February 2011 – mmm-yoso

Keeping warm I hope? Banh Mi Bo Kho from Pho Lucky and other stuffs….

February 27, 2011 mmm-yoso Cooking, Vietnamese Restaurants

It's been a hectic couple of weeks. First I got sick, then the Missus, now I'm pretty busy with work. I'm hoping to catch up this week. So thanks for your patience!

Throw in the record cold temperatures……… I was tired and wanted something… well with meat, and possibly a sauce or gravy. The Missus vetoed everything, but I finally mentioned something She approved of……. Banh Mi Bo Kho from Pho Lucky…with extra bread.

Even the Missus noticed how much tendon was in this one…..

Tonight I was pretty beat…got to work at 245 this morning, so my sleep patterns have been a bit discombobulated….. love the folks I'm working with though! Anyway, really didn't feel like going out this evening……need to be in at 330 tomorrow. So I went through the fridge and cupboards, and made something simple……

Curry- Egg -Rice……

It sure did hit the spot on a cold evening in San Diego!

And since after seeing the photo of his "brother" in an earlier post, Frankie has requested equal time.

I think he needs a good bath…….

Suzhou: The Lingering Garden and a fairly familiar stop……

February 26, 2011 mmm-yoso Bakery, China, Markets & Grocers, Suzhou, Travel

Our first day in Suzhou was a busy one, and after walking back to our hotel room after dinner….. I was totally spent and crashed pretty quickly. I also knew that if the Missus had Her way, we'd have another full day coming up. And I was right, The Missus decided that we should walk from our hotel to the Lingering Garden (留園).

It ended up being a pretty long walk, but also gave us a pretty good look at some of the neighborhoods along the way.

In one of the shops along the way, we noticed that these "candidates" for dinner had made it out of the tanks, and were trying to avoid becoming the main course…..

We also came across a large "market area", and decided to take a detour….. I love these places…..

Scenes we've seen played out on a daily basis all over the world….

Meandering through the narrow alleyways…….

And over the canals….the ancient highway system for Suzhou.

Ending back up on the main street……

Out past the Changmen Gate….

You'll come across a simple long wall and gate……. the simple entrance belies the beauty of the Lingering Garden, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and along with The Humble Administrators Garden, The Summer Palace in Beijing, and the Imperial Mountain Summer Resort in Chengde, is considered one of the Four Famous Garden of China.

We'd arrived right at opening, but there were already a couple of tour groups in line. While waiting, a young lady walked up, and started chatting with the Missus. Apparently, University Students majoring in History and Tourism give free guided tours. We ended up having a free private tour, albeit in Mandarin (with the Missus translating). The young woman was very knowledgeable and pleasant, and we really enjoyed the experience.

The Lingering Garden was built in 1593, and had gone through several owners, each of whom added his own touch to the garden but still keeping within its grand design. The garden covers about two hectares and is divided into four parts, the central, North, East, and West. Which are connected by a corridor.

There's so much to write….and even more I forgot as the young woman was full of immense detail and stories of the garden. I'll stick to those that have really stayed with me. The first thing that I think of when it comes to the Lingering Garden was the wonderfully angelic song coming from this boat in the middle of the pond.

I've never been a big fan of this type of Chinese music, but here, in this environment, it was beautiful……. just plain beautiful.

The young woman told us we were lucky that it wasn't very crowded. When the garden is too busy, and the chattering gets too loud, the woman stops singing, since no one can really hear her.

The natural stones also grabbed my attention. Many of the large stones replicate mountains, landscapes, and in this case a scene. This one is called Eagle Fighting Wolf…. and looking closer it did indeed look like a eagle swooping down on a wolf.

This stone is probably the most well known…. we were told that it was headed to the Forbidden City… but the transfer was halted when the Communist regime took over.

For me, the most imp[ressive hall in the Lingering Garden is the "Yuan Yang Ting", the Mandarin Duck Hall.

The hall is divided into two saloons which are decorated differently. Even the beams and the roofs are different on each side of the hall.

There's so much more….but so little time. Here are a few other photos.

This is one place I'd like to return to.

There's a saying I heard several times while in China – "Shang you tian tang, xia you su hang" (上有天堂下有苏杭), "In Heaven There is Paradise, On Earth, Suzhou and Hangzhou".

