I was searching on the Internet, to see if there were any Obon Festivals here in San Diego. To my surprise, The Buddhist Temple of San Diego has an Obon Festival scheduled for July 30th. I also noticed that something called a Japan Cultural Bazaar was being held today, so not having anything scheduled today (except for cleaning – and that can always be procrastinated away…), I grabbed my wallet and camera and headed down to 30th and Market St. I found parking on the street and could immediately smell teriyaki in the air, one of my favorite smells. I noticed elderly Couples and Ladies carrying boxes of cookies and pastries and followed them into the parking lot of the Temple.
From May through September, there are many Festivals and Bazaars in San Diego. They range from large, like next weekends Greek Festival at St. Spryridon’s to smaller ones like this. There were several food booths, and the classrooms of the Temple had been set-up with Bonsai displays, a bake sale, crafts, children’s games, and a silent auction area. The line you see is for something called "Angie’s Tacos" seemed to be very popular. But the line was too long for me to maneuver.
Instead I opted for the Teriyaki Chicken plate ($6.00). This was half a teriyaki chicken, two musubi(onigiri), and something called cabbage salad, which was a cross between cole slaw and tsukemono. Half of the enjoyment of these little festivals is being able to sit and enjoy the atmosphere, and food is secondary. The chicken was fine, the dark meat portions actually tasted pretty good, the teri sauce had a touch of smokiness. As is common with chickens in the U.S., the breasts were overly large and thus dry. Like I said food is secondary. As I was about to leave I saw a sign that caught my eye:
So what did I do? I followed the signs into the building, and saw a dining area where people where eating(slurping?) up noodles. So I ponied up the 5 bucks and bought a container to go. This ended up being fried yakisoba with some bamboo shoot and shiitake mushrooms.
I added some green onions, spam, and shoyu and had a little snack. All in all a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon.
Buddhist Temple of San Diego
2929 Market Street
San Diego, California 92102
Buddhist Temple of San Diego