November 2012 – Page 2

Sunday Stuffs: Eater San Diego, Two more places opening near Morena, and Zion has a sign.

November 18, 2012 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, yoso-silly

Just a couple of things for a lazy Sunday.

Welcome to Eater San Diego:

I've had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know quite a few great folks during my time doing our humble little blog. One of the nicest by far is Candice Woo. Who I'm happy to note is now the Editor-Writer-Jack of all trades for the newly launched Eater San Diego. It's nice to see the Eater expand to San Diego, I often read and even link to Eater LA. So take a look when you have a chance.

Two new restaurant/lounge/bars coming to the Morena area.

This morning I was driving back from my weekly tank filling ritual at Costco, when I noticed that the taco shop on Avanti Drive right off of Morena was now something called, Oasis Restaurant and Lounge. It's in the same strip mall as Boll Weevil.

I took a peek inside and I'm pretty sure this ain't a taco shop. Interesting location.

4033 Avanti Drive – Right off Morena Blvd.

Further down the street construction is going on at this place.

Dan Diegos? It's good to see new places popping up…….soon this will become Morena's restaurant row. So far, I haven't been too impressed with a couple of the places that have popped up. Hopefully, this will be a winner…..

2415 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

And now to give Zion Market sort of equal time:

I drove by and saw the Zion Market sign is finally up….and on the week of H Mart's grand opening. Must just be a coincidence, right?

I heard they are opening early next year.

7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

H Mart opens in San Diego

November 17, 2012 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, Markets & Grocers

I'd gotten quite a few emails from folks since the post about H Mart opening in San Diego. It seems to have created a bit of a buzz……..which was enough to actually get my crowd-o-phobic rear end down to H Mart today….opening day. Predictably, the place was packed, so I'm going to do mainly photos with this post. It'll be easier to see what this location of H Mart has to offer once the masses are gone.

We managed to pick up some prepared food which was pretty bland….especially the Japchae. The kimchi station wasn't ready yet upon this visit, probably by design.

They use all the marketing tricks in the book, from misting…….

To open prep stations……

To my disappointment, there's only a tiny little food court with looks like a single booth in the market.

The Missus was really impressed with the availability of organic and vegetarian products….. She's really into tempeh now and told me the selection and of course the prices were much better than Whole Paycheck. I wouldn't know…..

Decent seafood department…..

There was a nice selection of meat, with American Wagyu chuck roll and ribs available. I'm going to have to spend a bit more time here when things normalize.

We didn't even bother with Paris Baguette as the line was crazy long…….

In spite of the masses, every cashier station was open, so it was really fast once you got past the logjams at produce, the food court, meat, and seafood. I'm sure folks are happy to have another option in San Diego. Though not everyone looked thrilled……

As could be predicted, parking was an absolute nightmare….we parked on the street and walked into the mall. I'll do a folllow-up post in a couple of weeks when things slow down a bit.

H Mart
9440 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Po & Pho -Next to H Mart in Mira Mesa (part 1: pho)

November 16, 2012 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Po and Pho has closed. There won't be a part 2.

Hi. The page you are reading is mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are busy with Thanksgiving planning. Cathy appears to be organized for Thanksgiving, so she is blogging today.

The highly anticipated Korean Grocer, H-Mart, will have a Grand Opening on the 17th (in the old Ralphs location on Mira Mesa Boulevard near the 15). The Mister and I were thinking there might be a 'soft' opening a few days sooner and drove there the other day, but the store was still getting organized. Since we were already in that parking lot and it was close to lunch time, we decided to try the newest restaurant of the six in that parking lot.

There- all the way on the left of the above photo- the small storefront "Po and Pho". Seven tables inside and one table out front, seating for about 20, this clean shop serves a combination of New Orleans-Po Boy sandwiches, gumbo and Vietnamese-pho, noodles and rice plates. There is also a small breakfast menu, extensive beverage menu and the menu includes catering items that are not offered on the regular menu.