My foot had started bothering me a little, so we decided to catch the bus back. Unfortunately, traffic was so bad we decided to get off the bus after a couple of stops and walk back to our hotel. Along the way, I noticed this shop…..

Look Familiar?

I'd been trying to get the Missus to 85C Bakery in Irvine, but She just didn't seem interested. But it was getting kind of hot, and we decided to take a short break….. and it ended up being just the perfect stop for us.

It turned out to be the perfect thing.

After this, every time the Missus was tired and needed a little pick-up, we'd look for a 85C Cafe…..

We were really enjoying Suzhou!

Chicago: Scooby’s Red Hots (Arlington Heights), Mr Beef and Pizza (Mt Prospect), and Buona Beef (Itasca)

February 24, 2011 mmm-yoso Chains, Chicago, Hot Dogs, Sandwiches, Travel

I'm thinking I'd better finish off my Chicago area posts…….

In some strange way, I felt somewhat restored after my Italian Beef from Johnnie's so I went for a drive around the Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect area. Right up the street from Johnnie's, also on Arlington Heights Road was this rather bright looking shop called……

Scooby's Red Hots:

Hey, it's Chicago…. in San Diego, you got taco shops,,,, in Chicagoland, it's Hot Dogs and Italian Beef! The interior was a colorful melange of retro looking posters, signs, and the like……

Well, this place says "red hots"….. and the Vienna Beef sign hangs proudly in the window, so what else am I going to get?

This dog had a good "snap" to it, and the bun was better than what I had at Peep's…… I lamented the lack of celery salt on this one. Still, it was a pretty good dog, and for under two bucks….. not a bad deal.

Scooby's Red Hots
1039 South Arlington Heights Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60005

I called it a night after that dog, awoke the next morning, checked ot of my hotel, jumped into the rental car, and drove around a bit more. I actually had "breakfast" at Five Guys in Mount Prospect. As I drove down Elmhurst Road, I noticed a somewhat familiar name.

Mr Beef and Pizza:

Before my Beef from Johnnie's, the best Italian Beef I'd had was from Mr Beef on North Orleans. Well…. this place said Mr Beef… so could it be?

Looking at the dining room…..kinda beat, this looked more like a kid arcade than a serious Italian Beef shop.

In fact, it seemed that more folks were getting pizza than anything else….. I should have taken that as a warning and left, but I went ahead and ordered the Beef Sandwich with Hot Peppers.

This tasted like mass produced deli roast beef that had been soaking in canned jus…… it just wasn't very good.

It just wasn't a very good sandwich…… and I'm sure it has nothing to do with the other "Mr Beef" I ate at before….

Mr Beef & Pizza
1796 S Elmhurst Rd
Mount Prospect, IL 60056

After this, I jumped back in my car and headed off to the airport……. except I decided to take the "long way". I had one more stop in mind. Further down Arlington Heights Road lay an outpost of a Italian Beef chain I was told that I needed to try….

Buona Beef:

This location is in the "village" of Itasca, and looked spanking new.

Started in 1981, there are now over a dozen Buno Beef restaurants in the greater Chicago area.

The look of the place was in total contrast to the Mom and Pop Italian Beef shops….. I remember emailing Cathy and telling her this place looked more like Panera Bread, Chipotle, or some other "fast casual" restaurant.

Of course that didn't stop me from getting a Italian Beef with Hot Peppers……

The overall sandwich was too dry for my tastes….. perhaps there's a step or request I missed? The Beef had a nice flavor, though some of it was fairly rare….which seems to take this closer to roast beef. The hot peppers had a little zip, but due to the amount of olives was more briny than spicy. There was a bit too much bread (thought it was pretty good) for this type of sandwich. In the end; it just wasn't "wet" enough for my taste. This was more like a roast beef sandwich in disguise.

And yet, if there was a Buona Beef in San Diego, I'd be eating there once in a while.

Buona Beef Restaurant
1170 N Arlington Heights Road
Itasca, IL 60143

As I waited in the boarding area at O'Hare, I mentally took stock of what I had eaten in the last day: A Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage and Duck Fat Fries, two Chicago Dogs, One burger from Five Guys, and three Italian Beef Sandwiches…… that's a pretty good 36 hours in my book!

