So; hope you're staying safe and having a great St Paddy's Day.
Month: March 2019
Oahu – The Alley Restaurant Bar & Grill Revisted
We'd had a great time on Lana'i and we'll certainly be back.
When we got back to Ewa Beach; the Missus decided that we'd go out to an early dinner. There was one place She'd been wanting to revisit since we first ate there years ago; the Alley. Oxtail soup has a long history in Hawai'i, especially in bowling alleys. And the Missus really enjoyed the version at the Alley ; it was one place She really wanted to revisit. So we headed on down for an early dinner.
The place was fairly empty when we arrived; right before 5pm; but quickly filled up.
The Missus's "leaning tower of plates" soon arrived.
Served with minced ginger and cilantro; ponzu, brown rice, with one empty bowl for da' bones.
Man; this was good ono! The wonderful beefy-ginger-anise flavors; peanuts; that really delicious shiitake mushroom.
It's "rich and delish"! Oh yeah, the tender oxtails, cooked perfectly, not falling to pieces, but still spoon tender, was great. We still haven't found a real use case for that ponzu….
Good until the last drop……
I went with the Tasty Chicken…bowl. The plate would be just too much for me….though I did see one aunty whack the entire plate herself! I; of my own free will actually ordered this with brown rice. No tell anybody; but I like the way the Alley makes their brown rice. And when they asked me if it was mac salad or greens….the Missus, ahem, answered for me….
Oh, and I got the sauce on the side; it's a bit too much with the chicken glazed in it. But a light dip….the chicken is nicely seasoned on its own; light, crisp, moist; like a good karaage. It's best with just a touch of sauce as the flavor of the chicken and spices come through. And it goes strangely well with the brown rice. 
This was such a satisfying meal. The service was very friendly. Man, we can't wait to return next time I'm back "home".
The Alley Restaurant Bar & Grill
in Aiea Bowl
99-115 Aiea Heights Dr, Ste 310
Aiea, HI 96701
Emilia-Romagna: The Italian Days Food Experience
If you've followed our blog for a while; you'll know that the Missus and I are not big on tours. We'd rather do our own thing at our own pace and rushing through things when on a tour is just not a lot of fun for us. We were however, in Emilia-Romagna, home to so many Italian gastronomic treasures. Trying to hunt them down in the amount of time we had would have been quite a task. While doing my research; I'd read so many good reviews of the Italian Days Food Experience. And it delivered. It was a small group tour, a must for the Missus and I, our guide Eleanora was wonderful; funny, enthusiastic, and very knowledgeable; especially when it came to all the questions I had. And I did have many of them. This experience changed our minds when it comes to actually doing a tour. We're still cautious about it; but we're now believers. Anyway; this is already 150 words and change. I'll try to keep the verbiage to a minimum; otherwise you'd easily have 10,000 words plus. I want you to go to Bologna and take the tour, experience what we did….it ain't cheap at 150 Euros a person, but well worth it. I now truly understand the hard work, dedication, and passion the folks who make that wheel of Parmesan cheese or prosciutto, and now when I look at a bottle of Traditional Balsamico; I'll know if it's the "real thing".
We were picked up right on time from our apartment in Bologna and after a quick coffee stop headed off to our first destination in Castelvetro; San Silvestro Societa Agricola, a cooperative that takes the local farmer's milk and produces Parmesan Reggiano.
We suited up and then walked into an area with large vats of milk.
Each vat holds 1100 liters; that's 290 gallons of milk. From which the curds makes…..
Only 2 wheels ("the twins") of Parmesan Reggiano!
We all had a chance to taste the curds.
And I got the most wonderful answer when I asked what was done with all the leftover whey. Eleanora explained that some of the whey goes to make ricotta cheese and the rest to local pig farmers….hmmm…..I always thought that the great Prosciutto de Parma and Culatello had a sort of cheesy finish. Could it be?
It is then put into the classic round mold; the "fascera".
The cheese rests for a couple of days. A band is placed inside the molds which have the distinctive marks; the number of the producer, the month and year of production. The cheese also has a specific ID number; this way the actual cheese can be tracked back to the dairy which produced the milk. Only one dairy's milk is used for each production, so things can be traced.
The wheels are then put into a salt water solution and turned daily.
For up to three weeks!
Then it's time for the aging process. After twelve months an inspector from the official agency called the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano will inspect the wheels. Those that….ahem, don't "cut the cheese" have all identifying marks cut off. Those that make it get branded with the seal of the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin).
