San Diego Spotlight : <i> Mexican </i> Mexican Eatery Makes Debut in Gaslamp

In the restaurant business, it seems only natural that the tables are going to be turned from time to time.

Not so very long ago, conventioneers in San Diego were forced to choose among restaurants that relied on the local trade for their bread-and-butter business, and, as many of us remember, this was a fairly spotty list of places. This situation differed from that of cities with big, established convention centers, such as Atlanta, which boasts many more large, lively, impressive downtown eateries than a strictly local clientele could begin to support.

Just last week, a convention of pension planners sent 6,000 expense-account-bearing visitors sweeping through the grander downtown restaurants. The invasion left nothing but the broadest of smiles and gratifyingly full tills in its wake. So make no mistake why the downtown restaurant corps, especially-- especially --in the Gaslamp Quarter, continues to expand explosively, despite an otherwise stagnant economy that is leaving restaurateurs in other parts of town as limp as overcooked spaghetti. We locals are important to all the new places that are opening, but they wouldn’t be there without the prospect of large gatherings at the San Diego Convention Center. Doubters should note that many of the new Gaslamp joints, including such behemoths as Dick’s Last Resort and the about-to-open Sfuzzi, are branches of out-of-town chains that locate only in neighborhoods they perceive to be “hot.”

One of the newest products of the Gaslamp boom is Cancun, on 5th Avenue just two doors south of the magic intersection with F Street, anchored by Fio’s and Croce’s, from which a truly cosmopolitan mix of restaurants and clubs is spreading in an ever-extending cruciform pattern. Cancun is the first upscale eatery in San Diego to introduce the sort of menu and cooking typical in Tijuana restaurants, which is to say Mexican Mexican cooking rather than the long list of antojitos (burritos and the like) that constitutes Southern California Mexican cuisine.

Like virtually every establishment in the Gaslamp, Cancun occupies a building that has had nearly as many lives as Shirley MacLaine and has been reincarnated variously as a hotel, a pool hall and assorted dives. There is a bar in the basement and another in the ground-floor dining room, rich in such grand architectural features as a 20-foot ceiling, fine old crown moldings and antique stained glass embedded at the top of one wall. (The bar, by the way, shakes up a perfect Margarita of premium liquors that is both tasty on its own and utterly unrelated to the wretched, blenderized slush that most joints foist on a long-suffering public.) Broad windows display the varying parade on 5th Avenue, pink and white linens cover the tables, mariachis yodel distantly over the tuned-down sound system, and the air conditioning, redundant at this time of year, turns the atmosphere uncomfortably frosty.

Very few menus in the county read like this one; those that do mostly are in Chula Vista, whose residents get much better Mexican food than the rest of us. Although brief, this list is unfailingly attractive, opening with such starters as hongos al chipotle (sauteed mushrooms in a sauce of white wine, cream and racy chipotle chilies) and closing with ate con queso , or sticks of firm fruit preserves paired with fresh, mildly pungent panela cheese.

As is common in Mexico, the server brings a complimentary taste of the house botana , or snack, as a preface to whatever diners have ordered. These recently were small corn tortillas spread with a bit of shredded, stewed, highly seasoned meat, topped with lettuce and tomato and excellent with either the flavorful tomatillo salsa or the deliciously fiery red salsa. Meals also include replenished-as-necessary baskets of hot corn and flour tortillas, to be consumed alone or wrapped around the food on your plate, tortillas being the most democratic of breads.

A la carte appetizers include ceviche tostadas, queso fundido con chorizo (in this case, the sausage-garnished dish is based on Chihuahua cheese) and a shrimp cocktail with spiced tartar sauce.

The soups and salads, also a la carte, are quite good. The list starts with a caldo Azteca , a bowl of rich chicken broth sided, in the style of an Indian curry, with an assortment of small bowls of condiments that you add to taste, including fried tortilla strips, fingers of avocado and cheese, chopped onion and cilantro and dried red pepper flakes.

The ensalada Maya, perhaps named in the desire to use a label other than Caesar, is in fact a very good Caesar and is served just as in Tijuana. Whole leaves are placed lengthwise on an oval plate, and, although they appear to be dressed with thinned mayonnaise, the dressing tastes wonderfully of garlic and anchovy. The house salad, based on spinach, features a colorful, flavorful garnish of chopped bacon, mushrooms, Mandarin orange segments, raisins and avocado, all nicely unified by a pistachio-cilantro vinaigrette.

The names of many entrees are familiar, and all seem to be prepared in south-of-the-border style. Fajitas , not truly Mexican but much in the genre, top the list. This preparation is available in beef, chicken or shrimp models, and recently was offered in a likable variation that immersed chicken, smoothly hot peppers and mushrooms in a moderately spicy tomatillo sauce. A separate garnish plate included exceptional Mexican rice, dry rather than greasy, mixed with corn kernels and bits of carrot; creamy frijoles refritos dusted with shredded, musky cheese, and guacamole, sour cream and chopped cilantro.

The carnitas Uruapan, named either after the Mexican town famous for these tender, long-cooked pork cubes or the Tijuana restaurant that specializes in them, were drier than most, but richly flavored and happy with their many garnishes. Another excellent choice, the camarones Cancun, enrobed large shrimp in crumbs and slivered almonds and served the crisply fried results with a fruit garnish that included melon and fresh, tart pomegranate seeds. The entree list also offers carne asada , beef medallions in chipotle chili sauce, pork in an orange-tomato-chili sauce, chicken in mole sauce, flame-broiled chicken and sea bass Veracruz style.

For dessert, the fruit pastes are quaint, but the crepes stuffed with cajeta (caramel sauce) may be more appealing.

CANCUN 756 5th Ave., San Diego 236-1974 Lunch Monday through Saturday, dinner nightly Entrees cost $8.50 to $14.95; dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $35 to $65 Credit cards accepted