The take out business was bustling when we were here, but when we sat down to read the take out menu, a nice Young Lady walked over to take our eat-in order. I'm not sure if we were supposed to order and pay and sit down or not…

In any case, since it was a chilly morning and the sun still had not peeked through the clouds, I ordered a bowl of chicken pho (one size only $6.25).

This was a very good, very large bowl of pho. The broth was clear, not too oily and had good flavor on its own. The noodles were mostly loose, barely in a clump. The chicken was plentiful, included the liver and was accompanied by the fresh dipping sauce (nuoc cham) made of lime juice, fish sauce, garlic and sugar. The onions and cilantro and ground pepper toppings, when mixed part way through my meal, along with the (very fresh) add-ins transformed the the bowl into even more fresh flavors.
The Mister was torn about what he wanted to order- there are 13 sandwich offerings in addition to three types of Po'Boy offered (shrimp or chicken or fish). We saw a *very* large sandwich being shared at another table and the bread was not close to bahn mi in size and decided we could share one at another meal. At the bottom of the "Noodles and Soups" section of the menu Seafood Gumbo ($5) was listed. That also sounded good on this cold day. The bowl is smaller than my bowl of pho, but it should be. The rich sauce, filled with crawfish, shrimp, crab and smoked sausage covers a good amount of broken rice and fresh okra. This was one of the best gumbos I've tasted in a long time.

We'll be stopping here again, for a Po'Boy, ideally avoiding crowds.

Po & Pho 9430 Mira Mesa Boulevard, Suite 5C San Diego 92126 (858) 271-8988 Website

Nhat Vy Vietnamese Restaurant

November 14, 2012 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Nhat Vy has closed

Back in December of last year, I posted on Taqueria Aqui es Jalisco. The meal was not quite up to par and the place looked really, well, almost temporary. In fact, I wrote "I'm not sure how this place is going to do……." in the last paragraph of the post. A couple of months later they were gone and a sign went up for a new Vietnamese restaurant, which opened this past summer named Nhat Vy.

Driving past, I have to honestly say I didn't get too worked up about the Pho-Banh Mi-Coffee sign. I mean, it's not like we're short of places that serve the stuff in the area, right? About a week later, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to check them out. I remained uninspired when I entered the place and saw the steam table set-up. But changed my mind when I was handed the menu. Banh Hoi….Banh Cuon…Bun Rieu…. my pulse quickened. Only to come crashing to earth when told they didn't have any of those dishes on this morning. Man, I really wanted some Banh Cuon. I had been going through photos of our trip to Vietnam and kept running into photos of Banh Cuon, in Sapa, Hanoi, and even Bac Ha. I was bummed….

So what to do when your first three choices aren't available? I went with the sign and the Pho Dac Biet ($6.99).

Which was pretty unremarkable. I recall the broth being kind of "scummy" and cloudy, the flavor being very mild, and the noodles a bit too soft.

The meat was just about average….total middle of the road stuff, nothing to get excited about. Plus, it was a thousand degrees even at 8 in the morning, which really didn't help matters.

This being the middle of July, I really couldn't bring myself to go back. Here was a one-shot deal that would end up in one of my COMC (Clearing Out the Memory Card) posts.

And yet, the menu stuck with me……seeing the other items kind of kept nagging away. Until almost exactly three months later, when things had cooled down, I decided on dropping by for an early breakfast. By this time the menu had morphed into a multi-page deal with photos. Sad thing was there was no Banh Cuon to be seen.

This was pretty early in the morning and I wasn't feeling like Bun Rieu, so I went with Bun Rieu's lighter cousin, Canh Bun ($7).

My first impression of the broth was really positive, it seemed light, not too "crabby", I did add some mam nem which is kindly provided, this really added some umami punch. The herbs were fresh and the quantity good. The noodles were firm and wonderfully slippery, the ong choi (water spinach), added a nice crunch and substance to this. Loved the fried tofu, the shrimp cake didn't have enough flavor for me, but was veyr light in texture. I could have done without the "oc" (periwinkles), of which there was a generous amount….these were just too chewy.