The cheese wheels are turned on a specific schedule. This is what Parmesan heaven looks like.
I'll never look at Parmesan Reggiano the same ever again.
Next up what a stop was this lovely Farm House nearby.
And yes; those are grape vines……
This was the Antico Acetaia Cavedoni, a balsamic vinegar house that has been producing the product for 7 generations…since 1860!
The current head of the family; Paolo Cavedoni, a very energetic gentleman, led us on a tour of the "vinegar loft" and production.
He also explained the specifics of "DOP" ("Denominazione di Origine Protetta") designation; which is done by a panel of 5 master tasters. If the vinegar hits a certain "score" it will be labelled Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale. This is the good stuff and can only be sold in the specific 100 ml bottle that was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, a famous car designer….after all Modena is home to Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati.
The balsamic is aged in several successive aging barrels for a minimum of 12 years. Every year, vinegar is taken from the smallest barrel, and it is then replenished with product from the next barrel up, and so on. A barrel is never emptied.
Paolo explained that when girls are born into a household, traditionally they would start an entire line – such as "Beatrice" above; which was initiated upon her birth in 1972. In the olden days; the barrels were used as a dowry when the young lady was wed.
In the "back office" we saw barrels going back to the 1800's.
The oldest Balsamico here produces four bottles a year and is sold to one restaurant in Macau.
Can you figure out which is the bottle of Balsamico Tradizionale?
We had a nice "snack" break here….which included quite a bit of food.
What was really amazing was the ricotta cheese topped with Saba; this was amazing stuff and we ended up buying two bottles of it.
Our next stop was at the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Modena, a producer of Prosciutto, right outside Modena.
Eleanora went through the entire process….it was funny when I asked her where on the pig culatello came from and she proceeded to heartily whack a certain body part.
Everything is regulated; from the pig, what it's fed, weight, age…..
There's a specific salting process, and then the washing, drying, the long curing process.
Man, this place smelled amazing.
And the very generous samples….and Lambrusco went down real well.
So, after all of this? Well, it was time for a late lunch! Man, I was kinda full from all of the samples and such. But locale was quite nice.
And there was way too much food and drink…..
We wouldn't be having dinner tonight, that's for sure.
Like I said in the beginning; this small group (ten of us) tour by Italian Days changed our opinion when it comes to taking tours. Yes, you still need to pick well. And definitely read those reviews.
I had learned so much….food is "our thing" when we travel, and Italian Days really delivered. It was well worth the 300 Euros for the both of us.
I hope you get the chance to experience what we did.
Thanks for stopping by!
Chicken Wing Wednesday – Furaido
**** Furaido has closed
Back in the comments section of my Bonchon post, "RedDevil" asked me if I had been to the new KFC place that opened in Atlas Market. I'd already heard about the place and had in on my list; so on holiday weekend, after working the morning I headed over.
The good thing about Furaido is that they open at 1030 in the morning; so I could easily beat the crowds.
Located in the Food Court area; Furaido claims to serve gluten free fried chicken; which means it's probably using rice flour and the texture of the wings reflected that. The wings come from the market and are Halal as well.
On both my visit I got the 10 piece wings; because; well, I'm all about wings. You get two choices for a glaze or "dip" or dust..
I went with the Devil Garlic and like Kirbie (please check out her post), I was fascinated by the having Furikake on my wings as well.
A couple of observations that were true for all the wings and drumettes I had here. The batter is obviously rice flour based and on the crumbly-hard side than crunchy. It is not oily and the fat has been rendered nicely on these wings. The batter is also quite dry and is not seasoned; more on that below. I believe they also over fry the drumettes which make them tough and dry. The wings are large; which can through off moisture, and skin to meat ratios….I prefer my wings smaller; bigger is not necessarily better, and these tend toward being over battered….I mean you work hard to render the fat and develop a nice light crisp skin; why cover it in a ton of batter?
The Red Devil (thinking of you RD!) Garlic; while not quite turning the wings a shade of red was my favorite here; it wasn't too sweet, slightly spicy, and best of all, the wings weren't just drenched in sauce.
The Furikake wings needed a kick up in flavor as; like I mentioned before, the initial product is not seasoned, so this was bland; there's no moisture from a sauce or glaze; so these are even drier.
Overall; plus – minus.
