We had a nice period of cooler weather before things turned really hot. It has been a pretty warm year, so we never had any period of real "noodle weather", so when things cooled down, I tried to make the most of it.
Ramen Yamadaya:
**** Ramen Yamadaya has closed
The first place I hit up was Ramen Yamadaya. We left less than satisfied on our last visit back in November. I ordered my usual, the Kotteri Tonkotsu, noodles extra firm, with garlic on the side. Things were better this time around, the broth nice and hot, the rich soup coating my tongue….and belly. Noodles were decently firm, and overall, this was a nice bowl. I guess our last visit was a fluke….I hope.
Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117
On another note, the sign for the downtown location on Broadway is finally up. Still not much sign of activity and it's been over a year….but at least it's progress.
Hinotez:
I actually had been thinking of going to Yakyudori, but my meetings had run long…..try and get into Yakyudori, or any number of ramen shops on "the Mesa" at noon. I really didn't have the time, nor the internal fortitude to wait in line….so where to go? Well, I've never encountered a wait at Yakyudori's sister restaurant, Hinotez. I will say that in my experience, the ramen at Hinotez never really stood up to the Yakuyudori name, but since my choices were limited……
Like my experience at Yamadaya, the Shio Ramen ($7) here was better than on previous visits.
I actually hedged my bets by also ordering some Chicken Karaage, which were nice and lightly battered, but was on the tough and chewy side.
The ramen was pretty good, the nice mild sweetness of the salt was there, the noodles were wonderfully chewy. Not a fan of a chashu, which was dry, but at least it wasn't cold like on my last visit. The broth had a nice layer of fat floating on the top….this was a vast improvement since my last visit.
Hinotez
7947 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111
Two for two….nice!
I think we've got some cooler weather coming up this week, what are planning to eat?
Have you tried the Karaage at Yamadaya? We received THE worst batch of Karaage on our last visit there. So we haven’t been back since.
I think I’d love to revisit Raki for that Tsukemen you posted about the other day. That sounds like a good lunch meal to have right about now.
Hi Faye – I did have it when they first opened, it had a quite a bit of ginger flavor.
yeah cooler weather 🙂
Tell me about it Kat! It was pretty hot for a couple of days there.