Sometimes it’s all in the timing……..

February 22, 2011 mmm-yoso Sandwiches, Sushi and Sashimi

**** Both Tarttoria Firenze and Sushi Yaro have closed

It's kinda late…..so just something quick for tonight. Sometimes, it's all about getting just what you wanted.

I was pretty bushed the other evening, the Missus was working, and I needed to stop by Henry's on Genesee to pick up some stuff. I decided to stop by Trattoria Firenze, first thinking of some pizza, but not wanting anything too heavy, ordered the Italian Sub. Being just $5.75, I really didn't expect much. I ordered, did my shopping, and picked up the sandwich on my way back to the car……

It was still warm when I made it home. The simple white paper……didn't look like anything much…..

It was nicely toasted…… I'm not so much into over-stuffed sandwiches, so the slices of salami, pepperoni, cappacola, and ham did nicely by me. The crust was nicely toasted and crusty…. Italian Dressing didn't over-power anything…..

But there was something a bit more to this…. I opened up the sandwich, and sniffed…. the sandwich had a mild buttery-garlic flavor….. they had used garlic bread spread! It was just what I wanted; nothing really heavy, but something with flavor……

I have a couple of funny observations about the place, but I'll save that for another day…..

Trattoria Firenze
4421 Genesee Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

Here's my tenth million photo of sashimi from Sushi Yaro…….

When the Missus is working evenings, I'll often just pop by, get some sashimi and gohan (rice), and that'll do it for me……

On this evening, just as I was finishing my sashimi, another plate came out.

Knowing your Itamae has its benefits. Sam thought he had something special on his hands, and wanted to make sure I had it. These were two huge amaebi….enough for a meal in itself.

The shell around the head was a bit too thick to eat; but everything else was fair game…..

Especially this:

Both amaebi were full of eggs! Talk about delici-yoso!

Sam told me that every one of these he had on hand were full off eggs, and I was lucky to have come in that evening…. too bad the Missus wasn't here, She would have gone to town.

Sometimes it all works out….. you're in the right place at the right time! I'm sure you've had those moments, right?

More Noodling Around: Tajima Noodle House, Izakaya Masa, and Pho Cow Cali

February 21, 2011 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Pho, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

Since it's still pretty darn cold (by our spoiled San Diego standards) and rainy here, I thought I'd get in another round of noodles…….

Tajima Noodle House:

Sadly, my last couple of visits to the original Tajima on Convoy have been the same. I've been underwhelmed by the broth, which wavers between too salty and bland. Still, I decided to drop by recently in the middle of one of our rainstorms…… I mean really, if it didn't hit the spot this time…..

Hedging my bets, I went with the Shoyu Kakuni Ramen…. the basic shoyu ramen with Buta Kakuni (braised pork belly) and Chashu in it. If I didn't care for this…….

And it didn't. On this day, the broth was seriously flat. The sweetness from the buta kakuni (which could have braised a bit longer) just emphasized the lack of richness. The Chashu was pretty dry, but not as bad as what I had at Gunco recently. The egg wasn't aesthetically perfect, but was nicely cooked.

I actually came back a few days later…. I didn't bother taking photos, and had the Shio Ramen, which was better, but not by much.

It's kind of sad actually. You'd think that with Yakyudori up the street, that Tajima would step up. I will say this; on my two visits, I really enjoyed the pleasant service. First by a young lady whose name I believe was Yoshimi. On the second visit, it was a friendly young man named Tony. Both were excellent……

One thing I am sure of…… I'm sure that the ramen tastes better at 2am in the morning…. having it during lunch with unimpaired tastebuds, maybe not so much.

Tajima Japanese Restaurant
4681 Convoy St., #1
San Diego, CA 92111

Izakaya Masa:

Spurred on by Dennis of A Radiused Corner, I returned to Izakaya Masa for another shot at the ramen. Dennis had told me that Masa now serves a Shio ramen. I was also told to order my noodles "barikata", or extra firm.

