mmm-yoso – Page 242

The Santouka Effect…..

October 30, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

In my opinion we had some pretty good ramen in Japan.

I mean, for me, it was a total slam dunk…I loved my choices.

1 – Nagi Ramen – which I've already posted on

2 – Ippudo

3 – Rokurinsha

We had one bowl which we both didn't care for.

But the place made killer fried chicken.

Strangely, during the whole time, the Missus kept saying…."you know, this is not as good as Santouka!" Say what?!? I love Santouka and all, but really! Perhaps I should have gone to Santouka in Kyoto just to set things straight. I'm thinking She really didn't care for the stronger niboshi flavors…..but She also wasn't impressed with the richness of the broth! Nagi Ramen? Rokurinsha? Really?

If She believed Santouka is that much better than anything we had, then fine. I wanted some confirmation. So, this past Saturday, it was off to Santouka, which by the way, is my favorite ramen in San Diego.

We ordered just as we did in Japan. The Missus, minimizing the carbs……She almost fell out of Her seat the first time She saw someone having ramen, rice, and gyoza! Ramen and rice?!? Anyway, She'd have a bit of noodles, a bit of rice, usually a decent amount of broth, and sometimes more than 1 egg. She did readily admit that the eggs in Japan were just that much better.

Anyway, one sip of the broth did it. "Huh, it's kind of thin, sort of bland……. I don't know what I was thinking?" Yes, She had somehow mentally put the broth and everything else at Santouka on a pedestal! We all do this….but not usually with items we've recently had….food nostalgia strikes us all. But I've never seen this in the short term.

No, it wasn't quite as rich, nor robust in flavor, as much of what we had. The noodles, well, the Missus doesn't care for Hakata style noodles, yet the texture in each bowl we had was excellent.

"You know, I feel kind of disappointed….I don't feel that I enjoyed those bowls as much as I could have. I put Santouka up on a fictional level. It was all in my head….."

"Doesn't it suck when you find out that Santa Claus doesn't exist? Oh, and….as an FYI…..neither does the Easter Bunny"

"I feel gypped……"

"Hey, we can always circle back. I'm more than willing to return to Japan. And, we can even check out Santouka while we're there!"

Like I said. Santouka is our favorite. But a little perspective is always good. And maybe, just maybe….we'll be able to sample more good ramen in Japan again soon.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope you're having a great week!

Yakitori Taisho – a first look

October 27, 2014 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

*** More updates can be found here and here.

So we get back from Japan and what's the first thing the Missus wants to eat? Japanese of course! With the Missus eating low wheat products, it can be a challenge….but Yakitori places surely fit the bill if you want to do some lower-carb eating. Plus, Yakitori Taisho had just opened a few days earlier. I'd been keeping an eye on the place since it was Curry Rice Hinotez.

Though we'd had yakitori twice in Osaka, none of the meals really wow'd us. One of the places was really inexpensive and made some great quail eggs, but fell short, the other made a wonderful version of torisashi (chicken sashimi) and a tasty yaki-onigiri, but the actual stuff on a stick? Well, maybe not. So the Missus was kind of interested to see how this place would be. I wanted to see if there were any differences from it's brother restaurant Yakyudori.

First off, the restaurant is, as expected, tiny, eight bar seats and maybe…..and this might be stretching it, another 7 seats at two small tables. I'd say that this would be much like Japan, except the counters are quite large.

There's a single person working the brazier and the smell of bincho seems a bit milder.

As things went, there were some distinct differences between Yakyudori and Taisho. First off, Taisho seemed a bit more stylish…..plus no cabbage to help refresh you between items. The one server was omni-present, but very nice.

So, on to the food. We started with tororo (grated mountain yam) and quail egg.

With a little shoyu, a nice start….it could also be a nice palate cleanser between dishes. Loved that you could make out the yolk flavor in this. Yes, I know, a lot of folks have a problem with that mucousy slimy texture….but man, don't you think it's time you got over that? And heck, if you're one of those health crazy folks….think about all that soluble fiber, right?

The tsukune, chicken meatball, looked different than the tubular version at Yakyudori.

But it was as moist and melt in your mouth tender. The tare was also milder. I'm not sure if it was because it's a new batch that hasn't "aged" yet, or if by purpose, but this was very nice as you could really make out the chicken and scallion flavor.

