It's funny how the mind works. I was getting some takeout from Sue’s Korean Kitchen, when suddenly I was wondering how Kim's Deli was doing.
Kim's Deli:
So, a couple of days later at around 10am, I drove down Arjons Drive to see what was going on.
I parked in the cul-de-sac and walked on over to the little shop located in the business mall. The two older Korean women were hard at work putting together takeout orders when I arrived.
I thought about having a sandwich, but what reminded me of Kim's when visiting Sue's was the Bulgogi Bowl, which was pretty straightforward and simple, but was priced at reasonable $9 back in February 2021. It's now $12. Regardless, with prices these days, it still seems like a bargain. So that's what I got.
Calling this a "bowl" is a definite misnomer as it's pretty hefty. There's the standard green salad with a sesame dressing plus some fairly standard and kinda mushy and pretty salty japchae. The rice was nicely done and the portion size seemed a bit larger than before.
The bulgogi, was better this time, not as tough, though flavor wise, it was edging on the sweeter side. I saw the woman in the back actually cook the meat in what looked like a combo pizza oven – broiler. The sauce on the side tasted like bottled stuff and was super sweet in flavor.
Like I mentioned before, this really gave me old school "lunchwagon" vibes. It's not great, but considering the price at $12 and the portion size, in this day and age it's worth it. Plus, I actually had some leftovers….there was a ton of rice under the meat and japchae.
Kim's Deli
8515 Arjons Drive
San Diego, CA 92126
As I was having the bulgogi "bowl" my mind drifted off and thoughts of Sandwich Island Deli entered mi cabeza. Though it wasn't the sandwiches I was musing on; it was something else.
Sandwich Island Deli:
Which of course, had me driving down Trade Street a couple of days later to see what was going on.
Again, it was just past 10am and the place seemed pretty quiet.
Everything seemed peaceful at the counter.
What you don't see is the Asian couple working like crazy putting together orders. By the time the woman saw me and came over to take my order there were six packages on the counter!
As for what I ordered, well, like Kim's I was going to have a sandwich on another day. The "bento box" which is what I had on my previous visit had gone up a mere 75 cents in nearly 2 1/2 years!
Something else caught my eye. There's Chicken Yakisoba on the menu. And it's priced at only $7.95. I was wondering what the heck a $7.95 dish would look like here? All sandwiches, save one (the Egg Salad Sandwich – $6.99), are more expensive than the yakisoba. Heck, most everything at Nijiya is now more expensive than that! So, I had to try it.
That bag felt pretty heavy. I opened it up and cracked up.
This looked like something I'd throw together when I was 12 years old, trying to make use of dry, packaged ramen noodles.
And actually, there was more sautéed cabbage, than noodles. Or anything else for that matter. And it was quite bland in terms of soy-savory-sweet tones.
There were a few pieces of chicken, mushrooms, and zucchini. The seasoning was very mild and also tasted like it was poured from a bottle or gallon container. Perhaps I should have followed the lead of the guy who came to pick up his yakisoba….I'm guessing he's a regular because the woman gave him two containers of sauce for his order.
Truth be told; the teriyaki-ish chicken bento is better than this. Though it's hard to complain about something that costs $7.95. Heck, remember I got a second-rate Banh Mi for $9 recently? And I got my daily requirement of cabbage with this meal to boot.
Sandwich Island Deli
7350 Trade St.
San Diego, CA 92121
As you can see, the Missus was all about the tamago on this day. This bowl had a lot of "stuffs"; scallion, spinach, bean sprouts, cabbage. The best item in the entire bowl was the menma which had a wonderful texture and the earthy-soy sauce tones were on point. The two slices of "chashu", I use the quotation marks because the two thin slices were not pork belly, it was lean and tough. 
Ramen was the first to arrive. The broth is indeed lighter, though there were some nice globules of fat in it. I thought it was on the overly salty side and pretty one-dimensional in flavor, though that might be written off to the sodium overload. The chashu; which had a nice "fat cap", was thinly sliced, with a wonderful soy-porkiness to it and very tender. The tamago was also nicely cooked and marinated but was ice cold, a pet peeve of mine.
This version came with a small "pile" of veggies – mostly bean sprouts, some carrots and spinach, etc…..for what seems to be a two dollar upcharge that's not really worth the price. The shio broth seemed even lighter than the shoyu version, less rich, but not as salty. For some reason, there was a pungency like that of white pepper that resonated with me. I preferred this broth to the shoyu version.