About halfway through I started feeling the effects of MSG….not over-powering, but enough to know it's there. Still, I thought this was decent and even sent a photo to my good FOY (Friend of Yoso), "YummyYummy". I guess the photo must have looked great because they marched right over and ate.

YY reported back that the Bun Rieu was quite good and the Banh Cuon, which they make in house and takes a while, was also worth a try. Banh Cuon? But I hadn't seen that on the menu? What the heck? So a couple of weeks later I headed over for some breakfast. The dining area is tiny and I've only seen other customers on one occasion.

Having arrived ravenous, I ordered the Bun Moc ($7) and then attempted to order the Banh Cuon, which isn't on the menu to the very sweet woman serving me. I say attempted because it took me four tries to get the pronunciation even close to where she could understand me. Yet she patiently stood there and helped me work this through.

The weather was just driving my sinuses into the ground, so this nice, clear soup was just what I needed.

The herbs where ever so fresh, the broth was indeed pretty mild and I really couldn't make out the "mushroom" flavor. There was a ton of protein in it, cha lua, meatballs, and a fairly surprising piece of pork spare rib. I looked at that piece of meat, which should have had "Goodyear" written on its side and then took a bite…..I was surprised at how tender it was.

And then of course, there was the Banh Cuon ($6). At long last.

It wouldn't be a stretch(no pun intended) to say that this is the best Banh Cuon in terms of texture in San Diego. The rice noodle is nice and thin and not too sticky. There's just the right amount of "pull" to it. The pork is fairly bland and while I like cha lua, this one is fairly bland. The nuoc mam cham has good spice, but other than that is fairly bland. The rau ram and blanched bean sprouts complemented the dish well, as did the fried shallots.

It matches up favorably with what I've had before.

Before leaving, I mentioned that banh cuon was not in the menu….the woman picked up a menu and looked through it. And sure enough, it isn't! We both had a laugh and she walked me to the steam table and pointed to the photo of the banh cuon and told me, "you come and point next time, ok?" I couldn't help but crack-up.

So there you go….I got my banh cuon, time to move on, right? Well not so fast….this past weekend the Missus was sleeping and YY and her hubby, MrQ had mentioned that they really enjoyed the Bun Rieu here……so of course:

I got the bun rieu. What I really like is that different sets for herbs are served for the pho versus the bun moc, versus the bun rieu. This was a fresh assortment of rau ram, perilla, banana blossom, and even some fishy-funky diếp cá.

As for the broth, it's much lighter and less complex then the rather heady version at Mien Trung. Personally, I prefer the stronger seafood-tomato flavors in that bun rieu. On the flip side, this one seems to have a lot less MSG….at least on this day.

For some reason I like the fried tofu here; it's nice a creamy. I'm still not a big fan of the "oc" in this as well.

It was "three for three" as again the noodles were prepared well….they also used the thinner bun, the appropriate noodle for bun rieu.

I'd easily have this again…….

I'm hoping this place does well. The folks here are really nice, but there's a real shortage of parking on the street….actually there's a couple of stalls in the back of the place as well. This location is not the best, as proven by Aqui el Jalisco's short run and the previous shop at this location, The Torta Factory.

Over the years I've seen my share of Vietnamese Restaurants that I've enjoyed going to, that are just not able to make it. Sometimes, like Huynh Hoa Tuu, they serve great stuff, then suddenly shut down and leave town. Or like Nam An, they start strong but are not able to sustain the quality, service, or portions….I'm still fairly certain that they won't reopen. I hope I'm wrong. And I hope that Nhat Vy sticks around…..

Nhat Vy Vietnamese Restaurant
4595 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Tire Siga and Kitfo from Awash Market and Restaurant

November 13, 2012 mmm-yoso Ethiopian/Eritrean Restaurants

We've been enjoying our meals at Awash Market and Restaurant, the Missus really enjoys the injera here, it's not too sour, and not too thick. The place runs kind of on the slow side but the folks are really nice. The restaurant, which is in the rear of the market has sort of a "speak-easy" feel to it.