So then, there's the teba, the chicken wings, for us, one of the best items Yakyudori makes. The version here is also splayed out perfectly, it is also grilled to crisp perfection. The one thing we quickly noticed was….this wasn't as salty. We kind of enjoyed this more….

The first very distinctive difference between Taisho and Yakyudori was in the negima.

This version used regular onions and breast. Nevertheless, it was very moist.

The kawa (chicken skin) was interesting.

Chicken skin is one of our favorites. This version was dipped into the tare several times. While I appreciated the sweet and salty flavors; the texture was kind of gummy, and the fact you were eating crisp, salty, chicken skin was lost.

The ginnan….well, tasted like ginko.

The last item was perhaps one of the best – the buta-shiso.

While I really like the version at Yakyudori, I thought this was perhaps, better. The pork, belly in this case I believe, was exceedingly moist. It was not as aggressively salted, meaning that the flavor of the pork came through. I also noticed that the grill had been set-up with different temperature sections. Also, it seemed items weren't cooked at as high a heat as Yakyudori….items were started lower, but finished high. The sodium content also seemed a bit lower. In other words, there was a lot to like here. I have a feeling this place is going to blow up like crazy, so I'm glad we got a chance to try it out. I overheard the chef talking to so some friends telling them gyutan is coming soon…..I'd also really like to see horumon (intestine) and nankotsu (chicken cartlidge) on the menu….

We enjoyed ourselves. We'll be back…..if we can get a seat.

Yakitori Taisho
5185 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117
Hours:
Tues – Sunday 5pm – 11pm

Tokyo Day 1: Lunch at Sushi Iwa

October 26, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Sushi and Sashimi, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

I'd planned on making our first full day in Tokyo our "red lettered day" for our trip and things were starting out great with a visit to Tsukiji and breakfast at Tenfusa. We left Tsukiji and decided to walk up to Ginza. We stopped for coffee in a nice quiet shop and struck up a conversation with a nice couple, he was retired military, his wife, a native of Tokyo, returns yearly to lecture. It was quite an entertaining discussion.

Ginza is the upscale shopping and entertainment neighborhood of Tokyo….huge multilevel department stores, like Mitsukoshi, which once had a shopping complex in Waikiki which had an entire floor of video games. So large it even has its own subway stop on the Ginza line! More on that later.

We walked around the Ginza area killing time. I'd gotten lunch reservations at Sushi Iwa through the wrangling of some friends. That's the deal with being in an apartment, there's no concierge service, but I think we did fine. For what it's worth, the place has a Michelin Star, which, I guess for some people is all that really matters…… sigh.

Now finding a single doorway on a side street in Ginza while trying to use the Japanese address system, can be frustrating. Armed with a photo of the storefront, finding the address 8-5-25 Ginza, Chuo-ku ranks right up there with spending your day chewing on aluminum foil. For some reason, the Missus did exceptionally well once we could locate the "chome" – district, in this case 8-chome. The next number is the block, which was easy enough….you find 4 or 6 and you know "5" is in there somewhere. That last number is the building….the trick here being that the numbering for buildings is not consecutive. Rather, buildings are numbered in the order in which they were built or in reference to some "center"! All this made finding almost everything an adventure. We really didn't feel bad after seeing so many Japanese visitors and even residents of Tokyo…even our friend Reiko has no idea how to find a place without using a business card, an app, or asking directions. Given the immense tolerance and patience of folks we ran into, this is fairly common.

The shop itself is quite tiny; only six seats. The lines very clean, very neat, the space wide open for viewing the chef Hisayoshi Iwa preparing our meal.

So why lunch? Well, the Missus was having a hard time justifying spending over $200 per person for a sushi dinner, kaiseki maybe, but just not sushi. Plus, with rice involved, we tend to fill up rather quickly. Sushi Iwa has a basic sushi lunch (10 pieces) for 4750 yen – (under $50, you can get the 13 pieces for $85). This is a bargain in my eyes.

We started with a nice clean, cold sake, which the Chef recommended.

It was a joy to watch the precision practiced by the rather young (mid-late 30's) Chef. I love the single bite Edo style sushi. The rice here is very mild and balanced in flavor, which is my preference. The nikiri is also quite neutral, no heavy sweet or salty tones, just adding a mild umami. I loved what I call the "rice explosion", when the nigiri enters the mouth and just breaks down without chewing….the Missus still isn't used to this having had too much neighborhood sushi back in the states.

