San Diego Spotlight : Shopping Center Has a Pair of Treasures Tucked Within

Of chicken and chilies. . . . Or, how the melting pot and California’s shopping center culture have combined to create a smorgasbord of neighborhood restaurants.

Like many mid-size commercial developments, Midway Towne Center in Loma Portal has leased an impressive percentage of its square footage to eating places. Unlike many such centers, Midway Towne offers two particularly attractive establishments, Cafe Chanticleer and Thai House. Besides a common wall, the two share a knack for offering simple but attractive fare at decidedly modest prices.

Like the bad penny in the folk saying, Cafe Chanticleer keeps coming back to chef and proprietor Erik Pedersen and his wife, Marna.

The couple first began dishing up an almost unimaginable variety of chicken dishes in the mid-1980s, only to sell out when the success of their extensive, low-priced menu brought a crushing load of business. They returned to Chanticleer when the purchaser stumbled, then sold to Ernest Wally--noted for a time for his wild game preparations at several local restaurants--and moved up to Encinitas to operate L’Affaire, a North County clone of Chanticleer. The location also failed to work for Wally, so the Pedersens again are in charge (a banner above the window exclaims “Erik’s Back!”), and perhaps are hoping that the third time around really is a charm.

Cafe Chanticleer in many ways epitomizes the qualities that make neighborhood restaurants desirable, especially in a city that boasts so few of them. Decor, unfortunately, is not among the attributes to which Chanticleer lays claim, and dimmer lighting might both relax the guests and have a beneficial effect on the utilities bill. But menu selection, price and an insistence that guests depart more or less stuffed to the gills gives Chanticleer a comfortable edge over many of San Diego’s more pretentious dining rooms.

Chanticleer (“sing loud”) the rooster strutted through the stanzas of an epic poem written in the Middle Ages, and the remarkable list of chicken dishes ( a la francaise , in orange plum sauce, Cordon Bleu, Oscar, Marsala, cacciatore and on and on) seems no more than an appropriate honor for the restaurant’s namesake. Substantial salads, seafood and red meats round out the printed menu, which nonetheless should be considered a supplement to the large menu board the server lugs to the table.

This board, which is written daily and normally lists two dozen or more specials, recently ranged rather freely through Continental and American cuisines. Offerings included Swedish meatballs, osso buco , a vegetarian eggplant dish, pot roast, Cornish hen in orange sauce, several fish, Wiener schnitzel, veal with artichoke hearts, sirloin steak a la Strindberg, pork medallions in plum-ginger sauce, duck with bing cherries, moussaka, lamb loin in raspberry sauce--and more. Except for the veal, all were priced under $10.

The international tone of this list makes it clear that Pedersen runs the risk of being a Jack of all trades but master of none; in practice, however, he did very well with most items.

The exception was the moussaka, a messy and unlovable layering of eggplant, cheese and a coarse tomato sauce that may approximate this Greek classic in the mind of a Scandinavian who has never seen the Aegean. But the meatballs, in a creamy gravy, had the flavor and texture that make a specialty out of something that in the wrong hands--which at too many establishments take charge of the cooking--can come to resemble tiny hamburgers.

One of the day’s fish, a sauteed portion of orange roughy in sauce Dijonnaise (basically a hollandaise flavored with mustard), had a handsome, lightly gilded finish and a flavor ever so nicely accented by the sharp but smooth sauce. Among the vegetables in the garnish were parsnips, a favorite in Scandinavia but rarely seen here, and very much a pleasant change of pace.

Meals include both salad--a rather wild one of greens garnished with both the usual vegetables and fruit--and the choice of soup from a list that runs to four or five options daily. Pedersen’s black bean soup was impressive, velvety in texture and slightly sweetened by the addition of sherry or Marsala. The chunky potato-leek had a European farmhouse earthiness to it, and the gazpacho, localized by the addition of much cilantro (an herb certainly not specified by the Spanish master recipe) was different, but cool and refreshing.

Given the size of the meals, the brevity of the dessert list seems unimportant. The creme caramel , made slightly more interesting by the addition of orange to the sauce, makes a satisfactory conclusion.

The Thai House specializes in a single cuisine and does well with it. The main option at this very small, just-barely comfortable eatery is the degree of heat desired: The choice ranges from timid to four-alarm.

The menu, fairly brief, expands in the sense that virtually all entrees are available prepared with a choice of chicken, beef, pork or shrimp; the style of the dish in Thai cooking often is more important than the meat that garnishes it. Basic preparation styles include a garlic-green onion stir fry; cashew nuts with dried chilies and onions; a mild saute of baby corn with scallions and mushrooms; kra prao , a hot, aromatic blend of fresh green chilies and basil leaves; a vegetable medley that features snow peas, and sweet-sour done the Thai way, which is somewhat subtler than the Chinese method.

There is also a good selection of curries, again finished with your choice of shrimp or meat, and the Panang is done very well, the coconut milk both sweetening and dulling the edge of the hot, pungently herbed sauce.

Other choices include a none-too-long noodle list, among which the spicy noodles, tossed with bean sprouts, green chilies and basil, create an interesting play between bland pasta and sizzling seasonings. Salads, as at most Thai restaurants, can be delightful, and the larb , or ground chicken or beef flavored with lime, mint, rice powder, onions and chilies, is finely succulent, and perhaps unique in the way it simultaneously cools and heats. Among the appetizers, the satay is reliable, and the Thai-style egg rolls quite agreeable thanks to a stuffing that includes delicate “clear” noodles. Beware the finely sliced chilies that garnish some appetizers, however, because they are small enough to be missed by the eye but make a major impression in the mouth.

CAFE CHANTICLEER, 3960 W. Point Loma Blvd., San Diego, 225-8403, Lunch weekdays, dinner nightly, Entrees cost $6.95 to $12.95; dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $25 to $40, Credit cards accepted

THAI HOUSE, 3960 W. Point Loma Blvd., San Diego, 224-4871,Lunch weekdays, dinner nightly, Entrees $4.50 to $7.50; dinner for two, including a glass of house wine each, tax and tip, about $25 to $40, Credit cards accepted