San Diego...any great restaurants on Black Mountain Road or

Miramar Road, not too far from UTC? Ethnic would be great, and this will be for lunch. Lunch with a girlfriend, so not too noisy or rambunctious. Thanks! Dawn

I will definitely try this with another friend, this one in particular doesn't like Indian food. Any other suggestions? Asian or Mexican? Thanks! I will definitely try this with my curry loving friend. Thanks again...Dawn

Mira Mesa Blvd. between Black Mountain and the I-15 is rife with restaurants, altho' almost all of them are chains of some sort. There's a Mimi's which for a chain isn't awful. Across the street from Mimi's is an On the Border which for a chain IS pretty awful. In the shopping center with Albertsons and Sav-On is a Daphne's restaurant for Greek. I've actually eaten at this one. It's respectable. My Sysco rep had dinner last week at the Buca di Beppo in the same center as On the Border. He said it was surprising good.

Across Mira Mesa Blvd. in back of the Shell station is an Asian restaurant I haven't tried yet, but appears to be well patronized. There are also several other small store-front type of restaurants in this center.

There is a Japanese restaurant between Black Mountain and the Sav-On on the South side of the street. There is also a small shopping center on the corner of Black Mountain and Mira Mesa (Northeast corner) that might have an Asian option or two for you.

Or if you're REALLY daring try the Miramar Cafe on the Miramar College campus. You can build your own stir-fry from items in the salad bar, give it to the cook and they'll add chicken or beef if you ask (tofu is in the salad bar already). They'll stir fry it with your choice of sauce and hand it back to you served over jasmine rice. For $3.95 it's not a bad deal.

I sent you an email did you get it? A good friend of mine who used to own restaurants in San Diego for decades said that Mandarin Garden on Mira Mesa Blvs behind the Vons was a winner.

If you like Indian food, the best in San Diego is to be had very close to the corner of Black Mounain and Miramar, at Madras Cafe. It specializes in South Indian vegetarian cuisine. This is not the fancified, overly sweet and overly creamy stuff that one suffers through at most Indian restaurants. This is good southern home cooking; not quite India, but as close as one comes here in SD.

At lunch you can have the buffet or a variety of set dishes. I would certainly suggest the buffet, which is freshly prepared and changes every day. While the buffet and other South Indian dishes are excellent, Madras Cafe also does offer North Indian food. These Northern preparations leave a lot to be desired.

Link: http://www.madras-cafe.com/

I have not eaten there often, but I agree that the Madras cafe is worth a visit even if you had to drive across San Diego to get there.

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