DAVID NELSON ON RESTAURANTS : Oscar Taylor Fills the Bill : Finally, Good Food in Mission Valley

Mission Valley.

For years, consumers have been able to buy almost anything--from abacuses to zymometers--in this vast plain of commerce. Almost anything, that is, but a good meal.

Yes, yes, Mission Valley abounds with eateries. But few of the places offer genuinely good food.

The major shopping centers have been among the worst offenders. The glittering rows of shops long have tempted the public with every kind of merchandise, but their ranks have included too few restaurants capable of restoring shoppers weary from a day spent ogling gold watches and squeezing into designer jeans.

Enter Oscar Taylor. Oscar Taylor is not a person, but rather a restaurant in the new mall addition at Mission Valley Center. It serves simple, familiar and excellently prepared food.

Oscar Taylor bills itself as a “butcher, bakery and bar,” a fair, but too sparse, summation of its attractions. This description omits the word “restaurant,” and therein lies the key to Oscar Taylor: “restaurant” is less effective, from a merchandising standpoint, than such nostalgically attractive words as “butcher” and “bakery.”

And Oscar Taylor, in keeping with its shopping center environment, merchandises its wares with a consummate skill that equals that of the grandest department stores. It beckons hungry shoppers with windows crammed with attractive edibles. Anyone who steps inside finds himself in the “Upper Crust Bakery,” in which cases display not only handsome cakes (all baked on the premises) but crimson steaks, meaty slabs of pork ribs and Porterhouse-sized veal chops.

In another case, whole salmon swim appealing across a bay of crushed ice. All of this carries a message that could be neither more succinct nor more obvious were it painted on a placard. Nor as tempting.

And the message is a truthful one, since this is beautiful food. The menu reads like that of a steakhouse that has decided to move uptown, so that while it features spectacular cuts of meat and several barbecue specialties, it also lists a fair amount of fresh fish, some cooked according to adventurous, contemporary recipes. Remarkable attention is paid to the preparation and presentation of side dishes.

The steaks, simply put, are marvelous. The menu offers two, a New York strip and a filet mignon, which weigh a minimum of 12 and 10 ounces, respectively, and are priced according to both weight and the day’s going rate for prime beef. A recently consumed filet (which weighed approximately 10 ounces and cost $15.95) was a study in nobility as it rested, in aloof solitude, at the center of a suitably large plate. Its flame-darkened exterior mesmerized the eyes, and its aroma tantalized the nostrils. Hot juices burst forth as the knife made its first tentative cut, and the meat yielded like butter between the teeth. It was a good steak.

A daily specials list usually offers roast prime rib, and this too, can be excellent. Carved into an impressive slab, the meat is cooked to order, has a fine flavor and is every bit as pleasingly tender as the steaks.

The menu prominently lists barbecued baby pork ribs and chicken, which are available on their own or in combination. Since Oscar Taylor belongs to that school of restaurant philosophy that insists that nothing succeeds like excess, the servings are enormous; the guest who orders barbecued chicken, for example, will find himself confronted by an entire bird. The slabs of ribs similarly are sized for healthy appetites.

Both of these meats are nicely finished with a well-balanced barbecue sauce that moderates spice with sweetness, and both are cooked so that the meat’s interior retains moisture and tenderness, while the exterior acquires a crisp and pleasing glaze. A nicely creamy cole slaw and a dish of smooth, home-prepared applesauce accompany these meats, and it is difficult to imagine more appropriate companions to barbecue. The only unfortunate aspect of these plates is the paper bib (with “I Love Ribs” glaringly printed across it) that the waitresses attempt to foist upon the diners.

Since Oscar Taylor’s menu carries the subconscious message that it serves All-American grub, it seems natural enough that the specials list should extend to such dishes as Cajun “blackened” sea bass, a wildly spicy preparation created in New Orleans that enjoys a national vogue. Less challenging and perhaps more enjoyable was a thick, triangular swordfish steak that had been grilled over mesquite and dressed with an orange-, almond- and cilantro-flavored butter.

Some entrees include the choice of soup or salad, others a side dish, and some include both. All of these extras are prepared with a special flair and attention to detail, from the creamed spinach (whole leaves, barely wilted and coated with a light cream sauce, quite different from the French style) to the French fried potatoes, which are cut into corkscrew shapes, fried until crisp and golden, and served in a napkin-lined basket. Either of these side dishes is sized to suit two or even three diners.

The salad follows the upgraded steakhouse theme by being simple but well-dressed, which is to say that the plate of lettuce and tomato wedges may be had with an excellent, creamy house dressing that includes mashed anchovies. Given the evidence of a recently enjoyed minestrone, however (it packed a powerful flavor), the day’s soup may be a better choice than the salad.

This restaurant seems devoted to stuffing its patrons; one effort it takes in this direction is the basket of home-baked rolls that arrives moments after guests are seated. The selection may include Cheddar-flavored cheese buns (exquisite), teasingly sweet zucchini-walnut muffins, and savory pumpernickel rolls dusted with sesame seeds.

The pastries seem self-defeatingly rich and grandiose, given the size of the meals that precede them, but they are nonetheless difficult to resist when the waitress presents the dessert tray. One of the best may be the “success” cake, a French torte that combines chocolate mousse, pastry cream and almond meringue in a sweet, frothy dream of richness.

The decor falls somewhere between Victorian (dark wood paneling and figured carpeting) and contemporary Southwest (hanging plants and ceiling fans), but it probably could be best described as “shopping center deluxe.” It, like the menu’s description of Oscar Taylor (a mythical character who supposedly emigrated from England to Chicago in 1923, where he married his beloved “Goldy” and opened his non-existent restaurant) is carefully engineered to create a mood, and it succeeds quite well. The Arizona-based chain that operates this establishment has managed to create a theme restaurant that delivers what it merchandises, a rare feat for which it deserves applause.

Oscar Taylor 1640 Camino del Rio North, Mission Valley Center, San Diego. 299-2811. Open seven days; lunched served 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., dinner 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. (until 10 p.m. Sundays.) The cost of a dinner can be moderate to expensive, depending on side dishes, dessert, etc. For two people, with two glasses of house wine each, tax and tip, dinner should cost $35 to $65.