Between visits; "SomTommy" emailed me and said he enjoyed the Garlic Soy Wings and "Top Secret" Dip on his wings and so on my follow-up visit….
Man, these were fried even harder and was even more crumbly. Can you tell which one has the Garlic Soy? It's the one on the left; it was very lightly sauced which I would usually appreciate, but the unseasoned and dry wings needed more.
As for the Top Secret……with a tip of the hat to "FOY" CC, do you remember what the "secret sauce" at Bronco Burger was? Yep, that was this.
So, in the end; the Devil Garlic Glaze is what I enjoyed the most. The wings here have too much batter for my taste; even more than Cross Street. If you like a thick batter and larger wings and drumettes; you might enjoy Furaido. But get a glaze or Dipp; or enough "dust" because the chicken isn't seasoned enough on its own. As for me; well, I wouldn't go out of the way to visit Furaido.
For a different perspective please check out Soo's post along with the afore mentioned post by Kirbie.
Furaido Premium Chicken Company (Inside Atlas Market)
14837 Pomerado Rd.
Poway, CA 92064
Hours:
Open Daily 1030 – 8pm
HiroNori Craft Ramen
Have you hit the max hyperbole regarding ramen in San Diego? There seems to be a new place opening every week. In fact, after my last couple of visits to a recently opened ramen shop in San Diego I was kinda done. But then HiroNori opened in San Diego and "FOY" SomTommy sent me an email saying he'd actually waited in line for over an hour in Irvine for the ramen which he enjoyed. And soon after "Reza" sent me an email telling me he had the ramen in Santa Clara and thought it was equal to what he had in Japan.
Ok, so they got me……
So, HiroNori is located in what I consider the revolving door of restaurants in Hillcrest….which used to be, if I recall, an L&L , Naked Pizza, and if I recall, some iteration of a Brazilian BBQ over the last couple of years.
I gotta say the name of the place ("Craft Ramen") had me thinking of hipster ramen. When I arrived, the folks here were really eager to please, very friendly, so nice……
My Server on this visit, "Jennifer" was so sweet. Except she kept calling it "tonkatsu ramen". The first three times was fine, if a bit painful, the fourth time, had me cringing, to the point I had to humbly correct her….I felt so bad, but like I told her, everytime she said it, it just was so painful to my Japanese soul. Luckily, she was so very nice and told me, "I'm still learning, so thank you very much!" Whew…..
I started with the "Crispy Chicken", which is basically the karaage….I wish they had the Japanese name for things on the menu.
I was surprised at the portion size which was quite generous. This was pretty good, it was lightly crisp, and there was a nice umami; soy-upfront ginger flavor going on, and was quite moist. Not bad at all.
Of course I naturally went with the Tonkotsu Ramen.
This was a decent Tonkotsu, though not as rich as I enjoy. Slightly porky, I think it could have been richer. Som Tommy had told me that his opinion of the broth was that it was lighter than what he had in Irvine.
The egg was nicely done; and "gasp", not cold! Soft, with a good soy sauce flavor; it was quite good. The Chashu, while being a bit milder than I preferred was tender, and actually had some nice soy based porkiness. The blanched spinach added a nice slight bitterness to things.
Most of all; I enjoyed the "thick noodles" which did a good job of trapping the broth.
This was actually better than what I expected.
So, because I try to check things out more than once before doing a post I returned a week later. This time, I ordered the Shoyu Ramen. Let me just say, in my mind, this is the way to go here.
I won't go into the thick noodles (cooked perfectly), chashu, nor the ajitama, which was the same as before. The menma (bamboo shoots) were fine as well. What I will say is that the shoyu broth was excellent, just edging on the cusp of being too salty, but there was a lot going on; a nice nuttiness, really complex flavors. It was thick and rich; perhaps even more than the tonktosu broth. I was told that the shoyu used to make the broth was aged for over two years, which accounted for the complexity.
So, here's me seal of approval. This doesn't happen very often.
I will be back.
What I find interesting is that HiroNori decided to enter the ramen market in one of the most ramen dense area in San Diego; and one that is not very discriminating. It will be an interesting study to see how they do with all of a competition. The place never filled up on any of my visits while folks from the OC told me there are often waits of over an hour long at the shops there.
I hope they do well; like I said in a previous post "there's always room for good ramen". And I think HiroNori fills the bill. Service was excellent, we'll see how they do over time.
