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……)