We've learned to do as the customers do, go to the restroom and wash your hands before your meal; after all you'll be making use of the "most basic eating implement" and using them to eat. So after having several nice meals, we decided to really go all in and try two dishes we'd been wondering about for a while….kitfo, which I've had before and tire siga, which I had not.

If you're into raw food, you'll probably love it.

The kitfo was delicious, we ordered the Kitfo Special, which is hand chopped and served with collard greens and cheese. We asked for it to be almost raw, so that the butter poured over it would not make it lukewarm, as I somehow find warm almost raw meat a bit uncomfortable I guess.

Even though it's slightly heated, I loved the coolness of the dish. There was just enough butter to add a creaminess to the dish without disturbing the flavor of the mitmita, the spicy powder made of chili pepper, mustard seed, and salt. Think of it as a spicy beef tartar if you will, wrapped in some injera, perhaps with a touch of cheese which strangely seemed to add sweetness to the dish.

If you enjoy the kitfo, perhaps you'll try the tire siga, a real delicacy. It's very basic…..cubed raw beef.

You can get the meat fatty or lean, since the Missus would actually be eating some beef, we went lean. It's very easy to eat, you wrap the meat cubes in injera, then dip into mimita or awaze, a nasal clearing berbere (chili based spice) paste and have at it. The meat is good quality and fresh, there's no metallic flavors or disturbing aftertastes, and I expected none, since the clientele seems quite particular about the food. If you want, they'll sear off the meat for you and you can have it "blue". This was quite a bit of meat and eating it got tedious after a while….I think I'll stick with the kitfo, though it's always great to expand ones horizons.

Oh, and if you're not into this stuff, there's quite a few items we enjoy on the menu as well……

We really like the injera they make here, it not too sour or heavy. They seem to sell a ton of it in the market.

It's a real small operation, so things might take a while, but they seem to prepare the food with some care. They are also very nice and the guys up front will always take time to explain things to you. You end up paying up front at the cashier, who always seems to have some tidbit about the food for us. Tonight we were told that kitfo and tire siga became popular during the second world war. The Ethiopians were battling the Italians and had to eat "under cover", that is, without creating a fire to give away their position. Thus they acquired a taste for seasoned raw meat…hence kitfo and tire siga. Not quite sure about the story, but it was fun hearing it!

Awash Market and Restaurant
2884 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104
Hours:
Mon 830 am – midnight
Tue-Sun 830 am – 1am

It's always great to expand your horizons and try something new….what have you tried for the first time recently?

Recently Consumed

November 12, 2012 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

I'm still in "long weekend mode" so I hope you don't mind this post of stuff I've recently made at home. I'll have something new in San Diego tomorrow!

I mentioned working with leftovers from China Islamic, especially the suan cau yang rou, which really wasn't ready for prime time. By the next day however, the sour flavor of the preserved vegetable had permeated the broth and also tenderized the lamb. We added some frozen tofu and it was a very "cleansing" and hearty lunch served hot pot style.

As for the deep fried duck leftovers; I diced the meat and skin, crisped it up, then went at it "sisig style"…..which, at least to me, sounds much better then "gundam style", or as the Missus calls it "condom style"…..

Sour, spicy, salty….good stuff.

The "back up" canned goods we had was starting to get on the Missus' nerves, so it was time to use and replace them. Time to clear out the cupboards. The baby corn and straw mushrooms were the target of Her wrath, so I needed to use them up. The Missus hates the "tin-ny" taste, so I pour boiled water over them. Did a quick stir fry using both dried and red chilies as my base, hit it with white pepper and shaoxing wine…thickened with a combination of premium soy sauce-sugar-oyster sauce-sesame oil-cornstarch and topped with sesame seeds and cilantro.

We finally had enough left-over mushroom trimmings to make some mushroom stock….so of course that meant mushroom risotto. This time I further fortified the stock with old romano and parmesan cheese rinds….the hard parts, making it richer then ever. The Missus wanted pan seared halibut, so I went with a porcini crust…….

