Mr. Wasabi has closed.
mmm-yoso is the blog. It never goes on vacation. Cathy is talking today while Kirk does other stuff.
Hey there. I've had a few meals that I haven't talked about because Kirk has been talking about his wonderful Peruvian vacation. I love his prose and photos and ..um…his courage to drink spit and eat deep fried rodent like creatures as well as everything else that has kept those Peruvians going for thousands of years. I kind of play it safe, although have eaten everything that has ever been presented to me…by safe I mean staying out of foreign situations for the most part. 
So, anyhow. If you have driven on Mira Mesa Boulevard near Interstate 15, ever, you've seen this sign on the south side of the street. If you click and enlarge it, you will see the unlighted portion at the bottom-$1 sushi and $1 sake. Those prices are for a single piece of the 'regular' sushi- salmon, tuna, shrimp, etc. The sake is from a box but I think you can get it hot or cold…not a bad deal if you are in the area for Happy Hour- 5-6 p.m. Tues-Fri (Mr. Wasabi is closed on Mondays).
So, we decided, after years, that we would have to go here for a meal to see if it was any good. 
Oh, it is. There is a reason it has been here for kind of forever.
A simple menu, fresh food, attentive service.
We decided to start with the calamari salad ($6.25)- this easily could have been a meal and if I added a miso soup, definitely filling. Good thing The Mister and I were sharing.
Wonderfully light tempura coated perfectly fried large pieces of fresh squid on top of a lot of salad lettuces and shredded cabbage, served with a side of house dressing, which definitely had onion in it and I thought needed a touch of soy added, but was otherwise so absolutely perfect.
Both of our meals came with miso soup and salad (same dressing) . The miso was very good, rich and not salty and had large pieces of seaweed and small cubes of a good, firm tofu in it. We each ended up putting the extra lettuce from the calamari salad into the salad bowls since there was a bit too much dressing on those individual salads. It worked out.
I saw the Chirashi Sushi on the menu as a main course ($13.25) and had to try it. Assorted sashimi served over vinegared rice… maguro (tuna), sake (salmon), shiro maguro (albacore), hamachi (yellowtail), amebi (sweet shrimp), the fake krab stuff (which tasted good), ikura (salmon roe) and tamago (sweet egg cake) with wasabi, pickled ginger, cucumber and shredded daikon radish on top of the wonderful vinegared rice. So fresh, so delicate and a wonderful portion of sushi. Well worth the price. 
The Mister ordered the #13, Teriyaki and Tonkatsu meal ($10.95 plus $1 for the beef rather than chicken teriyaki). Extremely high quality tender beef topped with a wonderful teriyaki sauce that was not salty nor too sweet. The tonkatsu (lightly breaded deep fried pork) was tender and moist and topped with a more strong ponzu sauce, kind of on the edge of being too vinegary, but not quite. These were served on a bed of lettuce (which went well with each sauce) and the rest of the plate filled with edamame (boiled soybeans) and a bowl of rice on the side.
Excellent quality food in quite large portion sizes. They don't charge for tea and it is a better quality loose green tea. Don't drive by, drive in.
Mr. Wasabi 9379 Mira Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92126 (858)530-2546 Lunch 11:30-2:30 Tues-Sat, Dinner 5-9:30 Tues-Sun