1 – Hirame.

It's standard operating procedure to start with a firm and mild shiromi and hirame (fluke/flounder) fits the bill. I personally love shiromi, the subtle flavors, rasied by a nice nikiri. This had a bit too much wasabi on it for my taste, but was still a nice firm piece.

2 – Madai

Firm then yielding, my kind of fish.

3 – Kinmedai

I really loved this fish, golden eye sea bream, when I had it earlier in the year at Shunji. This just confirmed my love for the firm, yet deceivingly fatty flesh which was elevated by the nikiri. We basically used no soy sauce for any of our nigiri.

4 – Akami-zuke

Lean maguro, "cured" in a soy sauce mixture. This was fine, but really nothing special in terms of flavor or texture. In fact, this one just reinforced how good Tadokoro is in my mind.

5 – The prep for the ika was amazing to watch. The squid was sliced horizontinally into paper thin sheets….you could actually see through them! It was then cut into very thin strips.

It almost looked like shio ebi! After having mine, I told the Missus this one was going to change Her view of ika. And it did! It was amazingly tender with great flavor….it nearly melted in our mouth.

6 – Katsuo

Good oil, but still quite mild, nice meaty texture…..the usual ginger helped refresh.

7 – Ishigaki Clam

At first I thought it looked like mirugai, but I was told it was Ishigaki-gai – Giant Clam from Ishigaki Island, something new for me. It was firm and crisp and more briney than sweet. In fact, the rather heady flavor reminded me of Chocolate Clams.

8 – The hotate (scallop) was cured, then massaged.

Man, this was awesome, so tender, sweet, and almost ethereal as it melted away in your mouth.

9 – Ikura

The Missus had also never had ikura that tasted like this. It was clean, like a orb of the cleanest, sweetest, ocean water. I often go back to this line, "I've been told that the freshest, cleanest salt water in the world exists several hundred miles off the South coast of the Big Island, deep in the ocean, the Ikura made me think of how clean and refreshing that water would taste" from a post from the past.

10 – Anago.

True Edo-mae sushi places in Tokyo will never serve you unagi, rather, only items from the ocean, and out of Tokyo bay will be served. This was an excellent example of the sweet, mild, melt in your mouth, anago nigiri. Nothing I've ever had (Kaito, Kokoro, Tadokoro, places in LA) has ever been this good.

11 & 12 – Things ended with some miso shiru and a combination of rolls.

All in all, a wonderful meal, and a bargain at $110 for the two of us.

Sushi Iwa
8-5-25 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tokyo, Japan

Wow, we'd had quite a day….and it was only half over!

Stay tuned!

Tokyo Day 1: A walk around the neighborhood, Tsukiji Market, and Tenfusa

October 25, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Seafood, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

On our first day, I made the decision NOT to get up at 330am and catch a cab, get in line, and take a chance at checking out the tuna auction at Tsukiji Market…. a 20 minute cattle call. Heresy, I know. It's not that we don't wake up early; heck I wake up at 5am during the week, jet lag always wakes us early on our trips as well. Remember us walking around Hanoi at 430am? If you're a regular reader, you do know I love visiting markets when travelling. It's amazing what you might learn and see. I've even been to various fish auctions, in both Hilo and Oahu, and heck even in Djerba, Tunisia. Instead, we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood, then stroll to Yotsuya Station and heading off to Tsukiji at around 630.

The narrow side streets bore little resemblance to the busy main artery a few blocks away.

We were told that the Yotsuya area was historically a Samurai and Ninja District:

"Honshio-cho & Sakamachi are located in front of the ministry of defense,between Yotsuya, Ichigaya and Akebonboashi station.

There were two big Ninja group.Iga school and Koga.The top of Iga was Hanzo Hattori, his name is still kept at the gate of the Emperor's palace and as the name subway line. Koga Ninha residence was located in Honshio-cho and the entire district was a fortress, isolated from other area."

Indeed, the gravesite of Hattori Hanzo is located somewhere nearby at Sainen-ji temple. And no, it's not this Hattori Hanzo. The story of the REAL Hattori Hanzo is much more fascinating. Unfortunately, there are a ton of temples in the area, so we never found Sainen-ji Temple, which, in addition to having Hattori Hanzo's gravesite, also has Hattori Hanzo's spear. Next time….