Really easy to do…..I ground up a couple of pieces of dried porcini mushroom with sea salt and added that to my usual seasoning. I dusted one side with potato starch to give it some crispness.

The dish needed some color and also something to cut the richness. So I sauteed some diced vegetables seasoned with dill and lemon juice. I used the leftover mushroom powder and the tomatoes worked well with the dill.

I reduced the leftover mushroom stock combined with onions, oven-dried tomatoes, and garlic confit left over from the risotto to make a nice pasta for me.

It was of course, made with garlic oil…….

And then there's this…..it's that time of the year. Can you guess what the Missus wanted a couple of weeks ago?

I hope everyone had a great long weekend!

Thanks for reading!

Roadtrip: China Islamic Restaurant – Rosemead (Los Angeles)

November 11, 2012 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

Both the Missus and I have a special place in our hearts for Northern style Islamic Chinese. The Missus even worked at the well known, but now closed Tung Lai Shun which was a fixture in Focus Plaza in San Gabriel for a short while. We used to eat at VIP Restaurant a couple of blocks from where we lived in Rowland Heights, several owners ago, when it was still Halal, and before they started serving "Jung Hwa Yori" (Sino-Chinese/Korean Chinese) dishes.

On a recent roadtrip, the Missus and I planned three stops, and decided to start at the very old school China Islamic on Garvey.

I was told a few years back that this place has been around for probably 20 years or so and after entering the fairly dark restaurant, I gotta say, it's starting to look it. The tables have that unique "San Gabriel sticky" feeling to them, which I actually have some fondness for……

Since the Missus doesn't eat beef, pork, or chicken nowadays, this was almost the perfect menu for us. Historically, many of these restaurants served a dual population, those that ate following certain dietary restrictions and the Chinese. So you'd have to look through the menu and bypass the chow mein, beef broccoli, and stuff like that to get to the heart of the cuisine. I'm not sure if China Islamic serves Halal, I didn't see it noted anywhere.

Of course we needed a lamb dish. Instead of the usual lamb with scallions, I went with lamb with sa cha sauce, basically a dried seafood, chili shallot, garlic, and oil sauce, often called "sa-te" sauce, but which has nothing to do with Southeast Asian sate sauce.

In retrospect, I should have ordered the classic lamb with scallions. Though the meat was on the chewy side, we both loved the really gamey flavor. We were indeed eating lamb. The flavor of the sauce was very mild, watered-down, and almost too slimy for us. The presentation brought back memories…."what presentation" you might ask? Exactly….no presentation…..

Next up was the crispy duck.

For some reason, we've had some pretty good fried duck in Islamic Chinese joints and this was no exception. This was the best dish we had during our visit. Though everything was just dumped on a plate, the duck wasn't greasy, the skin was light and crisp. It could have used a bit more in the flavoring department, or at least have some pepper-salt or sauce. As served it was pretty plain.

I actually went ahead and made fried duck sisig with the leftovers….which tasted really good.

One of the reasons we came here was for Suan Cai Yang Rou, preserved vegetable and lamb hot pot. For some reason, this has become one of my "comfort dishes". My Chinese friends find it amusing that I really enjoy this dish, which historically used the fatty parts of the lamb and napa cabbage that had been preserved to last over the winter….in other words, it's "poor people food".

The first thing the Missus lamented was the lack of frozen tofu in the dish……tofu, when frozen then thawed becomes sponge-like and really absorbs all the flavor. But most of all, this wasn't ready for prime time. Everything had just been put together, so the broth had no flavor and the meat was really tough. We ended up taking almost all of this home. We bought some tofu at Hong Kong Market and put it into the freezer when we got home. By the next day, the sour flavors of the suancai had permeated the broth and also helped to tenderize the lamb.

Overall, we felt this was pretty pricey at over $45. We'd heard that service here was on the rude side, but I tend to think that it's more of an "all business attitude". The two guys that served us were efficient and actually quite nice. Still, I don't think we'll be back, I think the suan cai yang rou at Tianjin Bistro is much better.

