North Park Redeux

Part two of my San Diego weekend:  my friend Fuzzy took me out for lunch yesterday (Sunday) for helping her with her laptop.  We decided to check out some of the places around the 30^th Street/University Avenue corridor in North Park, near where we had been the night before (Splash).  We walked around and checked out some of the menus.  They are really trying hard to gentrify North Park, and they definitely seem to be having some success – this was not the North Park I left behind 18 years ago!

We settled on a place she had been to before, an Italian café, Il Postino (www.ilpostino-sandiego.com).  The ambience is very casual, yet very inviting.  We sat at the bar, which dominates the middle of the restaurant.  After perusing the menu, we settled on an appetizer of Caprese, and we each ordered our own entrees (I don’t remember Fuzzy’s as it involved clams, which I can’t stand…so best forgotten…).

I have to honestly give this place a mixed review on the food.  The Caprese was rather disappointing.  The beefsteak tomatoes weren’t terribly ripe, which degraded the dish.  And we had to ask for black pepper for more flavor.  The mozzarella was tasty, but the whole dish fell flat for both of us.  She had ordered it before and the tomatoes were far more ripe, so she was able to compare and offered her definite disappointment.

For my entrée, I ordered the Farfalle Vodka e Salmone (bow-tie pasta in a pink vodka sauce with salmon).  THAT dish was incredibly delicious, which helped make up for the lackluster Caprese.  I’ve had this dish at other places, and it’s been hit or miss on whether they did it well or not.  Il Postino definitely did it right, and I have to commend them on that.  Fuzzy also enjoyed her dish.

I’d try Il Postino again, and would willingly recommend it to others.  I’d just advise you to skip the Caprese unless you know the tomatoes are ripe!