Yotsuya is also prominently mentioned in the famous ghost story Yotsuya Kaidan. Like Hattori Hanzo's reappearance in Kill Bill, there's a connection between what is called the most famous "obake story" of all time and a modern retelling of it.

Like many neighborhoods in Japan, I'm sure there are a thousand stories for every block of real estate.

We managed to only visit a few places, really not knowing the significance of them. Hopefully, one day, we'll be able to visit again and get an understanding of the history of the area.

As it is, we ended up back on the main street and walked on over to Yotsuya Station and arrived at the Tsukiji-shijo Station at 645. From there it was a slam dunk finding the market…..just follow the dude in waders carrying wicker baskets….

Namiyoke Dori Street is the main street for the market. It is also probably the easiest way to find the entrance to the outer market, which is basically the retail area for Tsukiji. In some ways, I found what was here more interesting, though the Inner Market is more fascinating . This area opens at 5am, whereas the Inner Market is not open to the public until 9am.

Anyway, here are some photos. I tried to do things quickly….there's nothing more irritating than some butthead stopping in the middle of the street blocking folks trying to actually do some business, setting up his gear…. "ooooh, it's wasabi!"

I really loved all the pickled vegetables…tsukemono and the like….

There's a huge section of just tamago…..

I think you get the point, right???

Whew….need a break? Head on back to Namiyoke Dori. There's an area with vending machines right next to the info center….which doesn't open until 8am BTW. Still, you can grab a seat, next to bunch of other folks, many of them looking like vendors from the market taking a break and grab something refreshing.

And take in the street scene.

Right at the end of Namiyoke Street, right before you turn into the main market area is Namiyoke Inari Shrine. People believe that this shrine guards and protects the market. When it was built during the Edo Period it was at the water's edge. As it is; the shrine is functional. We saw several workmen come by while visiting…..

The Missus really loved this shrine. Mainly for one rather charming (in my opinion) reason. To the right, of the entrance lies a few shrines and monuments. One of them, picuted to the right is the "Tamago-zuka"…. that's right, the monument to the egg, probably the Missus' favorite food item. This is part of the "sushi-zuka" monuments to sushi residing on shrine grounds.

The one to the far right in the photo below is the monument to shrimp! You gotta love it! We loved this little shrine…..

It was now about 830…still a bit too early for the wholesale market which opens to the public at 9am. Perhaps it was time for some breakfast. Time to queue up with all the other toursts at one of the sushi places in the market, right? Not so fast Kemosabe. First, the last thing I wanted was a rushed tourist class sushi meal, elbow to elbow with a bunch of other toursts. Second, I had reservations at a sushi place for lunch. Tenfusa, a small, 2 table and four bar seat tempura place sounded just right.

We walked in, away from the chaos and lines at Sushi Dai and Daiwa on the same alley, to a quiet little oasis. THe guys eating at the counter seemed like regulars; they all knew the woman running the front of house. This was my kind of place.

The Missus still had Her heart set on having some fish at Tsukiji; so we ordered the maguro sashimi, which wasn't the highest grade of fish; but super fresh, and a bargain at 500 yen ($5).

I ordered the Tendon (1100 yen – $11), a very generous portion of rice (does anything other than a generous bowl of rice exist in Japan). Man, this was tasty….the green bean was great. The shrimp had that pure shrimp flavor I recalled having as a child. The Missus prefers "American tempura" the hard, laquered version….. The fish was sweet, I attempted to ask what it was and was told "megochi" – flathead, something I don't think I've ever had.

A very nice breakfast.

Tenfusa
Uogashi Yokocho Building #6
Tsukiji Market 5-2-1

After breakfast we headed first to the Vegetable and Fruit Wholesale Market, then the Seafood Wholesale Market; dodging the turret trucks and scooters…..

There's a kind of intensity to the Wholesale Seafood Market; after all it is one of the largest wholesale seafood markets in the world and probably the best known.

Everything you've read or heard about Tsukiji….well, it's probably true. If it swims in the sea you'll probably find it here.

Honestly, I should have taken a ton more photos, but I was so mesmerized by what I saw. Plus, I really didn't want to be one of the many who just stuck their cameras everywhere.

Tsukiji is amazing, just as everyone says……

Thanks for reading!

