Definition:
A Bistro, in it's original Parisian incarnation, is a small restaurant, serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting.
Welcome to Fathom Bistro
Yet another gem of a San Diego establishment previously unbeknownst to me.
I must confess that I have heard of Fathom Bistro before, but have never honored it with my
presence :-O until this fine evening. A date of sorts, mano-e-mano, a bromance, a sword fight if you will. No winner, only losers. It's Thursday, and this is what we do.
We are on Shelter Island at a place purported to be the only tap room on a pier in San Diego, or something like that. It's a bistro and it's small, but clean and new feeling, and the decor is an explosion of everything nautical, except the National Geographic collection..... Random, yes.
No table service. All food and beverages are ordered through this window. Food is delivered to your table when ready, beers are provided when ordered.
Endless episodes of Sea Hunt run on the sole TV.
And it's dead in here, shockingly dead. But, it is a Thursday evening and it's drizzling outside, so, maybe it's more of a summer spot? No idea, and enough of me drolling on, let's head into the kitchen!
The supremely cool people here provided me with full access, so let's take a tour!
As they only serve beer and wine the walls of the kitchen interior are adorned with
much brewery schwag.
At least 9 beers on tap? I think.
They had about 4 from Fall Brewery in North Park alone, which is super kick ass. The next post might actually be from there so stay tuned.
They make all of the sausages in house.
Sadly we didn't try any this time, but we'll be back for more, promise.
Two dudes, 4 meals.
A couple of menu items contain Kimchi, house made Kimchi. Hell yeah!
I also saw red cabbage which adorns a few of the sausage offerings.
Various seasonings
Sea Hunt break....
OK, yes, this is baloney, and before you judge know that this was awesome. I'm not a huge baloney fan, and honestly it's likely been many decades since my last bite, and I loved it.
This was obviously grilled, the bun is toasted too.
Cheese is under the baloney, BBQ sauce on the top bun.
It was delicious. The baloney had a solid meaty flavor, the texture was firm yet not hard, the slightest hint of a smoky charred flavor infused from the grill, the BBQ sauce was light and just added a subtle little tang. A truly great sandwich.
Uhmmmmmm, do you have any 9's?
Here's Lloyd Bridges again
I'd say this fry pot was well seasoned, wouldn't you?
Holy shit
Chicken Lumpia
They were good. Not amazing, but nice. No complaints, just nothing exceptional.
Kimchi Pulled Pork Sandwich
Big D said that it was really wet, and you can see why from the heating up in water that they did to it.
He also said that it was the best pulled pork sandwich he's ever had.
I tasted a bit of the pork and it was good. Not overly smoky flavor, if any.
A nice porky flavor though.
Looks great right?
The run of overly cool range hoods is over.
Don't they sell stickers on Shelter Island?
And the coolest, and "almost" yummiest, thing on the menu, that we tried so far, is the
Bacon Wrapped Kimchi Dog
For the price ( I think it was like $5?) this was killer. Lot's of flavor, good snap to the dog. Bacon-ee and Kimchi-ee, and the bun was soft and light but held up to all that was going on above. The drizzle of mustard was also a nice touch. I really liked this.
Flavor wise though not as good as the baloney. I really liked the baloney, but this was cool.
Seems like this place is becoming more and more popular all the time as you can see from the tourists that stop to take photos. A Bart Simpson hoodie? Where are you from, Iowa?
Take a short walk on a short pier and eat some inventive food, enjoy a fresh beer, and relax in a cool Bistro on the bay. It's worth the trip.
DVA