The ramen prices here are good, $6.95 a bowl, though the portion size isn't huge. Here's my Shio Ramen:

As always, the Chashu here is tender, but not falling to pieces, if a bit mild in flavor. The noodles were much better when ordered extra-firm, though I still wish that being from Fukuoka, the folks here could serve some real Hakata style noodles. There used to be a shop in Honolulu, run by an older woman called Hakata Ramen……though her broth wasn't very good, I got my first taste of Hakata style noodles which she had brough in from Fukuoka. The broth was slightly rich, much better than what I had before, but the shio (the salt) used for the ramen left an unpleasant taste in my mouth. I think the ramen here is slowly getting better…… but like Tajima, this ramen is probably better after a couple of beers……

Still, I love how this tiny restaurant is put together……..

Izakaya Masa
928 Fort Stockton Dr
San Diego, CA 92103

Pho Cow Cali:

I've always thought that Pho Cow Cali (even when it was Pho HoaCali) was one of the most consistent Pho shops in San Diego.

So I don't know what happened on this day……..

The meat, as always was good, the beefy flavored brisket tender, but not crumbling, the flank had some chew, but wasn't tough, the tripe decent, and the tendon slightly chewy, but good. The broth and the garnishes on this day weren't very good. The soup was lukewarm and almost flavorless, and it seemed that I got the last handful of bean sprouts which were broken into pieces, the basil was turning black. As I mentioned elsewhere, the two things that PCC had over Lucky was consistency and the meat. I'm pretty much a soup guy, and if the soup ain't good…..

Hopefully, this was an off day……..

Pho Cow Cali
9170 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

So I came home today to find our living room a mess…… towels strewn about, stuffing from disembowled doggy toys everywhere……. and in the midst of it all was Sammy…. giving me his best pathetic "you know I'm innocent until proven guilty" look. (Do you notice that piece of stuffing material on his nose? Hmmm……)

Road Trip: Shufeng Garden – Rowland Heights (Los Angeles)

February 20, 2011 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

**** Shufeng Garden has closed

Aaaah Colima Road, how we miss thee…. not for the traffic, or the noise, nor the drivers who wouldn't pass the DMV driver's exam in my hometown for the matter. What we do miss, is the wall to wall….."stuff". While on the short end for Japanese and Thai, there's an abundance of Chinese and Korean restaurants. Man, did we love those 24 hour Korean Restaurants…. but I guess that's a bit too much to ask for. Though, even in Honolulu there's at least one 24 hour Korean Restaurant! Having lived two blocks from Colima Road, food was always at our fingertips…. though I probably could have done without the fragrance of Chou Doufu floating through the air…..

On Christmas Eve we had taken a drive through Rowland Heights on our way back to San Diego. We peeked in Shufeng Garden and liked what we saw, and ordered the Tea Smoked Duck, which we thought was pretty good. So recently, we returned for a meal.

There's a strange tropical-jungle like mural that runs the entire wall of the restaurant. The staff here was really nice, if a bit harried and over-worked. We've noticed that staffing in Rowland/Hacienda Heights seems to be much better than restaurants in San Gabriel-Alhambra-Monterey Park…perhaps it's my imagination; but things seem that way.

We were given some soup to start things off. When I caught a whiff, I told the Missus that She wouldn't like it, it smelled really medicinal….. and it was.

I started with a couple of dishes I had read about on Pam's Blog. I was fascinated by the Intestines with Chili ($9.95), prepared in the fashion of Chongqing Chicken, first deep fried, then cooked a second time with lightly scalded chilies.

The texture of these were top-notch, light crunch, followed by the mild chew of intestines. I enjoyed the spice, good heat, but not overwhelming. The Missus hit it right on the nose when She said, "blah, these don't have that intestine flavor. You don't know you're eating intestine!" Still great texture, nice heat, could have used a bit more "ma" numbing from Sichuan Peppercorns……. I would suggest this dish if you love chilies, but have never had intestine before. I'm actually going to print out this photo, and see if they'd make something like this for me at Ba Ren!

The Sliced Pork with Garlic Sauce ($7.95) was phenomenal.

This cold dish featured fatty pork, with a mildly sweet, chili based sauce that reminds one of the sauce used for the classic "Saliva Chicken". The pork is muy tender without a touch of waxy greasiness.