HiroNori Craft Ramen
3803 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
Open Daily 1130am – 9pm
Revisits – Chon Ju Jip and Pho 7 Cow
Well; last night was the good old Daylight Savings Time "Spring Forward"….so yes; I guess it's spring, though it's still kind of chilly out there. I'm not really complaining as it gives me more "soup time". Here are a couple of recent revisits.
Chon Ju Jip:
Man, has it really been over 5 years since I last visited? Time sure does fly. For some reason; my recent visits to Woomiok had me wondering how Chon Ju Jip was doing. The place was looking a bit beat and run down….do you remember when this was Ko Hayang Jip back in the 'oughts?
I stopped in for lunch and decided on getting the Galbitang ($10.95).
And just like the interior; the panchan seemed a bit old and tired. The portions were tiny and some of it was kind of on the dry side and very mild in flavor.
The Galbitang came in a sizeable bowl; it was nice and steaming hot. The rice provided was decent; though not very fragrant.
The soup did need a good amount of salt; though it was slightly beefy and not bad at all. The rice vermicelli was over done and mushy. The beef ribs were very tough and all the flavor had been extracted from the meat.
Kind of a sad metaphor for the current state of this tiny little shop.
Perhaps I need to return with the Missus for the Gamjatang or Heukyumso Jungol.
Chon Ju Jip
4373 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours
Mon – Sat 10am – 10pm
Pho 7 Cow:
In my very sad post on the sad state of Pho at Pho Lucky; "Alan" mentioned that perhaps I needed to head back out and start checking out all those pho places again. I was thinking about this while driving down to National City this past weekend. I recalled that Pho 7 Cow had made a decent bowl of Pho during my visits back in 2017. So, instead of hitting up my intended destination, I stopped by Pho 7 Cow.
Like on my previous visits there was a good amount of staff working and things went quickly and efficiently.
The basil looked like it was on brink of starting to turn color, but the sprouts and the cilantro were fine. I was surprised at the amount of meat in this; a small #4 ($7.75). The flank was tender but quite bland; the brisket better, the tripe, of which there was a good amount was well prepped, crunchy, with a slight offal flavor, there was one tiny piece of tendon which was on the hard side.
The noodles were in the typical clump on the bottom and took some work untangling; but was decently chewy and not over-cooked.
The broth was a bit richer than on previous visits; it was on the darker side, but clear. There was a slight hint of anise and onion, with a mild beefiness, and best of all; it wasn't too sweet.
This was not bad. Actually better than I expected. So perhaps I do need to "make the rounds" again at all of those pho shops.
Thanks for the suggestion Alan!
Pho 7 Cow
1025 Highland Ave
National City, CA 91950
Hours:
Daily 10am – 9pm
Paris – Revisiting Pere Lachaise Cemetery and Lunch at Dong Phat
There were a couple of places the Missus wanted to revisit during this trip to Paris. One of those was Pere Lachaise Cemetery. We were a bit overwhelmed during our previous visit and couldn't find a lot graves and sites we wanted to see. This time we were a lot more organized as we got to the Porte Gambetta entry to the cemetery.
The first thing you past as you make your way up L'avenue des Combattants are the various war memorials.
And you soon come to the Crematorium. The building is surrounded by tons of small niches; cubicles for the cremated. We spent some time wondering the courtyard and came across some really fascinating niches.
I found the following really touching.
"Toi et Moi" it simply says….."Me and You".
There are some interesting niches in the structure.
Must've been a Rolling Stones fan?
Painter and Poet.
And of course; the famous soprano Maria Callas.
One could spend a good amount of time here.
Many families have crypts for entire families.
There are graves that look ancient ruins……
To the sweet and touching.
Close by is this tomb.
This is where Oscar Wilde is buried. It is one of the most visited tombs in Pere Lachaise; there's quite a story behind the build. It had become a tradition for women to put on lipstick and leave an imprint of a "kiss" on the tomb. It would be covered with thousands of kisses; the cleaning effort was causing damage to the stone; so they put up a plastic barrier around the tomb.
Monument to national airline disasters.
Gertrude Stein's grave.
There's an entire area which memorializes the victims of Concentration Camps and the Nazi Resistance.
Gaunt, haunting statues top the memorials with names like Dachau, Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Oranienburg and Sachsenhausen.
