Sibyl’s Down Under, Cafe Sevilla : 2 Restaurants Fine for Fun but Fare Lacks Flare

It doesn’t take much imagination to recognize that the name of a new Gaslamp Quarter restaurant, Sibyl’s Down Under, refers to Australia.

The name does have an inadvertent meaning for long-time San Diegans, however. A well-known gourmet who is a San Diego native refuses to visit any of the new eateries at the lower end of the Gaslamp Quarter because, when he was raised, the district was considered strictly off limits to respectable folk. To him, “going down under” was to venture below Market Street, and was a sure way of damaging or losing his reputation. In his opinion, the old taboo remains in force.

Times do change, though, and an area that just a few years ago offered uninviting vistas of dark doorways and shabby warehouses has begun to develop into an entertainment zone of broad appeal. The impending opening of the nearby convention center certainly has much to do with this, but a weekend night stroll down 4th and 5th avenues will prove that the locals already have returned to the area in force.

The block of 4th Avenue anchored by the Horton Grand Hotel recently has made room for two new restaurants, Sibyl’s and the Cafe Sevilla. It wouldn’t seem likely that an Australian eatery and a Spanish tapas bar could have anything in common, but they do, and in an unexpected way: both are extremely pleasant places in which to while away an hour or two, as long as you give most of the cooking a wide berth.

Australian cuisine used to be an oxymoron, but these days there is general agreement that standards have risen Down Under. Nonetheless, traditional Aussie cooking is pretty dull, as witnessed by that great favorite, the meat pie, a kind of pastry sandwich that Aussies typically douse with their style of “tomato sauce” (it approximates ketchup) and swallow with the forebearance shown by the residents of the prison camps that were the first English colonies on the continent.

Sybil’s specializes in traditional Aussie cooking, and a server’s warning to avoid the meat pie (when told that these tended to be pretty awful on their native turf, the server responded, “So are ours”) could have been extended to several other dishes. Half of Sibyl’s considerable floor space is given over to a discotheque, and the menu may have been designed more to quickly serve patrons who will be moving on to the disco than to please serious diners.

Sibyl’s decor approximates that of the classic California fern bar (but is brightened by Australian murals and flags) and the menu starts with a lot of fern bar favorites, such as stuffed potato skins and fried cheese sticks. The batter-crisped onion rings were quite pleasant, actually, and an order of these as a snack with drinks would not be a bad idea.

Dinners include the choice of soup or salad, and the same server who so urgently cautioned against the meat pies declared the soups to be nothing less than superb. The day’s special of cream of tomato with fresh basil thus was ordered, and it was a different sort of tomato soup, neither red nor pink as might have been expected, but rather a dirty blond. Basically, it consisted of thick goo in which bits of tomato and zucchini had been suspended; basil did not enter the picture, and one could not blame it for staying away.

The basil turned up instead in the shepherd’s pie, exactly where it was not expected and in any case a milieu in which it could do no good. Small cubes of tough beef in some sort of peppery gravy hid beneath a thick, heavy crust of mashed potatoes, and it was not a happy dish.

The kitchen does throw shrimp on the barbie with some elan, however. The bacon-wrapped prawns, brushed with a bit of sweet sauce and given a good char in the broiler, were plump, moist and satisfying. With these came rice of the Southern California “rice pilaf” genre, which is to say salty mush.

The menu extends to several pastas, sandwiches and hamburgers, fish and chips, and a couple of steaks, but the real interest at this restaurant seems to be the ambiance. During the dinner hour, a gifted pianist plays all the old favorites, and, on Fridays, Sybil’s holds a contest that invites individuals to sing two or three songs to the pianist’s merciful accompaniment. The winner receives a $20 gift certificate to be applied toward dinner--which may make it seem something of a consolation prize--and the local amateurs seem to have a good time showing their stuff.

Nine out of 10 San Diegans still seem to hear “topless bar” whenever the subject of tapas bars is introduced, but Cafe Sevilla offers, on occasion, a much more innocent form of entertainment.

Step in on the right night and an impromptu flamenco demonstration may be under way, accompanied by a quickly strummed guitar and patrons waving glasses of ruby red wine or golden Sherry. This tiny cafe looks somewhat like a cave, and the tables in back under the low, beamed ceiling are perfect for watching everyone else have a good time while they watch you.

In the realm of consumables, Cafe Sevilla’s one masterpiece seems to be the sangria, which it seasons with cinnamon and tart citrus juices, and which goes down very easily. But sangria is a drink, and when it comes to food, the restaurant performs less well.

The term tapas defines a large group of foods, often highly seasoned, that typically are offered in small portions and can be regarded as hors d’oeuvres or snacks. When at their best, a succession of these can make an excellent meal, and, since this is food that is meant to be shared, the occasion also can become quite festive.

Cafe Sevilla offers a fairly abbreviated list that begins with the most typical of all, tortilla. The word here refers to a fat, cake-like omelet stuffed with potatoes and onions and traditionally served cut in wedges and at room temperature. It is beloved in Spain, but is relatively bland and is likable more for its substantial nature than for its flavor.

Many of the other dishes are lightly pickled, including the pulpo en escabeche , or marinated octopus, which can be exquisite but here was tough and rather lacking in flavor. Marinated mushrooms seemed exactly like those that come from a jar, and the olives--a favorite tapa --were like supermarket olives rather than the meaty, garlic-and-spice-infused versions that can make a piquant prelude to a tapas meal. The chorizo, or tangy paprika sausage, hit the mark, but the slices of cinta de lomo , or smoked pork tenderloin, were cut too thick and were unpleasant in their texture as well as difficult to chew. This meat bears a strong resemblance to prosciutto ham, and should be served in almost transparent slices.

Several hot dishes are available either as small tapas servings or as full meals; among these are acceptable shrimp in Sherry sauce ( gambas al Jerez ) and tough slices of veal ( ternera a la madrilena ) in a tasteless white wine sauce. The menu also lists lima bean soup with chorizo ( fabada ), seafood paella and chicken in garlic sauce.

DAVID NELSON ON RESTAURANTS

* SIBYL’S DOWN UNDER

500 4th Ave., San Diego

239-9117

Credit cards accepted

Dinner for two with one glass of wine each, tax and tip, $25 to $40.

* CAFE SEVILLA

555 4th Ave., San Diego

233-5979

No credit cards accepted at present

Tapas cost $1.50 to $6.25 per portion.