*** Suzuya has closed
The Missus has been on a roll lately, on a Yakiniku/Korean BBQ roll to be precise. So after a very nice meal at Tsuruhashi, the Missus decided that She was ready for Suzuya….just for comparisons sake, of course! This was great for me, since I'd enjoyed my previous lunches at Suzuya, I was looking forward to trying out the dinner menu. We arrived at about 7pm on a recent Tuesday to find Suzuya completely empty.
I liked the way Suzuya is designed, with nice spacing between tables, and a understated but classy set-
up for an Asian BBQ joint. Now there is one specific item that sets Suzuya apart from Tsuruhashi, and that would be that Suzuya serves Shabu-Shabu(Japanese style Hot Pot). Now the Missus was pretty excited at the prospect of having some Shabu-Shabu, it's one of Her favorite styles of eating, and frankly, it had been a while. The bummer was that on the placard it says "Two order minimum", which it would seem would blow the possibility of having a combo Yakiniku/Shabu Shabu dinner out of the water. And this requirement kinda made sense since the table had only one brazier on it. So we mentioned this to the nice young man waiting on us, who said, "just one minute", and walked to the kitchen area. He came back in a minute and said that since the restaurant was empty, they'd make an exception, and charge us slightly more. We had no problem with that, in fact we were really pleased with the service.
Soon enough the dipping sauces for the Shabu-Shabu arrived.
The condiments were the standard "Gomatare"(sesame dipping sauce) wh
ich in this case was a combination miso and sesame dipping sauce and lemon based Ponzu. also provided was a rustic type of Momiji Oroshi(usually grated daikon and chili), which in this case was grated daikon and togarashi, and thinly sliced green onions.
Soon enough a pot of water with some Kombu(kelp) arrived and placed on the burner.
Notice a problem with the photo? Well, Kombu should NEVER be boiled, as it will add a bitter flavor to the liquid. I just had to remove it.
Soon enough all of the "stuff" started arriving…..remember, this is for one order of Shabu Shabu. First the thinly sliced Rib Eye.
Well marbled meant a very moist and tender meat when briefly submerged in the liquid.
A nice generous helping of Napa Cabbage, Shingiku(Garland Chrysanthemum), Shiitake Mushroom, Tofu, Gyoza(dumplings), Onion, Carrot, and Udon. The shingiku was very fresh and had a nice flavor. The Missus enjoyed the Udon the most, as it had a nice, mildly chewy, pull to it.
This was a nice start to the meal….in fact it almost felt like enough food for the whole meal! As soon as we were done, everything was whisked away and the cooking surface placed on top of the flame, and we were ready for the Yakiniku portion of the meal.
The sauces provided for the Yakiniku was a Aka(red) miso based sauce, that had a nice sweet-miso flavor, and the standard ponzu sauce.
We started with Beef Tongue, which has become the Missus's favorite.
This however, was not the best version of tongue we've had. It was very tough, and was a bit off in terms of flavor.
The Mixed Vegetables.
Everything was as good as veggies should be. Being the carb lover, I enjoyed the boiled potatoes after they'd been grilled for a while. The Shiitakes also were excellent, but overall, I felt that I could make this at home.
The "Prime" Rib Eye:
Unfortunately, in this case the picture doesn't lie…you can draw your own conclusions……
The Mixed Seafood.
Not very impressive, especially after having the Mixed Seafood at Tsuruhashi. Ever
ything was fine, and the scallops were good, though not sashimi grade. The shrimp looked and tasted like regular black tiger shrimp.
In the end, we were left scratching our head. I mean the service was so nice and accommodating, and we enjoyed the very relaxed atmosphere….maybe due to the fact that we were the only people in the restaurant. The Shabu-Shabu was good, but the Yakiniku fell a bit short.
We so wanted this meal to be great, since we really like this restaurant….
So how about price? In keeping with the Tsuruhashi post, I decided to wait till the end to summarize everything.
Shabu Shabu – $18.00
Seafood Mix – $9.50
Tongue(Jo-Tan) – $7.50
Mixed Vegetable – $5.50
Prime Rib Eye(Jo-Rosu) – $7.50
Rice – $2.00
Total $50.50 w/o Tax
And to make me feel even worse about doing this post, they didn't charge us extra for ordering only one order of Shabu Shabu! But then again, how is it that all of the Yakiniku is more expensive than Tsuruhashi? Sigh……..
We will return to Suzuya, though we may just stick with the Shabu Shabu. I'm hoping that someone will comment and tell me this was just a very off night for the Yakiniku.
Suzuya Japanese BBQ
5447 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 505-0611
Lunch – Mon-Fri 1130am – 230pm
Dinner – Daily 5pm to 11pm