The cucumber under the pork refreshed my palate, making ready for more…….

The Missus saw the next dish on another table and ordered it. She shouldn't have…….

At first I thought it was something like Shui Zhu Yu (water boiled fish). And though it did look like that dish with bean curd added, it was pretty bad. It was spicy, but that's it…. nothing else was brought to the table, no savory Doubian Jian flavor, nothing….. it could have used some salt as well. Also, the fish was overcooked and too flaky for this type of dish.

Much like Earthen Restaurant, if we still lived in the area, we'd be eating here every so often. The Missus doesn't think this place is worth an extra stop on our road trips to the area. I'm going to have to talk Her into stopping for the pork dish…….

Shufeng Garden
18459 Colima Road
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Saturday Stuffs: A New Mariscos Truck on Convoy? Seafood Island is gone, and other “stuffs”……

February 19, 2011 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

Just a couple of quick things for Saturday:

Is there a new Mariscos Truck off Convoy:

This past week, I went to the 76 station on the corner of Convoy and Balboa. While filling up my tank, I happened to notice this truck open for business in the parking lot of the 76:

I hadn't noticed it before. Too bad I had already had lunch and was in a rush to get back to the office. I hope it's still there this upcoming week so I can give it a try.

Seafood Island is closed:

I received a text from Angela, who knows of the friendly bantering that goes on between JohnL and myself regarding Seafood Island. The gist of the text was "guess what, Seafood Island is closed, I guess you win!"

I drove by a couple of days later….. and it was indeed closed.

On my first couple of visits, I thought this place had potential. But it seems that the restaurant really never developed an identity…… serving cheap Chinese lunches, with combined Chinese – Vietnamese menu, along with Bun Rieu, Bun Cha, and then Pho……which I thought was terrible. I was told that there were two sets of cooks in the kitchen, Chinese and Vietnamese….. it just seems like too much. Too bad, this area needs decent restaurants……

Getting my fix:

I know the hazards of reading food blogs all too well…… but over the years, I believed that I've developed a bit of an immunity to the sudden, knee-jerk, "oh I just gotta have some of that now" reaction. But of course I was wrong.

Recently, one of my favorite food bloggers Kat, who gives me my daily dose of Food and Life in Japan via Our Adventures in Japan, had done a series of posts on their travels in Yamaguchi. I really enjoyed the posts, mainly for the "snow-scenes" which look like something from a movie set. Please check out Kat's posts on this trip here. While reading this post, I just got hung up on the photo of Katsu Don….. I just couldn't get it out of my head…… I just had to get…. my… Katsu Don…. lunch couldn't come fast enough.

We're in the midst of several stroms coming through the area…. so it's been cold and wet. And Izakaya Sakura's Chicken Katsu-Don really hit the spot…..

Along with a side order of Natto…..

It hit the spot, but I wasn't done……

I've passed my cold over to the Missus, so She wanted some ramen from Santouka for dinner. So of course I went over to Kayaba… for what else…. Katsu Don.

While in line at Kayaba…. I realized that Kat had done this to me before!

As a friend of mine once said…. "food blogs are terrible for the waistline… but I just can't stop reading!"

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Suzhou: Dinner at “Taste Life” Restaurant (Pǐnwèi Rénshēng – 品味人生)

February 17, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Suzhou, Travel

Suzhou, like many other cities we've been to in Asia, has certain types of businesses located on specific "named" streets. For instance, our hotel was located on restaurant supply street. Even though we'd already had a pretty full day, a nice short nap recharged our batteries, and we were off looking for some dinner. After walking up one of the side streets, the Missus was getting pretty hungry. She stopped at one intersection, a restaurant on each corner, and said, "let's eat at one of these places." I looked around and told the Missus, "I don't think you'd want to eat on this street……" You see, we were on "pet shop" street! The Missus, taking a glance at the shops around the restaurants agreed that we'd both feel more comfortable eating on another street….. just so long as it wasn't tombstone street….. or "hair extensions" street for that matter.

We finally came across this little restaurant on one of the side streets.

Named Pǐnwèi Rénshēng, this place was packed, with a pretty raucous crowd.

