stands now gives it a le chique le cool appeal, but I would rather they fix it.

We will go there again. Definitely. Probably to celebrate a special occasion with friends. I already have a long list of dishes I want to try the next time I go there. Oh yes, we will book ahead this time. And I will ask the owner next time - why did he name the restaurant Pectopah? What is the special culinary relationship between the pomegranate and Georgian/ Russian cuisine?

A special note about their menu which explains all the dishes in a witty style.

Address: 2302 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego 92104
Website: http://russiangeorgianfood.homestead.com/
Ph: 619 297-4007
Timing: Mon - Sun 5PM- 10PM
Liquor served - Yes