Review and photos by Sandi Masori
SAN DIEGO — I’ve been hearing about Pomegranate for some time, but just never had the opportunity to try it. Luckily fate stepped in and found me right on its North Park doorstep recently. You might think, given the name, that it’s a Middle Eastern restaurant, but it’s actually Russian-Georgian. From what I hear, they’ve been there for over 20 years, and have gradually expanded to take over two storefronts.
It’s a cute restaurant, one side feels a little more casual than the other, with patrons invited to literally leave their mark on the restaurant and sign the wall. There’s also a sidewalk patio for al fresco dining.
I have to admit that I wasn’t very impressed with our waitress, though she did give us some good suggestions on what to order. She didn’t take care of us very well once the food came out. I did see other servers giving great service to other tables, so I guess we were just unlucky. But, her menu suggestions were on point, so we’ll give her credit for that.
One of the things I knew I wanted to try was the Adjaruli Khachapuri – it’s a bread boat with gooey cheese and an egg, the egg and hot cheese are mixed tableside for yummy gooey perfection. The bread has a nice crust and satisfying bite, and the cheese is the perfect texture and flavor to complement it. It is best when the cheese is gooey, and not as good straight from the fridge the next day.
When we asked her what the best Georgian dishes on the menu were, she recommended the Chakhokhbili – which they called Georgean Eagle in the menu – It’s a Georgean chicken stew with tomatoes, basil, parsley, mint and cilantro. And the Chakapuli – which is a Georgian lamb shank stew with white wine, sour plum, onions, tarragon. Both were delicious. I ordered the chicken and my friend had the lamb. We sampled each others’. The lamb was really good and reminded me of a similar dish I have had in Greek restaurants. The sauce was rich and full of umami flavor.
The chicken was absolutely dream-worthy. The blend of the mint, basil, parsley and cilantro makes for a very savory and fresh flavor. The mint tones linger on your palette after the bite has been swallowed, making it feel very light. MMM… Just thinking back on it is making me hungry and wanting to go back already. The dish is a good size with a full-size chicken leg and thigh piece. It was large enough that I had leftovers for the next day, and when reheated, the flavor was even better.
Both stews were accompanied by rice which was fluffy and savory with grated carrots inside.
To round it out, we got a dessert as well, and decided to try the Medovik Torte, which is a honey cake with ice cream and pomegranate molasses. I thought it would be something like the honey cakes we see at Rosh Hashanah, but it was not at all. In fact, I’m really thinking that we should start doing our Rosh Hashanah honeycakes like they make the Medovik Torte, It was layers of honey cake with walnuts, and a cream frosting that made it kinda taste/ feel like carrot cake, but without the carrots or the carrot cake spices. It was both fluffy and dense and pleasing to the palette and bite.
I do have to report that I was disappointed to learn when the bill came that we were charged for the refills on ice tea. I did not see that on the menu, and when she offered the refills, the waitress did not tell us that there would be an additional charge. I don’t know if this is the policy or if it was a mistake on the part of the waitress, and I just didn’t feel like making an issue about it to ask.
The poor service notwithstanding, I will definitely return for another visit, because as I said, that Chicken stew is amazing and I must have it again.
Pomegranate is located at 2312 El Cajon Blvd and is open weekdays from 5pm, and open at 4 on weekends. Sorry no brunch or lunch service.
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Sandi Masori is a restaurant and theater reviewer for San Diego Jewish World