Mainly due to stuff similar to what's pictured on the right. The guys at the table in the photo was having a very loud time getting ripped. They started placing empty beer bottles on the empty chairs. After the chairs were full, they started placing bottles on the floor, which was a bad move. One false move, and bottles would go rolling all over the floor……

As for the food……

Finally having a seat, I realized how hungry I was…… as was the Missus. The first dish up, Wined Fried Fish:

Wine marinated fish were deep fried to crisp perfection. I practically ate all of this myself, bones and all. The Missus found the strong wine flavor too strong, while I loved the saltiness and wine flavor.

We both loved the fresh sauteed bamboo shoots.

Though the bamboo shoots were starting to just get past the tender stage, I enjoyed the salty, but not too sweet flavor. Combined with the earthiness of the bamboo shoots, these were good.

The Missus wanted something comforting, and chose the Wintermelon Soup with Ham.

A nice classic dish. Actually, the Missus hated wintermelon growing up, but loves the soup, which brings Her comfort. Simple flavors, savory flavor from the ham and salt. The Missus still didn't care for the pieces of wintermelon; I ate those, but loved the broth….and ham (of course).

The final dish was steamed eggplant with garlic. I had expected something closer to this(without the chilies of course). But the sauce was pretty bland, and the eggplant wasn't completely steamed, and in fact had a raw texture and taste.

Overall, this was a satisfying meal, and we left the restaurant…gingerly stepping over empty beer bottles, feeling relaxed.

As we walked along Guan Qian Jie…… I noticed something…….

The Missus, usually always headed off seemingly on a "mission", was just strolling along!

I'm not sure if it was that wonderful tea we had earlier in the day, or perhaps the atmosphere…… Suzhou seemed much more laid back than Hangzhou…. or maybe a combination of both (and more!), but we felt so relaxed.

Which was nice…. since we had another full day in front of us!

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more!

Troy’s Family Restaurant- American (and Greek) food

February 16, 2011 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Diner, Greek Food, What Cathy Eats!

Hi, it's Cathy blogging for mmm-yoso!!! today. Kirk is under the weather and ed (from Yuma) is busy.

An ocean of time ago, The Mister and I moved to San Diego for the last time. Our apartment was within walking distance of Clairmont Square, and we used to eat at Troy's Family Restaurant. A lot. Until we bought our home, about 25 miles East of here.
It's been in the Clairmont area since 1973. The mall has expanded and been rebuilt a few times since then, but the owners and a lot of the employees are the same. We were in the area on this sunny day a few weeks ago and wanted to see if things, like the decor and food, were still the same.

The cool dishware is as I remembered. Curvy scratched water glasses and thick ceramic cups. I love old, thick coffee cups; they make coffee taste better. ($1.75). Served with real half and half in the container on each table.

The Ranch dressing on the salad is homemade and better than any bottled stuff I have ever had. The lettuce mix, with shredded carrots tomatoes and packaged croutons is standard crispy fresh.

The salad was part of the special of the day (Monday) – Tilapia ($7.95) which was dipped in an egg wash and then seasoned flour and lightly fried. A light crisp crust enhances the flavor of the fish. It is served with a vegetable of the day (no frozen vegetables here…these were fresh cooked, un-mushy carrots, hand sliced) and mashed potatoes-also fresh. The gravy is a standard brown gravy, smooth and not lumpy. There are at least three daily specials offered all seven days of the week.
Since the restaurant is named Troy's and the font on the outside indicates some air of 'Greek' to it, I wanted one of the Greek menu offerings… really, only two are available. Gyros in the form of a sandwich and in an omelete and souvlaki with breakfast or a sandwich. At this time, the souvlaki sandwich ($7.45) stood out on the menu. Marinated, skewered pork, cooked lightly (it was just pink on the inside, very moist and the char on the exterior of the pieces was just right) served on a piece of garlic toast, with cole slaw (instead of fries) and tossed salad (with Thousand Island dressing-again, made in house and excellent).

It was as we remembered it: Good, home made food made with care and flavor.