The concentration camp at Ravensbrück was created specifically for women prisoners and was used from 1939 – 1945. I had never heard of this concentration camp until I saw the memorial. After which, I came home and looked it up. Of the over 130,000 women imprisoned during the period of 1939 – 1945; only 15,000 survived.
My good friend Ale is a big fan of Edith Piaf; so I promised that I'd find her final resting place for her.
Her daughter who died at the age of two is buried beside her.
Bernard Verlhac might not be a name you recognize.
He was one of the twelve people assassinated in the Charlie Hebdo shooting.
Other famous gravesites.
I guess you're really famous when everyone knows you by just one name. I already took a photo of Jim Morrison's grave on my previous post; so while we walked by, I refrained.
Though I couldn't help but take another photo of this one.
We got back to the apartment in the 7th a bit pooped. It was a pretty damp and cold day. So, we decided to head up two blocks to Restaurant Dong Phat. Some pho sounded like just the thing. The menu is rather small; the seating tight, the two young ladies working fairly nice.
The place was quite busy and it seemed like most of the folks really liked the shrimp chips?????
The Missus went with the Pho Tai and I went with the Pho Sate.
Man, these folks love their sauces….from the cup of Hoisin to the jar of chili sauce; folks on other tables were just dumping it into their soup. Also, notice that mint seems to be a standard herb for pho 'round these parts.
This was a pretty small portion for over ten Euros. It was pretty weak and bland….no wonder folks were dumping all of that stuff into their pho. Just a few slices of rare beef; decent fat, but on the tough side and very squeaky beef balls. The Banh Pho used were really wide and undercooked.
The Missus fared no better with her cloudy, bland, beef ball filled bowl.
I'd read good things about this place and with the history of the French in Vietnam, I thought that would be one cuisine that would be excellent in Paris. Well, this made it "oh-for-one".
Dong Phat
10 rue Malar
75007 Paris, France
Well, at least I was fairly certain dinner was going to be good…..
Thanks for stopping by!
Isshido Ramen (Soft Opening)
After a bit of a wait, Isshido Ramen finally opened in the middle of last month and is in soft opening mode. Since the opening; I've been able to visit three times.
Located in the former location of a Submarina; I read that the owners are from Fukuoka, home of tonkotsu (Hakata) style ramen. So, I was intrigued; especially since the place was basically right across the street from Menya Utlra's Mira Mesa shop. Calvin was also quite excited to try the place out; so we headed on over. In an interesting development, we were seated, then told that the kitchen wasn't quite ready so there would be a 20 minute wait. Well, lucky for us; we had some extra time on this day.
The shop is nice sized; 45-50 seats; wood paneling, you get it, right? The ramen menu features nine variations….but of course you know what I was going to try, right?
We were thoroughly starving by the time our orders were taken; so we ordered a couple of appetizers.
Starting with Chicken Karaage.
Very light in color; more crumbly than crisp, for some reason the flavor profile reminded me of RakiRaki's karaage, except more mild in flavor….it had that hint of curry/turmeric or something similar, but really needed a good squeeze of lemon. At least the chicken was nice and moist.
I was also curious about the Potato Salad as I do enjoy a nice Japanese style (mashed) potato salad. I inquired about the portion size and the really nice (all the young ladies working here are very nice and eager to please) Server about the serving size. She walked over to the window; came back and made a circle with her hands about 3 1/2 inches in width. So I ordered it. What came out was this.
Jesus; almost twice the width! The young lady brought this and looked at us sheepishly and said, "I'm sorry, this is way bigger than they told me". Well, at least it wasn't smaller, right? This really needed more salt; and even more mayo as it was more mashed potato than salad. Still, it was not bad.
And then there was the Signature Paitan ($11.95); in this case it's a tonkotsu broth, so no chicken involved. Because of the description, I expected a milky white broth, which was not quite what I got.
The broth was salty and there was a strange unpleasant bitterness to it. We pulled several pieces of burnt garlic from our spoons which probably contributed to the flavor. I also would have preferred something a bit richer as well. The egg looked lovely; but was ice cold and really salty. The chashu was a bit on the waxy side; but tender enough, with a nice shoyu-mild sweetness.
I had expected the typical Hakata style noodles; but these were firm, slightly curly, and prepared well.
Overall, pretty mediocre, and definitely in need of some refining.
There was one, kinda gimmicky ramen on the menu I wanted to try, so I returned a week later. This time, all the folks waited outside until 1114 to be let in. One of the guys recognized me from Menya and asked me how it compared. I told him, I'd only been here once, but I thought it was not in the same league, especially with attention to detail.