Tokyo: First impressions, Shinjuku, and Nagi Ramen

October 24, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel, yoso-silly

Back in July, having just returned from Belgium and the Czech Republic, the Missus sent me a text. Something along the lines of "let's go to Japan." To which I replied, "great, so next year, we'll go to Japan". Her response? "No, I mean let's go to Japan in October, after seeing my parents." And so it came to pass….

For some strange reason; I'd never really been motivated to visit Japan. But now, the wheels set in motion, I just couldn't wait. Though busy at work and time was short, I did some research, and found things I needed to know; the somewhat confusing address system, making sure I had photos of the storefronts of the places we needed to be at. I got us apartments in Tokyo and Osaka, and even a Machiya in Kyoto. Had friends make reservations at two places in Tokyo. We don't really plan much in the way of activities; mostly just broad outlines. The Missus likes to do most of that when we reach our destination. This can be a challenge, but She does it based on where we need to be.

All in all, Japan turned out to be one of the easiest places we've ever visited. It's amazingly orderly, folks at the worst are polite and everyone we met was helpful. That the Missus could read Kanji proved to be a major plus as other than the hiragana and katagana, and Japanese pronunciations, She could cull out meaning. I know a handful of words though my phrasing is (sometimes hilariously) woeful. When it comes to food though, I understand much more.

Well, enough of that….I'll get more into it in future posts.

As things turned out, all you really need is a Japan Railpass, Suica Card, the Hyperdia App, addresses both in English and Japanese, the word "sumimasen", and a little patience and you'll do just fine.

I really thought Tokyo was going to be a bear and was prepared to be overwhelmed, and in a way we were, but not exactly in the way we thought we'd be. First off, getting around in Tokyo was very easy for us. Finding exact locations weren't. Tokyo itself is made up of 23 wards…..think of it as 23 cities packed into one mega-city. Yes, it's busy, but also very quiet. The train/subway can be packed to the gills and yet, there's not a single word uttered in anything above a whisper! Folks line the stairs and escalators…all to the left in Tokyo, letting folks pass to the right. They walk…a lot…they eat tons of carbs and are very thin…folks do not eat while they walk, it's bad manners, even though there are very few public waste receptacles, the sidewalks are extremely clean.

We arrived in the neighborhood of Yotsuya and found the business of the person we were renting our apartment from with rather minimal problems. She was in the middle of teaching a class, so we dropped off our luggage, we travel super light, and set off to get something to drink, and to do some exploring. We walked down one of the side streets….

Seeing the sign above we walked down the alley like street and were totally over whelmed by all the restaurants and bars……which led to the big question. How does one actually make a choice here? There are so many places and options. I'm sure Tabelog and Gurunavi would help, but man, there's just so much. The Missus made the comment, "man, there are more restaurants in this little street than all of Clairemont Mesa!"

Luckily, I had reservations taken care of for the next night, had a plan for this evening, and had an outline of where to eat in the area for our last evening in Tokyo. In fact, we went looking for that Izakaya and actually found the place….using my really, really bad Japanese, I uttered one of the few phrases I know, "Yoyaku wo onegaishimasu"…. actually getting reservations.

We finally got settled into our apartment, which ended up being in the Yotsuya Sanchome area. A bit more residential, busy main streets, but quiet side streets.

We were meeting an old friend of mine; Reiko for dinner. nothing major, I wanted some ramen, and it would be great seeing Reiko, who used to work for one of my friends several years (actually more than several) back. Reiko was born and raised on Tokyo, so I thought getting to where we wanted to go to would be a slam dunk…well, not quite. You see, first we had to get to Shinjuku Station, claimed to be the busiest in the world (according to Wikipedia, the station was used by over 3.6 million people a day and has 200 exits).

Shinjuku itself is a popular business, entertainment, and shopping area…. lets just say popular is an understatement. Tons of younger folks gather outside the station, just milling around, as it seems to be a popular meeting and socializing area.

The place I'd ask Reiko to find had several locations within Kabukichō, the red light district and the Golden Gai, so it goes to figure that Reiko isn't really familiar with the area. After passing the Robot Restaurant (if you really gotta know, you can read about it here.) and missing the photo op of a large group of business men taking a photo with one of the "Robot Warriors", she needed some help and got a bit of direction….

This was sensory overload….after a while, things started looking like this.

I was seeing blurred outlines by now…all the blinking lights, the neon….. the punk-goth Japanese girls, good god, I was ready to fade to black.

