A while back I noticed that Okan Diner stopped serving lunch and went more the route of Yakitori and such. Based on my visits, no big loss. At the same time I noticed that the lunch menu at Wa Dining Okan added dishes that Okan Diner used to serve….which kinda got me worried. After returning from our trip to Israel-Jordan-France, I had a rather hectic day and thought it was time for a lunch revisit since it had been a while.
I got in right at 1130 when the place opened. I also noticed that folks were waiting for Okan to open. A good sign I guess. Since the menu had changed a bit, I decided to try one of the "Okan Diner" dishes; the Katsuni, which was actually cheaper ($11) than what the price used to be at Okan Diner. It was also quite a bit more food.
The side dishes were really bland; the sweet potatoes ice cold and dry….and of course, I find seaweed salad a sad sign; basically the easy way out…premade stuff.
The rice was perfect; fluffy, hot, and the portion quite large.
That tonkatsu was terrible; the panko was burnt in several places, the pork dry and tough. The egg was overly sweet with too much liquid.
The miso soup was quite good; perhaps a bit too much seaweed, but not bad overall.
But miso soup and rice does not make this a good meal. It was strangely mediocre. What was going on here? After returning from San Francisco, on the way back to the office between meetings I stopped by and order my "usual" lunch here; the Tori Nanban ($11).
The miso soup was again quite tasty and not watered down. The sides….well, at least the tamago was decent. The rice wasn't hot enough on this visit, but that's splitting hairs I guess.
The usual, almost lacquer batter on the chicken was too soft and almost mushy. The tartar sauce this time around lacked balance and the mayo to vinegar ratio was off….too much mayo. Like the tonkatsu on the previous visit; there seems to be a real temperature issue with what's being fried here.
Kinda sad especially since I've been a customer since they opened over eleven years ago. These two meals had me wondering how Okan was doing for dinner these days. The Missus really hasn't been keen on having dinner at Okan over the last couple of years. Another interesting tidbit; while there were many Asian customers on my two lunch visits; none of them (except me) seemed to be Japanese….lots of Mandarin speakers though. Looks like I've crossed Okan off my lunch list for a while.
Wa Dining Okan
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111