For some reason, the recent warm weather had me craving Tori Nanban off all things. Not sure why? So, on one of the days when I needed to go to Nijiya later than usual, I decided to stop in at Okan for lunch. Man, it had been over 4-1/2 years since I had dined in at Okan! I did do a bunch of takeout over the couple of years, but the Tori Nanban, basically chicken karaage with a pseudo tartar-ish sauce, would not, in my mind, hold up to-go, especially since the karaage didn't do well as takeout. So, I decided the time was right to grab lunch at Okan.
It was interesting, the place was empty when I arrived at 11am, though it did start to fill up as I left.
I did know what I wanted, so it was quite easy ordering.
While the Tori Nanban lunch special had gone up $3 since the last time I'd had it, for some reason $14 seemed fairly reasonable to me.
I was quite interested too see what the Chicken Nanban version 2024 was going to be like, at one time it was my favorite version in San Diego. Soon enough it arrived.
First thing I hit was the miso soup. I was happy to note that it was flavorful and not watered down.
What was "watered down" were the side dishes. I thought that Okan, which was once known for their wonderful Kozara Ryori and sides really jumped the shark when they started giving out seaweed salad with their lunches. And on this day; it was like a teaspoon of it. Like why bother?
But that was the only downside to this lunch as the very generous portion of rice was hot and fluffy.
And the karaage was crisp, slightly lacquered, moist, and decently seasoned. The tartar sauce, which at times had been too mayo heavy, was nicely balanced, just enough sour tones, creamy, not overly rich, and, I know this might sound strange, somewhat refreshing.
What was refreshing was how much I enjoyed this meal. I really need to start "doing the rounds again". I need to revisit places like Izakaya Masa and Yorimichi!
I also need to thank "FOY" KerriK who send me an email a while back documenting her hunt for some good Izakaya grinds. This got me thinking about all those places I missed. Thanks for inspiring me Kerri!
Wa Dining Okan
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Lunch Served between 11am – 2pm Daily
And we'd like to wish everyone a fun and safe 4th of July! Keep cool during this heatwave!
The generous portion fish has a mild smokiness, wasn't too salty, and wasn't fishy in the least. Think of it as "bacon of the sea". Not a big fan of the queso on the fish, but I really enjoyed and appreciated the layer of melted cheese on tortilla which ensured that things wouldn't fall apart. I do enjoy the onions and peppers and the tortilla was pliable did the job.
The fish was fried nicely, crisp, the flesh moist, no off flavors. The issue would be how skinny it was. There was so much cabbage and crema that it kind of overwhelmed the poor guppy….. Well, at least the tortilla held up, but I probably won't be getting this again.
So yes, this was scalding hot. Did I notice a difference? Well, 6 wings were now $9.99 and it seemed to have much more black pepper and was even saltier than I recalled. Also, the coating got soggy quite quickly. Not sure if it was just my imagination, but it seemed that way. The wings were of decent quality, it was moist, but again really high on the sodium scale for me.
I appreciated the way things were packed though I told the woman I'd be eating this close by. There were containers of spicy vinegar and a decent chili oil (which I used) included in my package.
Which led to an interesting concoction. The duck was breast, quite lean, a bit more chewy then I enjoy, with a touch of five spice seasoning, not bad at all. The fried shallots added a nice savory and crunchy texture. The broccoli really gave off "Panda Express" vibes but at least I got some veggies.
Knowing what kind of mess I'd be making, they kindly provided a knife to slice the sandwich and a ton of napkins. I truly had my doubts, thinking the flavor of the fonduey cheese mixed with beer and other seasonings might interfere with the sandwich. But, it actually made it better, adding more savory tones, and a pleasant creaminess to things.
We ended up getting a couple of gifts for folks. Downtown Los Alamos is basically a four block stretch, so we left our car parked on the street and walked on over to Bell's a block away.
And I proceeded with my "standard process" of mixing the dish to my satisfaction. I quickly noticed that there wasn't any "sauce" at the bottom of the bowl, it was merely a touch of sate sauce squirted over the egg noodles. This was not nearly enough to coat all the noodles and would not provide enough of that savory-nutty-pungent flavors for the dish. I ended having to add a rather large amount of the broth on the side to the bowl creating more of a soup, which kind of defeats the purpose of things. Also, the broth was quite MSG heavy, but at least wasn't bland. It was good in a soup spoon with a slice of meat and onion in it. The noodles were also undercooked and hard as well.
The was a definite difference in the soup, it was way lighter and thinner than what I'd had here in the past, really lacking in savory tones; more like white pepper-salt water. There were 2 won ton and 3 dumplings….yes, I counted. The wrappers were very soft and tender; really enrobing the fillings. In fact, doesn't the won ton look like brain matter?
The fillings, while being more chewy than I recalled, as nicely flavored, porky, hints of seafood, sesame oil, and so forth. The char siu was hard and very tough and weak in the sweet-porkiness I enjoy.
The pieces of karaage were large, the batter slightly crunchy, the chicken was on the tougher chewier side. It was also fairly bland in terms of seasoning. Not my favorite version of this.
The broth was interesting, a lot lighter than I would expect for Hokkaido style ramen. It did have a good amount of saltiness and based on what I'd read, there's supposed to be a savory-seafood based component to it, like how Santouka is in Japan. I was looking forward to that, but I really couldn't make that out. As a whole, the broth lacked complexity.
The noodles were nice and springy, of the slightly thicker variety, much like what we'd had at 
Man, check out that chashu. It looked different from the version I'd had on my previous visit. It was still the same overly lean cut, but was also super salty. In fact, I wasn't able to finish it!
The one bright spot were the perfectly textured, springy noodles, that did a great job picking up the broth. Now it would have been great if it wasn't so salty….and I like salty foods!
Opening the sandwich up, the first thing I noticed was how much shredded lettuce there was. So much iceberg that it could have sunk the Titanic. Also, I remember Grab & Go as having some of the messiest, sloppiest sandwiches and this definitely lived up to that rep. One of the reasons I enjoy this sandwich is that it’s toasted, the bread was yeasty-crackley-crusty goodness. Also appreciated that the Provolone was melted. The jalapenos added some heat though not a huge amount. The oil and vinegar dressing is perfect for this sandwich; mayo would be overkill in my opinion.