Just in time Reiko pointed and said, "there it is Kirk-san…. Nagi Ramen."

Yes, all this effort for ramen. Would you expect anything less from us? Of course, not just any ramen….

Then of course, there was navigating the ramen ticket machine. You enter in your money and press the buttons for the various options you want.

The tiny shop has a single counter with a few seats. Behind the counter, two guys do everything….. it's hot and hard work.

Nagi is famous for their hardcore niboshi broth. Vast quantities of dried anchovies are simmered for over 12 hours to come up with a heady broth.

The broth is hearty, thick, savory, packing a huge punch. Pungent and full of flavor, it's not eveyone's cup of tea. Indeed it was a bit too strong at first for the Missus. That first sip of the broth will do that to you. We both ordered the combination of noodles, the regular, kind of doughy-chewy noodles and the wide and flat "hirauchimen"noodles which the Missus preferred. The egg had that perfect bright orange orb of a yolk. I had ordered extra green onions which helped balance out the flavor of the broth. My only issue was with the chashu which looked medium rare and was very tough and chewy. Otherwise, this was love at first bite….though perhaps not for the Missus who was a bit overwhelmed by it all.

Leaving the restaurant, things seemed to slow down, everything felt like it was slowing down, all was right in the world, things were starting to make sense…. though I still didn't have an explanation for the Robot Restaurant!

Thanks for reading!

Where in the world were we….the we’re back edition

October 22, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Travel

Wow, we're back home, exhausted but exhilarated. Got in at midnight last night, got to sleep at 3am, back to work at 6am, so I thought I'd do one of these to regroup.

Our last major stop was just a crazy array of smells, sights, sounds…..what you'd expect from a city whose motto basically means "to eat until you drop".

We had a chance to sample to sample a few of the city's iconic dishes…..

We also got to meet up with one of my favorite food bloggers….finally, after over 8 years! Thanks again Kat and Satoshi for a fantastic evening!

There's so many eateries that you could spend your life aimlessly wandering the alleyways paralyzed with indecision.

We managed to make a few decisions and had some nice meals.

We even managed some nice side trips as well.

Ending up right where we started…..

So just hang in there for a bit while I catch up on my sleep, ok?

See you soon!

Where in the world are we…such beauty and sorrow edition

October 17, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Travel

It's been a typical day for us, starting early and ready for bed by 9. Since it's still a bit early, I thought I'd do a short post. Our previous stop was one of amazing breath taking beauty.

All of this tremendous beauty was balanced by what happened in this area almost 70 years ago.

It is quite a sobering experience.

In terms of food. Oyster season has just begun here, so ordering is a no-brainer.

The area is also famous for this.

One evening we were wandering around and found a little alley where we enjoyed a fun evening. No English spoken, but who cares…..things got sorted out quite easily.

The pig ear was amazingly prepared.

Anyway, it's time for me to hit the sack.

The Missus says tomorrow is supposed to be an "easy day", but other than the typhoon day, we haven't had one of those yet and I don't think tomorrow will be an exception!

Hope you have a great weekend!

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Where in the world are we – the waiting for the typhoon to pass edition

October 13, 2014 mmm-yoso Blog

Yes indeed. We're waiting for typhoon Vongfong to pass, so I thought it might be time for another one of these. The city we're in has a amazing history. It mixes the dramatic history of being an ancient capital….

With that of being a busy, modern metropolis.

It is a city of shrines and temples and of wonderful restored neighborhoods.

Some of the temples are just plain beautiful and photogenic if you plan your time right and get there before all the tourists.

We've kind of kept it close to the cuff here….though the Missus has done Her share of damage shopping. In terms of eating; we've had some nice meals.

There's also a wonderful market within the shopping district as well.

Because of the typhoon; we've got a bit of unfinished business here and will definitely return. Our train is scheduled to leave in the morning so hopefully things will clear up by then.

Either way. We'll be in touch soon!

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Where in the world are we? Part 1

October 10, 2014 mmm-yoso Travel

Yep, it's that time again!

Kinda quick this time, but the Missus really wanted to get out and about and who am I to say no?

So where the heck are we? Well, we started out in a very familiar place. You'll know just by what we ate.

Easy one, right?

Where we're at is just as easy. Bright lights, the world is abuzz, crazy, yet orderly.

