Day: December 4, 2011

Hello again.  You just found mmm-yoso!!! and probably are looking for some sort of blog post about food. Kirk and ed are still too busy to write, so Cathy is posting.

I wrote a post about Shizuoka in June 2007 and took it for granted, not posting again. Yet The Mister and I do eat here. It's located at the La Mesa-El Cajon border, next to the Michael's in the same mall as Souplantation and Weevil Burger on Fletcher Parkway.

Shizuoka has been here more than 20 years. The interior has not changed much.  There are 16 chairs to go with six tables tables and 6 four-person booths.  There is a wait to get in almost every evening.

   

The menu is not extensive.  The prices have not increased much since 2007. Good food prepared well.  I suppose it's a neighborhood place and not a destination. It could be.

The miso soup is pretty standard, made from miso paste.  It has a deep flavor and the tofu cubes are a firm consistency and always tasty.

The teriyaki chicken broiled mackerel plate is still $6.20. The Mister always orders one of the mackerel plates. The mackerel is particularly good tasting large piece of fish, broiled and placed on top of shredded cabbage so the bottom stays crispy and doesn't get soft when the juice flows from the cooked meaty mackerel.  The teriyaki sauce on the grilled chicken is not too sweet and made here (not from a bottle). The chicken is placed on top of bean sprouts, again so the meat does not wallow in sauce.  A lettuce salad, cold noodle salad and three freshly steamed edamame beans round out the plate. 

My usual meal here is centered on the chicken karage ($4). Lots of dark thigh meat lightly coated and fried and always perfect.

This time I rounded my meal out with a (shared with The Mister) seaweed salad ($2.75) and Sunomono salad ($3.50). Both are tasty, fresh made and hit the taste points I want for lunch. The seaweed is apparently 'foreign' to diners here, and free samples are offered.  The sunomono has a sweet vinegar-fresh ginger dressing and is made with that fake krab stuff.  The plentiful amount of shredded radish, cucumber and (different than in the other salad) seaweed makes this salad a perfect compliment to the karage. 

This is a small, not fancy, great neighborhood place, serving really good food. 

 Shizuoka Japanese Restaurant 9118 Fletcher Parkway La Mesa 91942 (619)461-1151 (in the mall with the Souplantation and Michael's)