Troy's Family Restaurant 4827 Clairmont Shopping Center San Diego 92111 (619)276-7651

Mon-Sat 6:30-9:00, Sun 6:30-8:00

Tsuruhashi revisited

February 15, 2011 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

For a period of time Tsuruhashi occupied a spot on our rotation. We'd come to the point in life where we enjoyed quality over quantity. But sometime in early 2008 we stopped going to Tsuruhashi. We noticed that while prices were steadily creeping up; the quality and service had taken a downward dive.

Even though we'd always intended on returning, it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that we actually stepped through the doors of Tsuruhashi again. It was actually for my birthday dinner. I really wanted Chinese, but it was right around Chinese New Year, and the Missus and I really didn't want to deal with the insanity. We then headed to Izakaya Sakura, but I'd just recently been there for lunch. As always, the Missus made the final decision easy. "Let's go to Tsuruhashi….."

At first, I had a bit of sticker shock…. prices sure had gone up in two years. Some items were over $2 more per item. Imagine, our favorite 3-4 ounce serving of Prime Skirt was now $7.50/lb – that's upward of $30 a pound! But when was the last time you ate a pound of meat? Actually that $30 mark is a pretty good measuring stick. $20 – $30 a person (without booze) seems about right. Play it right, and you can probably get away much cheaper….. but heck, this is not an every night kind of meal; at least not by our standards. It turned out that the Missus and I really enjoyed our leisurely meal. A couple of days later, I was joined by my great friends Angela, Peter, and John, and we had another nice meal. Since there was so much overlap, I'll just go over what we had over the two meals……..

One of my favorite dishes at Tsuruhashi is the Yukke ($7.50) - the raw beef, seasoned with salt and sesame oil, topped with a raw quail egg. Slivers of apple help to clean the palate and refresh.

The beef used is prime rib eye, and is delicious. If you think this is actually Yukkhoe – Korean Raw Beef, you'd be right. Tsuruhashi is named after the Tsuruhashi District in Osaka, home to a sizable Korean population, and also famous for its Yakiniku Restaurants.

The Missus and I always loved the beef tongue served at Tsuruhashi……

And as time has passed, we;ve found that we enjoy the simple salt and pepper prime tongue. Charred and crisp around the edges, with the center still a bit chewy is just wonderful by me.

We used to enjoy the tongue topped with minced onions (now $9.95 – sheesh!), but have found that all that stuff meddles with the texture and beefiness of the gyutan.

This now seems a bit bitter for our taste. My friends also agreed that this wasn't quite as good as the plain and simple tongue.

Peter did enjoy the Miso Beef Tongue.

This is a bit on the salty side…… but is good with some beer. It's also not prime tongue.

Angela really impressed me when she took to the Nankotsu……. chicken cartilage!

There's something just wonderful about the crunchy chicken cartilage that I love……. on this night, I sparred with Angela trying to get my share of Nankotsu.

Even though they now serve the Prime Skirt with a drizzle of a soy-mirin-sake sauce, it's still wonderfully beefy.

There was one item that Peter, John, and Angela enjoyed so much, we had to order "seconds"……

It's the Kobe Rib Cube…….. I don't need to say much more. I placed a piece on my plate, put my hand over the grill for about three seconds, and touched the piece of beef….. it started to melt at my touch.

The Rib Eye Rolled with Shiso was also very nice.

It was much more tender than I thought it was going to be. The minty-anise flavor is a nice counter-point to the beef flavor.

Since the "other white meat" wasn't represented, I felt I needed to order something……

Wrapped in some lettuce smeared with bean paste, this was decent….. you know when the pork belly was some kind of after thought that you've done pretty well.

On the night the Missus and I ate at Tsuruhashi, thre was one item the Missus hated…..

It was the Beef Intestines……. they seized and curled up when put on the grill…. nice if you like really chewy. I thought it was ok, the Missus hated it!

There was an interesting observation that both the Missus and Angela made during our meals. The Missus had just eaten at a steakhouse a few nights earlier, and said She enjoyed this meal much more. Angela told me, "I love eating at a good steakhouse, but for some reason, I really enjoyed this more….maybe it's the variety, or perhaps the social atmosphere, but there's something really nice about this."

The service I encountered on both visits was very good. Grills were changed, things moved along, there were no complaints. As long at Tsuruhashi holds steady, we'll be back.

Tsuruhashi Japanese BBQ
3904 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111