China Islamic Restaurant
7727 Garvey Ave
Rosemead, CA 91770

COMC – International Edition: Places that didn’t make the cut in Madison, Chiang Mai, and Antalya (Turkey)

November 8, 2012 mmm-yoso Chiang Mai, Madison, Wisconsin, Peruvian Restaurants, Thai Restaurants, Thailand, Travel, Turkey, Turkish Food

You may find it difficult to believe that we don't actually post on ALL the places we visit. Usually, if the Missus and I have an upscale dinner in San Diego, I usually don't take photos, unless it's happy hour or has some other interesting tie in. There usually are too many people around and I'm a pretty low-key person…..I don't like attention. And then there are those that just "don't make the cut"…it doesn't mean the place was terrible or anything, it could be that I just never got around to doing a post….of course, if it was a stellar meal, you know I'd have done a post.

So anyway, with a minimum of my blabbing, here's a trio that just never made it until I COMC'd (Cleared Out the Memory Card).

Inka Heritage – Madison Wisconsin:

**** Inka Heritage has closed

To my disappointment, I got to Mad-town during restaurant week and Inka Heritage had what amounted to a prix fix menu, so I had to go with what they had.

Ceviche 3 Ajies (3 peppers):

Pescado Inka Heritage:

Sooo much cheese…but heck, this is Wisconsin, right? What should I have expected.

Inka Heritage
602 S Park St
Madison, WI 53774

The Wok Restaurant – Chiang Mai, Thailand:

The dishes looked so lovely, but just didn't deliver…..very bland, somewhat dumbed down. These folks run a cooking school I was thinking of joining….kind of glad I didn't.

The Wok Restaurant
44 Rajmankha Rd,
Chiang Mai 50200 Thailand

Ucyildiz – Antalya, Turkey:

So if MickeyD's, or say ChowKing came to Turkey, I'm thinking this is what the food would look like. Sorta artificial….funny, the photos in the menu looked so lovely.

We still chuckle when we see the photos….you can't win 'em all.

Anyway, thanks for dropping by and reading….or staring, or whatever it is that you do when it;s mostly just photos!

Midweek Meanderings: Goodbye Seoul BBQ and Paris Baguette coming soon

November 7, 2012 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

Just a short post for this post-election Wednesday.

Goodbye Seoul BBQ, hello Roadem BBQ:

I'm thinking the writing had been on the wall for a while at Seoul BBQ. I drove by the other day and saw this sign.

Am I the only one who thinks this name is a bit too close to "roadkill"? The kiss of death for Seoul was when I saw they were doing AYCE Korean BBQ, basically trying to compete with Manna. So now it's being replaced by another AYCE joint? For some reason the line, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" came to mind. you know the song, right? Won't get fooled again……..

4344 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Paris Baguette:

Driving past the location for the upcoming H Mart, I saw the sign for Paris Baguette posted.

For those who haven't heard of them, this is a chain of Korean-French Bakeries that are sometimes in Supermarkets. From what I heard, there are going to be two of them. One in this H Mart location and one in the new location of Zion Market. I guess they're covering all bases, huh?

9440 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

and

7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen

November 6, 2012 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

Forget about burgers, it seems that San Diego is going thru a bit of a "ramen renaissance", first Yamadaya opens and then a couple of weeks back I get an email from FOY (friend of yoso) "Faye" with a photo of RakiRaki, followed a few minutes later with a text from "YY" with almost the same photo. Add this to the Santouka's, Tajima's, Yakyudori, and even places like Red Noodle and Izakaya Sakura, with a couple of other Japanese/Sushi joints now serving ramen and you've got a major noodle-ish explosion going on.

I did visit soon after I received the email (thanks Faye!) and text messages.

At that time, RakiRaki was open for dinner only, as a soft opening. Although based on the crowds, I'd say that this was probably the worst kept secret in the area….plus, how can you miss the place.

