San Diego Spotlight : This Pair Gives the Gaslamp a Welcome Spanish Accent

Not a moment too soon, a pair of new Latin restaurants have come along in the Gaslamp Quarter to spread a veneer of salsa over the marinara sauce that, thanks to the profusion of Italian eateries, tends to dominate the district.

Actually, only the wildly decorated but exciting Pachanga is new; Ole Madrid might better be called reconstituted, since it was a solid hit for several years at side-street premises but now has moved to vastly larger and grander digs in the heart of the Fifth Avenue strip.

Although it seemed impossible just a few years ago, entire stretches of Fifth have come to be dominated entirely by restaurants, none of them more so than the block on lower Fifth that houses, side-by-side from South to North, Brewski’s, Pachanga, Sfuzzi and Dick’s Last Resort. Just listing these names gives a fair idea of the variety now found in this part of town. Pachanga does more than just fill a physical gap because the Gaslamp largely has been bereft of Mexican cuisine, something that this eatery-cum- nightery turns out with reasonable style.

There are so few genuine nightclubs in this city that one feels reluctant to hand out the designation, but Pachanga certainly has the look and feel of one, and offers, in the upstairs lounge, live music that filters down quite agreeably to the dining room. To hear a good samba is on almost any occasion a pleasure. The decor is lively and purposely splashy; the glass-topped tables, for example, expose artsy crushed glass arrangements designed to provoke conversation should other sources fail. Apropos the food, mood and music, a guest observantly commented, “It’s easy to be here.”

If the mood is Latin, the menu takes its cue exclusively from Mexican cuisine. Most offerings will be familiar to anyone who has dined on California-style Mexican fare, but at least Pachanga does these dishes quite well. An antojito platter large enough to serve three or four offers bites of various snacks, including better-than-average nachos; crispy flautas cleverly stuffed with chicken at one end and beef at the other; a mild ceviche that includes shrimp, and a well-stuffed quesadilla. Meals automatically open with the usual chips and salsa, both done rather well--the salsa won’t quite take your breath away, but it is hot enough.

The menu plays safe by offering plenty of choice in every category, and lists meatball and tortilla soups as preface to a full range of salads and salad-like tostadas. There are also fajitas, enchiladas, burritos and soft tacos, many made of elements ( carnitas , carne asada , marinated chicken breast) that repeat from category to category and perhaps appear to best advantage on the specialties list.

Everything chosen from the specialties page was quite pleasing. The top choice probably was the carnitas , or savory cubes of long-simmered pork. These were admittedly fatty, but carnitas frequently do have a good amount of fat attached--it makes them flavorful. The garnishes included the usual guacamole, green onions and cilantro, all meant to be rolled with the meat inside steaming tortillas. The carne asada similarly pleased, the meat thinly cut but well-seasoned and tender, and the accompanying cheese enchilada, beans and rice (studded with bits of carrot and corn) all quite flavorful. The pollo en la quinta , or marinated chicken breast cooked with a medley of vegetables and a notable amount of cilantro, similarly came off with some style and was about as good a version of chicken as one is likely to find in a San Diego Mexican restaurant.

Desserts do not seem Pachanga’s long suit. If you like cinnamon, you will like the crab apple-sauced “ pachanguito ,” a crisply fried flour tortilla stuffed with apples. The flan, taken from any point of view, is simply dull.

Ole Madrid, having created an immense following for itself several years ago in relatively cramped F Street quarters, moved around the corner to vastly larger Fifth Avenue premises a few months ago and continues to pack ‘em in, especially at night. On weekends especially, a line of people (young) usually forms fairly early in the evening and lasts as the hours go by.

This place also has very much of a nightclub mood, but emphasizes food service and makes a specialty of both Spanish tapas, or appetizers, as well as of more substantial dishes. In appearance, the place looks something like the backstage of a large and none-too-new theater; this is quite by design, of course, and the effect is unusual and stimulating.

To dine here at night requires not just a tolerance but a taste for noise, which is served in constant abundance. But lunch is a different matter, and the food is in any case quite good at any time of day.

The more serious side of the menu offers such Spanish classics as pollo chilindron , or paprika-spiced chicken in zesty tomato sauce, and the inevitable paella valenciana , a rice stew with seafood and chicken. These are done well enough, but the tapas, or small plates of highly seasoned foods, are rather more fun. Choices in this category run from simple plates of chorizo sausage, sweet-tasting Serrano ham and pungent Manchego goat cheese, to the relatively elaborate empanada pastries stuffed with fresh tuna and the bell peppers filled with a spicy beef mixture.

The chicken croquettes on the whole seemed rather dry, and the patatas bravas , or spiced potatoes with tomato sauce, not particularly flavorful. But the fried squid are as good as anywhere in town, and the shrimp in garlic sauce is every bit as strongly flavored as reasonably could be desired. The occasionally available tapa of shrimp fried with a good bit of curry powder also is excellent, and the plate of cheese and assorted fruit, if ordered as a final course, brings things to a nice close.

JUST A TASTE

HIGHLIGHTS OF OTHER NELSON REVIEWS

THE BELGIAN LION, 2265 Bacon St., Ocean Beach, 223-2700. When the topic of San Diego’s top restaurants enters the conversation, the quiet and relatively low-key Belgian Lion often fails to be mentioned. This does rank among the city’s best, however, for the notable preparation of the largely regional French menu. Virtually everything is top-grade, from the simplicity of the shrimp-stuffed tomato appetizer to the braised rabbit casserole, the duck with sauerkraut, the salmon with sorrel sauce and the bistro-style midweek specials. The daughter of the house prepares rich, classic desserts. Entrees priced from $15 to $18.50. Expensive.

SALA THAI, 6161 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego, 229-9050. Like most Thai eateries, this establishment, which occupies a corner space in a large neighborhood shopping center, is quite attractive. The kitchen has ambitions, made evident by daily specials lists that extend to such surprises as one night’s escargot (snails) in chu chee curry. Unlike some Thai houses, Sala Thai shows no reluctance in seasoning dishes in an authentic manner, so that those preparations ordered “hot” will indeed raise your temperature a degree or two. The menu is large, and the cooking generally very good; interesting choices include the beef pad kra prao , the various curries (from mild to hot, as designated by the menu) and the richly flavored yum nua salad of char-broiled beef, onions and seasonings. Entrees priced from $5.50 to $7.95. Inexpensive to moderate.

* PACHANGA, 314 Fifth Ave., San Diego, 235-4545, Lunch and dinner daily, Entrees $5.75 to $10.75. Dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $25 to $50., Credit cards accepted

OLE MADRID, 755 Fifth Ave., San Diego, 557-0146, Lunch and dinner daily, Tapas and entrees $3.25 to $11.95. A meal for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $20 to $50., Credit cards accepted