Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

A Georgian-cuisine gem called Pomegranate

“Tasty Eastern European Food”

Stuffed cabbage rolls
Stuffed cabbage rolls
Place

Pomegranate Russian-Georgian Restaurant

2312 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego

Tucked into a row of nondescript storefronts along the industrial main drag of El Cajon Boulevard is a Georgian-cuisine gem called Pomegranate, but you wouldn’t know that from standing outside. The sign outside simply reads, “Restaurant,” and the awning below adds, “Tasty Eastern European Food.”

Here and there you’ll find images of pomegranates, solid red circles that are worked into the number of the address and painted beneath the word “Restaurant” on the side of a planter. Crossing the threshold, however, is like stepping into the dining hall in an estate belonging to a Russian matriarch. I imagine her as a take-no-shit granny who, despite her age and well-to-do stature, still insists on cooking every meal for her ever-growing family.

Pomegranate

I’ve never been to Russia, which is known to feature many restaurants from its southwestern-most region-turned-country of Georgia, which now borders Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan; its entire west coast abuts the Black Sea.

Sponsored
Sponsored

photo

Bread and herbed butter

As the nexus between Europe and Asia, Georgia is known for its unique fusions featuring flavors that have been adopted from world-traveling merchants over the centuries. Take the pelmeni, for instance. This dish comprises “Siberian meat” dumplings that are garnished with a Persian-inspired yogurt-dill sauce. Pomegranate’s version ($9) is both comforting and exotic.

My husband is Hungarian and salivates over most any Eastern European dishes. His eyes lit up when he saw stuffed cabbage rolls on the menu (golubtsi, $15.50). Though they didn’t taste anything like his mother’s Hungarian version — the sour cream-based sauce here was on the sweet side — David approved of the these cabbage rolls, which were filled with ground meat and herbs.

Pelmeni, meat dumplings with yogurt-dill sauce

One of my favorite bites came in the form of a special that sounded boring at first but turned out to be as tasty as the dumplings. It was Russian styled meatloaf, referred to here as cutlets, but what arrived were two giant, sort of flattened meatballs covered with a drizzle of a delectable sour-cream-based sauce (its pink hue likely from red beets) and served on a plate with sauerkraut and creamy mashed potatoes. I hope they add this one to the menu soon, because I want to order it again.

The “cutlets” special, Russian meatloaf

The graffiti-covered walls reminded me of DaoFu, another small and exceptional restaurant that serves up Asian fusion. Something about customers’ scribbles on the wall conveys a welcoming feel and immediately connects me to all the other patrons who sat and dined in the same seat in which I am now dining. It is as though the “mothers” of these joints — not the “plastic-on-the-couch” type but the relaxed, “don’t-cry-over-spilled-milk” sort — are saying, “Come, my children, chama! Sit and eat.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tyler Farr, Blue Water Film Festival, Mustache Bash

Events March 21-March 23, 2024
Stuffed cabbage rolls
Stuffed cabbage rolls
Place

Pomegranate Russian-Georgian Restaurant

2312 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego

Tucked into a row of nondescript storefronts along the industrial main drag of El Cajon Boulevard is a Georgian-cuisine gem called Pomegranate, but you wouldn’t know that from standing outside. The sign outside simply reads, “Restaurant,” and the awning below adds, “Tasty Eastern European Food.”

Here and there you’ll find images of pomegranates, solid red circles that are worked into the number of the address and painted beneath the word “Restaurant” on the side of a planter. Crossing the threshold, however, is like stepping into the dining hall in an estate belonging to a Russian matriarch. I imagine her as a take-no-shit granny who, despite her age and well-to-do stature, still insists on cooking every meal for her ever-growing family.

Pomegranate

I’ve never been to Russia, which is known to feature many restaurants from its southwestern-most region-turned-country of Georgia, which now borders Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan; its entire west coast abuts the Black Sea.

Sponsored
Sponsored

photo

Bread and herbed butter

As the nexus between Europe and Asia, Georgia is known for its unique fusions featuring flavors that have been adopted from world-traveling merchants over the centuries. Take the pelmeni, for instance. This dish comprises “Siberian meat” dumplings that are garnished with a Persian-inspired yogurt-dill sauce. Pomegranate’s version ($9) is both comforting and exotic.

My husband is Hungarian and salivates over most any Eastern European dishes. His eyes lit up when he saw stuffed cabbage rolls on the menu (golubtsi, $15.50). Though they didn’t taste anything like his mother’s Hungarian version — the sour cream-based sauce here was on the sweet side — David approved of the these cabbage rolls, which were filled with ground meat and herbs.

Pelmeni, meat dumplings with yogurt-dill sauce

One of my favorite bites came in the form of a special that sounded boring at first but turned out to be as tasty as the dumplings. It was Russian styled meatloaf, referred to here as cutlets, but what arrived were two giant, sort of flattened meatballs covered with a drizzle of a delectable sour-cream-based sauce (its pink hue likely from red beets) and served on a plate with sauerkraut and creamy mashed potatoes. I hope they add this one to the menu soon, because I want to order it again.

The “cutlets” special, Russian meatloaf

The graffiti-covered walls reminded me of DaoFu, another small and exceptional restaurant that serves up Asian fusion. Something about customers’ scribbles on the wall conveys a welcoming feel and immediately connects me to all the other patrons who sat and dined in the same seat in which I am now dining. It is as though the “mothers” of these joints — not the “plastic-on-the-couch” type but the relaxed, “don’t-cry-over-spilled-milk” sort — are saying, “Come, my children, chama! Sit and eat.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pet pig perches in pocket

Escondido doula gets a taste of celebrity
Next Article

A poem for March by Joseph O’Brien

“March’s Lovely Asymptotes”
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.