12


GAY SAN DIEGO


July 30-August 12, 2010


DINING


www.gay-sd.com


Hullabaloo Fiesta fare without the


HUAPANGOS 


3593 Fifth Ave. (Hillcrest) (619) 546-5934


Prices: Starters average around $8 entrees, combo plates and lobster dishes, $10.50 to $17.


=Poor =Mediocre =Good =Exceptional


I


f you chased out the guacamo- le-crazed tourists, the table- side mariachis and slapdash plate presentations indigenous


to Old Town dining, you’d end up with Huapangos in Hillcrest. Since opening a year ago, the


restaurant has sparked a wel- come trend that spares consum- ers the culinary mediocrity of San Diego Avenue, albeit at slightly higher prices and without radi- cally abandoning the constructs of common Mexican cuisine. Places such as Barrio Star, Maria Maria and Los Arcos have sub-


sequently followed suit, bringing us signature tacos, burritos and saucy entrees that look and taste better simply because they’re detached from our city’s historic main drag. (For those who have eaten recently at Old Town Mexican Café or Fred’s, you get my drift.) Huapangos, pronounced wuh-


PAHNG-gohs, greets customers with an attractive street patio and a Spanish Colonial motif rare to Hillcrest. The design was


cream and powdered “chicken base” into a foundation of sour cream. The peppers and their brine take a safe backseat while modicums of cheese deliver more color than flavor. Yet compared to the famous white cheese sauce served at Miguel’s in Point Loma and Coronado, this is silkier, a little sweeter and less floury. The sauce reappears in


lobster burritos, chimichangas and enchiladas. To avoid flavor redundancy, a companion in our


Despite a glut of faux-antique wall paintings and homey bric-a-brac, you don’t feel pummeled by kitsch.


implemented by owners JT and Viridiana Rubio, a husband-and- wife team who also hold a stake in Rancho Santa Fe’s Quepasa restaurant. Heavy ceiling beams, dark wood tables and creamy or- ange sponge-painted walls impart solid warmth. Painted pineapples carved into the chair backs add a tropical twist. And despite a glut of faux-antique wall paintings and homey bric-a-brac, you don’t feel pummeled by kitsch. Jalapeno “cheese” sauce


accompanies the table chips, a po- tential appetite killer if you overly succumb. The dip is unusual in that it incorporates whipped


group vouched instead for a pair of lobster tacos with avocado, salsa fresca and lettuce, priced at $16.50. Fished from local waters, the knuckle meat napped inside tasted surprisingly young and fresh considering its layover in the freezer after delivery. The carnitas adhere to a


home recipe of Mrs. Rubio’s, capturing a unique essence of Sunday pot roast. The pork shoul- ders are slow baked overnight in chili peppers and whole lemons and oranges—not necessarily an


see Dining, pg 13


Huapangos coctel de camaron (shrimp cocktail) with cilantro, onion, avocado and lime juice. (Courtesy Huapangos)


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