Earlier this week, eCoronado.com reported that Rhinoceros Cafe would be closing at the end of August. We have since learned that a new restaurant will be taking it’s place later this Fall at 1166 Orange Avenue.
The new restaurant is called Islander and will serve fresh seafood. The owner is Scott Quan opened his first Coronado business back in 2008 when Yogurt Escape hit 942 Orange Avenue. He also owns Escape Fish Bar located at 738 5th Avenue, San Diego in the heart of Gaslamp.
eCoronado.com interviewed Scott so our readers could learn more about his Coronado story and the fresh seafood that will be arriving in October.
What brought you to Coronado?
I have been spending time in Coronado ever since I can remember. I was an extremely active sailor growing up, and spent a lot of time sailing in Coronado and Coronado Cays. I fondly remember sailing the Dutch Shoe marathon in Sabots from San Diego Yacht Club to Coronado Yacht Club many times. Our family anchored our boat in Glorietta Bay every summer and, after my first year of college, I was a summer sailing instructor at Coronado Cays Yacht Club. When I decided to open a business, I knew Coronado was the place where I wanted to start it.
Can you share your experience with Yogurt Escape and Escape Fish Bar?
Yogurt Escape has been a wonderful experience — providing yogurt to the families and visitors of Coronado is simply fun – much more fun than my previous 14 years of law practice. We received a warm reception from the entire Coronado community, which has continued for the six years we have operated.
As for Escape Fish Bar, there is a bit of a story. Our family was exploring Puget Sound and since we were in the Pacific Northwest, a notorious seafood capital, we sought out the best seafood. We ventured into Victoria, British Columbia, and dined at Red Fish Blue Fish, a seafood restaurant located on a pier in Victoria’s harbor. We immediately decided to bring the food to San Diego.
Kunal Ghose, the chef at Red Fish Blue Fish, came here and stayed with us for a couple months and developed the seafood items on the menu. I also worked in his restaurant in Victoria for a brief period.
Tell us more about “Islander” and the concept of the new restaurant.
The concept is simple: Fresh seafood, local beer, and casual atmosphere. Islander will be different than Escape Fish Bar which is located in the Gaslamp. Whereas Escape Fish Bar is a full service restaurant with a $15 to $20 price point, Islander is designed to cater to casual diners, such as families, and you can spend as little as $4 for a single tacone (our spin on the fish taco) or more if you desire a complete grilled fish dinner, like local caught California seabass or local halibut.
Can you share any sample menu items to get folks excited? Breakfast, lunch and dinner?
We will initially open with lunch and dinner, and breakfast will be added a little later. One of our signature items was already mentioned above — the tacone. A tacone consists of a grilled flour tortilla, chipotle avocado sauce, roasted pumpkin seed slaw, lime pickled jicama and onions, cilantro and your choice of seafood, including local California Seabass, local halibut, local yellowtail, swordfish, salmon or shrimp. We then roll this into the shape of a cone — taco in the shape of a cone — tacone.
For our grilled fish plates, we hand cut each portion from large filets, grill it to medium rare (or to your liking), season it with your choice of lemon dill butter, Cajun seasoning or salt and pepper, top it with mango salsa and serve it with cilantro lime rice and steamed vegetables.
Another specialty is our fish and chips. We use the same portion as for a grilled fish plate, hand dip the fresh fish into tempura (lighter than beer batter) and fry it to golden brown. Our fries are hand cut from Kennebec potatoes, cooked for a short time at low oil temperature, frozen overnight, then fried again the following day at high temperature and tossed in Kosher salt. The result is an amazingly crispy fry. This is served with a side of roasted pumpkin seed slaw with our housemade lemon dijon sauce.
Can you share pricing details?
We have intentionally designed the menu to be affordable for everyone. You can order a single tacone, or multiple tacones with different fish, or full grilled fish plates. You can spend less than $5 or more depending on what you desire to order.
When will it open?
We are excited and want to open as soon as possible. We are hoping for the beginning of October.
Anything else you want to add to share with our readers?
Yes! We are particularly excited to sell fresh local fish by the pound. You will be able to view the full filets and get any amount portioned off that you like. Additionally, we will be carrying fresh shellfish, both for our offerings at the restaurant, and to purchase to take home. Two of my favorites are Fanny Bay Oysters from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and Carlsbad mussels from here in San Diego County.