So, I got a seat and ordered the Truffle Shio Ramen ($12.95).
Holy smokes; the shio ramen, at least on this day was way more "kotteri" than the tonkotsu I had. This is supposedly made with a truffle tare; but I could barely make out the fragrance of truffle. Large slices of oyster mushroom were torched like chashu to replace the pork; but while the texture was decent; it was really bland, and lacking the woodsy-lightly sweet flavor typical of this type of mushroom. They need to do something with the slices of mushroom than just slice and torch it so it can stand up to the broth. The sautéed button mushrooms had some earthy-buttery flavor and did well in this bowl, as did the crunchy menma (bamboo shoots). Perhaps some adjustments to the marinating liquid for the egg is due, as it was again super salty.
The noodles were a bit different this time; thinner, more straight, and over-cooked. So, no, I couldn't be bringing the Missus here.
And as I was leaving, the guy who for some reason remembered me from Menya said: "you're right, this ain't no Menya Ultra".
And so, this would have been the post, except that I had lunch with one of my ex-coworkers who was around for a meeting and really wanted to try Isshido. So I relented and we made our way over. This time, they had their act together and opened on time.
Though I really didn't want more ramen, I decided to stick with the other side of the menu.
Unfortunately, because we're still in the soft-opening period, all the bentos and fried rice aren't available. So, I ordered what I could.
I ordered some Gyoza.
Brittle wrappers, very moist, but super salty filling; I wouldn't be surprised if these weren't made inhouse.
Since it was a cold and rainy day, I also went with the small Oden ($6.95), which was quite a bit for the price.
So, let's imagine you bought some Hon Tsuyu; instant broth mix, and then put in half the water you were supposed to…in other words; it was so salty as to be undrinkable. The daikon had obviously been soaking in this and was super salty. The fish cake though, had not been exposed for too long and thankfully were edible and everything was hot. The young lady asked me why I didn't finish this dish and I told her it was way too salty. 
And my dining companion was equally disappointed in the ramen.
I like the young people working here. I hope they get things straightened out.
Also, I took a gander at the website for Isshido and noticed this:
"Our story begins in Hakata Japan with our Master Chef, Mr. Ishida, who grew up in Hakata mastering the ramen recipes and tastes of his hometown passed down from his family for centuries. After 20 years of diligent study and mastering his recipes, he has brought his family’s legacy to the United States for the first time with Isshido in San Diego,CA."
Strangely, all the folks working the ramen line on my three visits were the same, they looked no older than maybe late 20's, early 30's. So, I'm figuring either "Mr Ishida" is not around to train, QC, and get the systems straight….or maybe one of these guys (all of which spoke perfect English) started their "diligent study" when they were maybe 7-8 years old?
Perhaps I'm mistaken; but if you visit, let me know if Mr Ishida is there!
Too bad, because in spite of the influx of ramen shops, there's always room for good ramen. Especially since I think we'll soon hit critical mass with regards to ramen shops.
So, I'll check back in a couple months and I'm hoping for some better ramen.
Isshido Ramen
8250 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Wed – Mon 11am – 3pm, 430pm – 9pm
Woomiok (Soft Opening)
At the end of February Eater announced the business that would replace Red Cate had opened. I was quite happy to learn that it was a Seolleongtong shop. This year; the weather has been perfect for Seolleongtang, so of course I headed right on over first chance I had.
The shop is nicely put together; clean lines, and of course the inevitable wood paneling.
While the place is still in Soft opening mode and the folks seem to be rushing around a bit; I gotta say, the service was quite good.
Of course I had to order the Seolleontang. Out first was the panchan; which were nice and spicy, not too salty, and decent by San Diego standards. In other words, I'd love for someone to have really good fermented panchan. Still, this wasn't bad.
I laughed when the next items came out…….
The container of scallions totally reminded me of Seoul.
Soon enough, my bone soup arrived.
I forgot to take a photo of the rice; which for some reason, I thought was excellent. The broth, while not overly thick, nicely coated my tongue, and with a dose of salt, had a nice beefiness. When I mentioned his place to one of the folks at work; he mentioned that he had read (I found out on the four lettered site) that the soup was really bland. I had to explain to him that you needed to add salt to your taste to it…aiyah…. The brisket was nice and beefy; I was surprised that the tendon, which looked tough was nice and tender. Though there's not a large amount of meat in the broth, what there is was quite good.
