mmm-yoso is a blog about food and Cathy is having a busy week. Kirk is somewhere and did e-mail her from "some God forsaken internet cafe in some alley in Lima". He is alive, but not able to post His vacation eatings just yet.
Hi. I have had an unusually busy week and so this is another short post. I have kind of been eating fast, or while driving (which is not an easy thing to do in a manually transmissioned vehicle) AND it is kind of a special week- The Mister and I have birthdays seven days apart and our "tradition" is to eat out every day-He gets to choose the three days including His birthday, we both agree on the middle day’s eatery and then I get the last three days, ending on my birthday. (By that point, by the way, I get really tired of going out to eat and just want a comforting bowl of chili or soup at home).
So, Sakura. My choice. Izakaya style Japanese food. There are a ton of posts here about the restaurant, but mostly about its Sushi Bar. Izakaya style is …more substantial than tapas…but are still small plates of food, prepared in various manners. Kind of a meal of large appetizers/snacks (otoushi). Actually, alcohol is a primary draw of Izakaya shops, but the last thing I need now is to sleep in on any morning this week, so none for us- hot tea is perfect with this meal.
The meal starts out with a oshibori (wet towel). These are prepackaged and kind of nice and luxurious.
These are fried squid legs($5)- we did get eight, but I forgot to take a picture of the plate.
Lightly breaded, fresh and chewy (but not too chewy) legs.
The spicy fish salad ($8). Kind of a Japanese "poke" with a variety of fish- skate, tuna, squid, halibut, salmon and something else, chopped and in a spicy and sesame oil sauce with tomatoes, thin sliced mild onions and spicy radish sprouts.
There is, of course sashimi on the menu, but we figured this way we got something cold and raw and a few vegetables…
Gosh, we can justify anything…
Soft shell crab ($6). Fried in a different batter than the squid legs.
Light batter, large and juicy crab, cut into five pieces.
Served with a warm dipping sauce and shredded daikon (radish) that I put into the sauce to add flavor.
Yakisoba ($7.50). Buckwheat noodles stir fried with beef, cabbage, carrots in a light sauce.
I always like yakisoba and this was a nice surprise, since we never had ordered it here. Earlier in this week-o-food we had a very strange sauced yakisoba, which I will comment on in a future post…
Beef in sesame sauce ($8). Wow.
A completely different flavor and tenderness level than what was in the yakisoba. Wonderful, tender, flavorful beef.
The sauce was more of a sesame paste, not at all a sesame oil, which I was expecting.
This is one you should have every time.
I wanted to try the savory pancake ($8)- fresh made bread/pancake on the bottom (more pizza crust like than a batter pancake, but you need that thickness because the toppings are heavy) topped with ‘octopus, shrimp and vegetables’.
The vegetables were mostly tomato, but there were pieces of cabbage, and of course topping of shaved (and dancing from the heat) bonito flakes. Kind of sweet; it needed that mayonnaise with some of the bites.
We knew we needed some vegetable with all of this food, so ordered a plate of spinach and mushrooms sauteed in garlic butter ($5). Oh you could taste the butter…
All in all, a very nice, quiet Monday dinner. It was not busy at all (one other table) so my photos a blurry because I did not want to use flash.
Total damage was $47 without tip. It was nice and relaxing. We enjoy the Izakaya style -in all cuisines- Oh, you’ve seen I have made a meal of appetizers elsewhere.
Don’t even ask how old we are. It is best left to your imagination that I am your age. In any case, I got carded the last few weekends when I went to Pacific Beach Bar and Grill, and I love the security people there…
Izakaya Sakura. It is on Convoy Street in that mall that has the Original Pancake house in it and there is no signage. Go to the back of the mall, next to the Military Recruiting storefront and the neon "OPEN" sign is the entrance. Really.
You can find the plethora of other posts about Sakura on this blog by scrolling in the left column and clicking onto "Japanese restaurants"