EE Nami Revisted

The Missus wanted to have dinner at EE Nami again recently. So, we decided to make a date night out of it. This was last minute, so we made sure to get to the restaurant 15 minutes before opening. It was a good thing too since there was only two tables without "reserved" signs on them.

The Missus was really craving the special that we had on our previous dinners, Miyazaki A5 Wagyu Nigiri. And I had really enjoyed the Ankimo with Smoked Takuan. Unfortunately, both of these items are no longer offered. In fact, there was only one special on the menu.

So, we looked over the menu and decided on what we wanted to order.

We started with what is listed on the menu as "Salted Squid Offal" – aka Shiokara ($7.50). There's a certain fusion-ny accommodation of some of the dish at EE Nami and I'm glad this dish wasn't made that way. 

This very funky, with wonderful assertive briny-savory tones that almost fakes your tastebuds into thinking there's a sweet component to things. This dish comes with a footnote on the menu that states:

"this dish has a strong flavor"

Well, I'm glad that in this case it was a true statement!

Next up was the one special on the menu; the Spicy Marinated Octopus and Tomato ($8.50).

It should have read salty tako with wonderful, fruity tomatoes. The octopus was fairly tender, but not spicy in the least, but very salty. The tomatoes were sweet, with that wonderful "taste of sunshine".

And like the octopus, we didn't find the Spicy Fried Chicken ($11.50) to be spicy at all, at least not by our standards. 

The sauce is supposedly made with both doubianjang and gochujang and did taste fairly beany, but it really didn't bring much to the dish. Like I mentioned before, some of the menu items portion sizes are quite "American" and it seems like the chicken dishes here are like that. The chicken was very crispy and moist. The Missus said She would have rather just had the chicken without the sauce as it was also nicely seasoned as well. I guess next time…..

And of course, we got the Fillet Tonkatsu ($22.50).

Which was good as ever; crisp panko breading, moist, and tender. As I've also mentioned before, this should be eaten at the restaurant, we could tell that the meat started drying out and getting firm rather quickly. I'd get the fillet for inhouse and the loin for takeout. Of course we loved the refreshing cabbage between bites.

As a whole EE Nami was a nice meal, service was quite attentive on this visit and I'm sure we'll be back again soon.

EE Nami
4706 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours
Wed – Sun 1130am – 2pm, 530pm – 10pm