Apparently some noodles were stuck together during the cooking process and melded into a hard, inedible ball of gluten madness. Oh man, what a bummer. I showed this to the young man working who was speechless and told me "sorry" and then walked away. Soon someone else brought me my check! So, perhaps I was in an alternate universe at that moment having lunch at Kita-"
The note on the door said "we are closed
And here again was the note posted on the door stating "we are closed". I checked Google which indicated that the place is "Temporarily Closed" as well as that "four-lettered" site which also noted that the place is scheduled to reopen on September 1st. I also did a check on the Zen Curry website, which said the reopening date is TBD.
Does the presentation of the sashimi look familiar? Well, it should. When I sat, I was told "Sashimi Kirk-san…." it wasn't a question, more of an affirmation.
On this morning the parking lot was empty. I walked on over and took a look at the posted menu and noticed the opening time was noon. I also noted that there were donburi and ramen lunch specials going for as low as ten bucks! In these days that's a bargain. I decided that I'd return on another day and check the place out. As I started walking away the "open" sign came on and the really friendly gentleman who runs the front of house waved me in. My lucky day I guess.
I would go on record to say this was more sausage than tsukune. It was hard, rubbery, tough…..I'm sure there are more synonyms I could come up with given time. Not much flavor at all….I guess that's why salt was provided.
And my worries were well placed. Ok, so since the ownership is under Olleh, my expectations were low, but this was even below that!
The chashu wasn't bad, nicely marinated, tender, decent porkiness. The noodles were standard issue, curly, a bit overcooked and mushy…which did nothing to enhance the dish. It had me thinking….at ten bucks what should I have expected?
I loved the presentation. And overall, I enjoyed this dish the most. Nothing fancy, just a by the book beef bowl. The beef was on the chewy side, flavors were quite typical, soy sauce – mirin – sake, which is not bad at all. A generous portion of rice….I wish there was more egg, but this was a decent donburi.
Nothing fancy mind you; but for a ten buck for lunch…I wouldn't pay $15 to have this for dinner, this might work out fine for you. After all, how much is a bento from Nijiya these days?
The Missus really loved the yamaimo and the meat was buttery, beefy, and so tender.
There is seating outdoors in front as well as inside tables and there is a lengthy counter for the sushi bar.
I ordered the Shrimp and Veggie tempura appetizer ($9.95) to check out the frying technique here. The veggies (two each of green bean, onion, carrot and potato) were battered and the two shrimp were also dipped in bread crumbs. The tempura sauce (soy, sugar seaweed and bonita flakes) (each sauce is made here and ingredients listed on the menu under the “Glossary of Sauces”) was a perfect compliment to the crisp, non-greasy fry.
I ordered the "Modern Sashimi Salad" ($15.95). Assorted sashimi (tuna and salmon this day)-(a very large amount) topped with the House dressing (soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, onion and black pepper) on top of a crisp spring mix. This was a wonderful choice. Fresh, flavorful and plenty; I will order again.
The Mister ordered the Tonkatsu Bento from the Lunch Special menu($13.95). {Lunch specials served from 11 until 4:30} Breaded pork topped with a ponzu sauce (bonito flakes, soy, seaweed and citrus juice), rice, salad and tempura. The pork was cooked about 30 seconds too long and was a bit dry but not terrible; the breading was not burned or too crisp. It was on top of some sautéed cabbage, carrot and onion which was quite flavorful. 
The lunch special came with a good quality miso. Hot tea (as I always order) was a quality green with the grass-like flavor that I like and no charge.
When I finally had another opportunity, I arrived just as the very friendly young lady was folding up the blinds on the front door. And as during the soft opening, only one party is allowed inside the shop at once. I recall seeing chicken karaage on the menu when I did my aborted visit, but that was no longer offered. There are four sandwiches on the erase board menu; chicken katsu, menchi katsu, egg salad, and fruit and cream.
Compared to the Japanese version; this was chopped too coarse, there wasn’t enough mayo. There was a bit too much black pepper and it edged on the sweeter side. Liked the visual of the quarter tamago. The bread was slightly moist, but a bit too firm and chewy for me. Like I said before, I prefer my shokupan fluffier and softer.
It was also quite dry. This did the bread no favors. There was some flavor though it was quite mild. I could have used with a bit more katsu sauce to added a nice savory-umami-sweetness to things. It’s a sad day when I think that the shredded cabbage is the best part of the sandwich.
Which was soggy and peeling off the protein. Man, this was not good eats at all. It seems that the only thing I could taste was the katsu sauce. Again it was the cabbage that was the headliner of the sandwich, bummer!
