**** After 36 Years Ichiro Closed in 2021
I'd not been to Ichiro's in a while. That's the one thing that Food Blogging does, it really makes you think about where you've been, what you enjoy, and what you're "sticking in your mouth". I've always gotten a kick over the sign, after all, how can you not like a "Happy Restaurant"!
There had been many
changes to "Ichiro" since my last visit. There's a sushi bar, and the seating had been changed, and the menu revised. But my old "friends" and former Katzra employees Masa and Tenryu still worked here. It's still a really nice neighborhood Japanese Restaurant, but like many businesses, Ichiro had evolved. There is now a quite extensive "Izakaya" menu of goodies ranging from Tsukemono to Tamagoyaki:
The hours have also changed; Ichiro is now open until 1am, Mondays thru Saturdays, making it one of the few eating places in San Diego that will not "roll up it's sidewalks" at 9pm. My main reason for coming here are the lunch "specials", they range from $5.25 – $6.95, and you get your money's worth. For example, on my first visit, I got the "special" Menchi-Katsu and Tempura ($5.95):
The mechi-katsu was very good, lot's of filler; that's how I enjoy it, nicely battered, and status quo tempura; which is the shrimp tempura, tasted like the expected shrimp tempura, also a slice of kabocha tempura (very good!), and a slice of zucchini tempura, the green mostly iceberg lettuce salad is dressed with a watered down sesame dressing. You also get a pseudo-kimchee tsukemono, that's really not worth mentioning, and a decent bowl of miso soup, with shred of green onions and onions. Not bad for under 6 bucks.
On my next visit I had the Sesame Chicken combination ($5.50):
I had always wondered about this "Sesame Chicken". In a nutshell, the chicken is battered with tempura batter, fried, and covered with teriyaki sauce and sesame seeds
. There's a nice crunchy texture, and the teriyaki sauce adds the sweetness to the dish. Again the tempura is purely routine. 1 piece shrimp (nice "shrimpy" taste this time), 1 piece zucchini, and 1 piece kabocha. I actually enjoyed this, and loved the price to boot! Actually, I could've gotten just the Sesame Chicken lunch for $5.25.
I had forgotten all about Ichiro; but now it's back in my sights. Ichiro also has pretty good Chicken Katsu, the sushi is +/-, purely neighborhood standards, the Kaki Fu-rai (fried oysters) were really good. The service is very friendly (what do you expect from a "Happy Restaurant"), and open pretty late.
Ichiro's Sushi Restaurant and Bar
4344 Convoy Street
San Diego, California 92111
HOURS OF OPERATION
LUNCH
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 2:30
Sat 11:30 – 3:00
DINNER
Mon – Sat 5:00 – 1:00am
Sun 5:00 – 10:00
Kirk,
Reading this before having breakfast is a bad idea! LOL the menchi Katsu, sesame chicken, tempura, miso soup…oh I am HUNGRY! *wimper* I have oatmeal and egg and toast, and thats not going to cutr it! TT_TT ;> The iceberg salad doesnt appeal to me mainly because I usually dislike iceberg lettuce.
Hmmm the crying eyes don’t seem to work with an english keyboard. *sigh*
Cutr = cut
::laughing:: Milly the Butcher of Blogville is at it again! At least she has oatmeal! I had toast & a cappucino…
ANYway! That does indeed look OHso Delisi-YoSo! I adore tempura. What exactly would make it “great” tempura? If it’s hot and dosen’t shoot from your fingers when you pick it up, It’s gotta be pretty good in my book. I like the unusual veggies as well. Mills told me the kabocha is a sort of squash. I don’t think I’ve ever had a tempura veggie I didn’t like come to think of it. You can keep the oysters! I also like iceberg lettuce salad (I’ll eat MillsWorths!) Some nice miso would hit the spot. You could always try to start a food fight with the tsukemono! ;oP
Hi Mills – Do you know that Miso soup is a breakfast staple?
Hi Jo – Yes, a good tempura, is a wonderul thing; come to think of it, a decent tempura is a wonderful thing! 🙂 Also, watercress of all things makes awesome tempura, it ends up a bit on the sweet side, and you’d never guess it was watercress. Kabocha is a squash, that looks like a pumpkin, and is often called Japanese pumpkin. I owe Mills a recipe for Kabocha Ni – which I’ll do this weekend.
The fried chicken wings at Ichiro are amazing! Crisp, brittle skin and moist, juicy meat.
Hi Candace – Thanks for visiting and taking the time out to comment. The fried chicken wings, huh? Well, I’ll have to have some on my next visit. Thanks for the tip.
I’d forgotten about this place as well. Every so often we use to go here for lunch. I didn’t realize they were open so late.
Hey Jack – I don’t when you’ve been here last, but they’ve done a renovation – added the sushi bar, and revamped the menu(s) somewhat, and most especially changed the hours of operation. It is a good reasonable lunch place, though.
Ya know, I don’t think I’ve ever had watercress. I’m imagining fried parsley or cilantro. Maybe Basil? Worth a try at least.
I’ve been trying to nail down an “izakaya” style restaurant up here. I found one near here via CitySearch, Silicon Valley. What kind of stuff should be ordered and what kind of price should we expect?
Hi Jo – Never had watercress? Even in a sandwich? More like arugula, it’s in the mustard family and most of the time has a pungent and peppery flavor. An Izakaya in truly traditional terms is an drinking establishment that serves “small dishes” – think tapas. So along with your sake, beer, or shochu, you’d purchase, maybe some simmered pork belly (buta kakuni), or some kara-age dishes, maybe tempura (i.e. shishito), grilled (maybe okra, or some kind of yakitori)dishes, or even cold tofu. It can get very expensive – see Sakura:
/2005/07/21/izakaya_sakura_/ – and we didn’t even drink!
Jo – If you click on that “Izakaya menu” picture, it should enlarge, so you can check out some of the dishes.
Jo,
The one that comes to mind is the one near trader Joe’s on homestead. I have no idea of it is good or not. But it has been there a long while.
Hi Mills – Looks like you and Jo have another place to “check out”.
You know, we were at TJ’s the other day and I told Mike we should try that place. It sounds like something that would be right up Mike’s alley. I’m gonna do that with the menu Kirk, thanks!
Hi Jo – Have fun, don’t drink too much sochu!
We only tasted a few drops. There wasn’t room for more even if we wanted to! It still needs a couple more weeks at least. On the other hand, ::snickers:: the blackberry seeds are white!
Ichiro’s is one of the best Japanese Restaurant in the San Diego area. I’m Japanese American and I’ve had Japanese Food all my life. When I’m in San Diego I’ve usually go 2 times in the 3 to 4 days I’m in town.
Even my Mother and my Auntie loved this place and they lived in Japan.