Sushi Itto, Hillcrest

Best described as a Mexican-Sushi fusion restaurant, Sushi Itto is one of the best Sushi restaurants I've been to in San Diego. We had three of their specialty rolls: CuauhtemItto, Coronado (both of which were spicy) and the Crunchy Sweet roll. All of them were excellent. Additionally, the appetizer (Yakitori) and drinks (Sangria) were also good. On the downside, parking in the restaurant is a bit of a squeeze and the service is a little slow. However, the quality of the food easily makes up for that.

Price: $65 (inc tip+tax) for appetizers, rolls and drinks for two.
Ambiance: Simple, yet stylish.
Rating: 3.5 out of 4.
Website: http://www.sushi-ittosandiego.com/

Elijah's, UTC

Jewish (though apparently not Kosher) restaurant and deli next to Landmark theaters. We had a pastrami sandwich and a grilled chicken sandwich, both of which were quite bad. The bakery is nothing to write home about either.

Price: $20 for two
Ambiance: Mostly senior citizens.
Rating: 1.5 out of 4.
Website: http://www.elijahsrestaurant.com

Gulf Coast Grill, Hillcrest

This is a Cajun-style restaurant off Hillcrest. We had the blackened prawn (excellent) for appetizers, and cedar-plank salmon (good) and jambalaya (bad) for the main course, the Gulf-Old Whiskey (interesting) for drinks and the peach cobbler (bad) for dessert. Service was reasonably prompt and the decor was nice, though the street where the restaurant was seemed a bit run-down compared to the rest of Hillcrest. Overall, this is a good restaurant to try out, but it's unlikely that I go there repeatedly.

Price: $70 for drinks, appetizers, entrees and dessert for two.
Ambiance: Pretty good.
Rating: 2.5 out of 4
Website: http://www.gulfcoastgrill.com/

Chow

On our first visit, we found this Hillcrest restaurant to be a chic pan-east-Asian noodle place. Since then, there seems to have been a change in management (or at least presentation). The old menu with a subtle mix of spring-rolls, udons, chow-meins, is now replaced by one which leaves no doubt about the approach. The entrees have been grouped into Vietnamese/ Thai/ Chinese/ Japanese, along with a Noodles-for-dummies extract preceding each category.
The appetizer veggie dumplings held no surprises. For the main course, we had the grilled eggplant, and thai fat noodles with tofu - both of which had been helped with some extra servings of cooking oil. Admittedly, the curry sauces and pastes were fairly tasty. In summary, okay for a cheap (all entrees cost less than 10 dollars) and very oily chow.
(The crowd seemed not-local, and in retrospect, i think it's easy to see why)
-rajiv.

Aladdin Mediterranean Cafe, Hillcrest

This is a little eatery on Cleveland ave. right opposite a starbucks nook. The decor is very ornate with inlayed furniture and ornate lamps...basically very middle eastern to look at. We struck up a conversation with the owner who suggested we try the following menu :
appetizer :
borak (this was a open 4 cornered pastry with mildly flavored kheema...very fresh and really good)
entrees:
1.chicken biryani (very Indian Tandoor-ish ...we later found out they had picked up the recipe from an indian cook !)
2.mixed sheesh kababs (chicken tikka was the best I've had in San diego, the lamb kabab was very chewy however the kheema kababs were really juicy and tender)
dessert :
baklava (nice ...hadn't eaten it in a while so I was happy to get some familiar comfort food)
Kunafa which is supposed to be a kind of a cheese cake(Ravi absolutely loved it and I absolutely hated it...so its up to the reader to try it :o)
All in all a good experience with interesting company from the owner..a really nice softspoken gentleman.
~Arati

Ba Ren

Reputedly one of San Diego's best Szechuan restaurants, Ba Ren is a great place if you're in the mood for spicy. On our last visit, we happened to be with a large sized group, and so we had the opportunity to sample several items on the menu. For appetizers, we had the Hot and Sour soup, and Szechuan cold noodles - the latter, rather unique in its flavors. Some of the entrees were really exceptional, including the Dry cooked lamb, and the Rice crust with sliced chicken (vaguely reminiscent of the original Indian Chinese food). The Hot pepper chicken is quite a sight - on this plate, you have higher odds of picking the red peppers than the popcorn style chicken. The twice cooked fish, boiled fish in spicy sauce, and the vinegar potatoes were very tasty as well. Located off of Clairemont mesa blvd, this restaurant has a nice authentic feel to it, and is one of the hidden gems of the San Diego food scene.
-rajiv.

Wasabi Sushi on Garnet Ave.

We were supposed to go to Sushi Ito but at the last minute Wasabi Sushi aroused my curiosity.The restaurant is very plain to look at from the outside. However you really get a very spacious feel when you enter. We had the following sushi rolls :
Samurai Roll (awesome)
Wasabi Roll ( good)
Volcano Roll (the fish was very tender the roll itself was prepared very well !)
Lobster Roll (A let down... I am convinced that Yoshi Sushi makes the best Lobster Roll)
Green Tea Ice cream (Good but Yoshi's is better)
By far the rolls were very elegantly made I was very happy with this place.
Down side :
The service is really slow so if you are in no hurry to go this is the place for you. (3 waitresses serve about 30 people !!)
~ Arati :o)