At first glance I liked the look of the place, nice woods, the somewhat rustic cafe look. But after sitting at the counter my opinion changed. The seats seemed too low, making the counter quite high, which felt strange. Sort of the "little kid at the soda fountain" feeling.

Actually, a soft opening was probably a good idea as the crew obviously needed a bit of training. After I was seated, a menu was handed to me, and then they scattered like the wind. Busy putting together menus or wiping glasses while I sat waiting to order. When I finally ordered, everything snapped together and went efficiently, perhaps a little on the too eager efficient side as my check arrived a few seconds after my Tsukemen ($8.25 then, now $8.75), which I ordered since it was zillion degrees outside.

In short, this Tsukemen was quite good, rich and thick, but not overly salty like the version at Yamadaya. Nice rich flavors that hit the mark just below salty for me. The broth, though chicken based really didn't strike me as being too "fowl oriented" and I sensed a bit of a dashi-like background. The noodles really hit the mark for me, medium thick, with an excellent chew that almost closed in on a crunch.

The service, in spite of the delays and such, was very friendly, making it worth the fight to get in and out of this cursed parking lot.

I was told that the grand opening would occur on October 25th, after which they'd be open for lunch at 11, which is a great time for that parking lot. I drove by on the 26th at a bit past 11 and the place was closed. Curious, I returned; on a quiet Sunday evening. The time between visits seemed to make some difference; I was greeted at the door and immediately seated at one of the tables. Gotta watch the step in though, I saw one guy almost fall on his face tripping on it. The stools I saw at these tables had been replaced by hard wooden chairs that reminded me of the stuff we sit on in school, but at least it felt okay height-wise. I went with the "Premium" Ramen ($7.75 then, now $8.25) with pork chashu.

This broth had a much more assertive chicken flavor and was pretty salty. To me, it's sort of a "tweener", between a rich tonkotsu, this was more oily than rich, and a shio. The noodles, as on my previous visit was excellent, though the portion seemed a bit small. Loved the pork chashu, it had some texture to it with a nice soy-mild sweet pork flavor.

The service was very nice and wonderfully friendly. When I mentioned the grand opening, I was told that it was now November first. By this time Dennis (of course), had already done a post, and Kirbie had done not just one, but two posts on the place!

So just by coincidence I found (wink-wink, nod-nod) myself in the area on the first at just a few minutes after eleven and scored maybe the last parking spot in the lot. Hey, it must have been fate, right? I was again seated at the counter and watch the place fill up fast. The place was well staffed for a grand opening, which would be over-staffed. Service was a breeze….I went with the Original ($7.25) and curiosity made me add oxtail to my ramen ($4).

The broth was just mildly salty, you could make out the chicken flavor with what really does seem like "bonito-ish" tones. It was fairly straight-forward as broth goes, though a nice change of pace from the really rich tonkotsu style or the by-the-numbers shoyu/shio ramen. The noodles were a bit overcooked on this visit, but still better than what I'll usually get at "second-tier" ramen places in San Diego.

As for the oxtail. If this is the standard issue version; I'd say save your money. First, it was undercooked. I don't want it falling apart, but this was on the tough side. It was impossible to separate what meat there was from the bone, so I just had to grab it and gnaw away at the darn thing. The oxtail was good sized, but there was only one, which was also pretty bland, and not worth the extra $4.

The two young ladies who served me worked quite well together, they were both very friendly. The prices seem to have gone up about half-a-buck from the soft opening, though the menu has a few more items on it.

So what about that "front page" blurb regarding Chef Takeo Araki, etc? This reminded me of the stuff Chabuton and the like place on their menu. I just kinda get that glazed over look and move elsewhere. Alkaline water is a big trend now; just ask the Missus who "blows in the wind like a stalk of wheat" to whatever the "latest thing" is. Jyosui, the parent company of RakiRaki is a water purification company…..connect the dots? Never really heard of Chef Takeo Araki either. Still, if you enjoy the ramen/tsukemen, it doesn't really matter, does it?

RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111