pappalecco

i loved this bresaola panino from pappalecco so much that i went there 2 days in a row. i love san diego's little italy.

Cucina Urbana

Cucina Urbana is a bistro in Banker's Hill district in San Diego.  we went for dinner there last night.  passed by a french restaurant that was quite crowded and happening (as it was Bastille Day).

They have a wine market, so you can buy any wine from there, either to go or to have with your meal, only $7 corkage.  We got a young italian for only $19, plus the corkage.  For appetizer, I ordered the fritto misto, which came with soft shelled crab, calamari, jumbo shrimp, and lots of vegetables.  definitely worth it.  for main course, i ordered the pork.  not as good as the one that Literati2 used to serve (mainly because I asked for rare, and got medium-well), but I think the kitchen was just overwhelmed, as it was packed (at 10pm!), since even the waiter suggested that I order it medium rare.

Again, sadly, no pictures, but here's a link to their website
http://www.cucinaurbana.com/

Bencotto

Bencotto is a neighborhood modern-ish italian bistro in Little Italy.  we went there for dinner, and I had a seafood tagliatelle, with their house sause, which is a pink-ish (slightly spicy) sauce.  good.  sadly, no pictures  :(

Neighborhood

i am in san diego for the week, working on my company's latest product with zai.  for dinner, zai took me to this place called "neighborhood"  its the most generic term, so try searching for it on google  :)

here's the yelp page.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/neighborhood-san-diego

here's their webpage

http://www.neighborhoodsd.com

the decor is father's office (original, in sm) meets the otheroom (venice).

they have a very extensive beer selection, which is good.

their menu is a bit wierd.  i order the steak frites, and it came as chili fries.  i guess instead of chili, they have steak cubes.  and on top of that, a lot of cheese.  i sent it back.  i'll have to not assume that steak frites is the traditional steak & fries in the future.

the i ordered "the animal".  which is a sausage in a hoagie, topped with braised pork shank and arugula.  really good.

zai ordered the mussels.    it's the only picture i took, but they were really good.

each of the items were only about $10.  i like how affordable everything in san diego is  :)