This was quite a satisfying meal; so I soon returned.
I ordered the Galbitang; but after placing my order, the nice woman informed me that Galbitang wasn't available, so I had to order something else.
So, I decided to try the Donkkaseu (aka "Tonkatsu"). The panchan on this day was even better, especially the kkakdugi (radish kimchi); which had a nice spice, sourness, and was fairly refreshing.
Whoa; check out the pork cutlet.
Even though it was pounded thin like schnitzel; it was quite large; I could finish just a bit over half of it. It was by the book, fairly moist and tender, but nothing special. I'm not a big fan of the runny and fairly bland sauce that typically accompanies the donkkaseu. In fact when I order this from Bann, I bring my own Japanese Katsu sauce. The rice was once again excellent. Cabbage drizzled with ketchup and mustard and a routine macaroni salad completed things.
You couldn't complain about the portion size; that's for sure. But I sure wished they had what I originally wanted. Oh well, the hazards of visiting during soft openings.
I mentioned trying this place out to the Missus; who enjoyed Seollongtang and She asked me; "Is it as good as Imun is Seoul?" Geeez… My response? "Well, Imun has been around for 115 years, and Woomiok for like 2 weeks, give them a try." Which is what seemed to be happening as most of the customers on my two visits were older Korean folks trying out the new kid in town. I'm hoping they do well (and last longer than Great Wow and Red Cate) and hope they have the galbitang when I return.
I guess everyone thinks it's perfect weather for this; check out Kirbie's post here.
Woomiok
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Tues – Sun 11am – 9pm
Lunches at Kokoro
Recently, the Missus and I have been talking about Japan quite a lot. We're obviously missing Japan; but with how far ahead we plan our trips; it's been hard trying to fit another visit with our timelines.
Recently, after a rather long morning, I just wanted a nice peaceful lunch and maybe something that'd would remind me of Japan. It had been ages since I'd had lunch at Kokoro; a place that was a favorite of the late Ed from Yuma, it seems that he'd eat there at least once on his visits. Having a meeting close by gave me the perfect opportunity to drop in for lunch.
There was only one other table occupied when I arrived. It was three generations of Japanese women having lunch.
This was exactly the kind of atmosphere I wanted. It was easy to find what I wanted for lunch on the menu. It was right on the first page.
You have your choice of Miso Soup or Udon…I've always enjoyed the miso soup here; but decided to try the udon.
Loved the texture of the noodles; which were nice and firm. The broth was really salty. The crisp and fresh greens were dressed with a typical Asian vinaigrette; I loved the tomato which had a good deal of acidity. But enough about that…..
On to the main course; the Chirashi ($20).
I'd recently had a poke bowl in San Diego that nearly cost me this much and was terrible. So, when looking at things that way….. Anyway, the sushi meshi, while perhaps a bit heavy on the vinegar did a nice job, along with the ginger of cleansing; then prepping my palate for each slice of fish. The tako was nicely tender; the maguro standard issue; the Hamachi nice and buttery….but it the shiromi (the whitefish) that made this particularly good….and those nicely prepared slices of saba and kampachi. The piece of hirame hiding in the back had a nice mild sweetness to it.
This was a really nice lunch.
So; I decided to return a week or so later.
And while I was sorely tempted to have the chirashi again, I turned over the menu and ordered something from the other side of it.
This time I started with the miso soup; which was as good as ever; nice miso flavor, with a bit of thickness to it.
I ordered the sashimi and chicken karaage combo ($14.95).
The karaage was straightforward chicken thighs, skin on, seasoned with salt and black pepper, and lightly dusted. It was quite plain and without crisp or crunch, nor with any complex umami flavors.
The sashimi was basic; the Hamachi being the best of the bunch; the tako was again very tender, but did not have the light briney flavor of the previous meal. The maguro was fine; no off flavors.
It wasn't bad by any means; but I'm going to stick with the Chriashi. The older woman who works here is so very gracious and when things are slow I really enjoy the vibe of the place. I've got to have lunch here more often.
Kokoro Restaurant
3298 Greyling Dr
San Diego, CA 92123
Hours
Mon – Tues 1130am – 2pm, 530pm – 10pm
Wed 530pm – 10pm
Thurs – Sat 1130am – 2pm, 530pm – 10pm