The place is going 24/7.

And yet things are steeped in tradition.

Of course we are eating well. Perhaps better than we've ever eaten before.

Easy one, right?

We're headed to our next stop in a few hours. I'm dog tired, but there's so much more so we can rest later!

As always, things are in the great hands of Cathy! See you soon!

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Nolbu Mini Gastropub

September 30, 2014 mmm-yoso Beer, Chicken Wings, Gastropub, Korean Restaurants, Pubs and Pub Grub

**** Nolbu has closed and is now Yummy House

Well, since we did Common Theory yesterday. I guess Nolbu deserves equal time, right?

Hidden behind the Convoy institution that is Chopstix, this tiny little place is easy to miss. I'm really not the Min Sok Chon, Thang Thang, soju bomb kind of guy, but I got a few recommendations from folks I knew. Though I still had reservations because when I quizzed these folks on the food, the standard answer usually included big portions, and not remembering much because they were…shall we say…..taste deadened and mush minded from overindulging a bit?

It is a pretty small and somewhat cozy kind of place. There are only 5 beers on tap. The main drink of choice for most of the young people who go here are the flavors of soju…."white gummy bear"???

The bartender/server on both of my visits was a very nice and friendly young woman named Nancy…very calm, very chill.

The menu is full of what I call "Kogi-truckish" dishes…you know, bulgogi tacos, bulgogi quesadillas, bulgogi fries, stuff that's already kind of passe'

The dining area is set-up like one of those faux outdoor porch type of restaurants. A acquaintance of mine actually knew the Korean name of that style of set-up….but you know; old age and all that. I just can't seem to remember the term right now.

There's actually one reason I came to Nolbu…the Korean Spicy Wings ($8.99). Almost everyone I spoke to mentioned these wings, though none could not really tell me much about the flavor.

The wings are quite large, the flavor as you can imagine is based on kochujang and almost tastes like my Spicy Misoyaki without as much bean paste. It is indeed a basic sweet chili sauce…sticky, more sweet than spicy, perhaps in need of a bit more complexity. maybe a bit more sour/tart, or savory-garlic tones. The batter was nice at first, perhaps a bit too thick, but still crunchy, but it got really gummy in minutes. Not terrible….but definitely not… Kyochon by any stretch. In fact, this eerily reminded me of the stuff they used to serve at BBQ Chicken, though not nearly as crunchy.

I also decided to try the mandu ("Dumplings" on the menu – $6.99).

These weren't very good in my opinion, too much cabbage filler, the sauce also tasted watered down. The wrapper were decent, but I'd take a pass on these next time.

Overall, not bad and as always I thought a return visit should be done.

One funny thing; when I was waiting for my drink a guy walked in laden with bags….shopping for supplies I'd guess. All the plastic bags were from Zion Market! I guess that's where they do their shopping? I really think stuff like that should be done via the rear entrance.

This time I came with my friends YummyYummy and Candice. We had the spicy wings again, which were a bit better this time…less sickly sweet and the texture held up a bit better.

We also had the haemul pajeon – the seafood pancake ($12.99), a bit small for the price.

But with a pretty generous amount of well…..Zion Seafood probably….. I will say that in terms of texture it was less gummy and a bit lighter than what I'd had at Common Theory, though it was 2/3 the size.

I also wanted to try the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings ($8.99).

A bit light in flavor, these wings swere pretty straight-forward…basically naked, without a coating, but not bad….I'd have these again, as these were nicely fried.

The same five beers on tap; my favorite being the Stone Arbalest since I do enjoy tripels, quads, and Belgian strongs. this one was pretty good, light citrus-woody flavor with a mildly boozy-hoppy finish.

While waiting for my friends to meet me, the same young man walked in ladened with plastic bags….again from Zion Market.

Anyway, in terms of food, this place serves up a more Asian flavor than Common Theory. I was surprised that the food wasn't as salty as, say Min Sok Chon. They do have a decent bottle collection, but only five draft beers and the temps on my second visit seemed a bit off. As much as I like the folks working here, there's really no working knowledge of the beer they're serving…it's more of soju service. As in the version of an umbrella drink - soju served up in a half watermelon.

That said; I might drop in again for some wings and a beer…..if I feel like eating groceries from Zion….

Nolbu Mini Gastropub
4633 Convoy St. Suite 102
San Diego, CA 92111