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