Category: Japanese Restaurants

Donburi Rice Bowls (National City)

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Japanese Restaurants

I was recently in the National City area and decided to get something to eat. 8th and B Poke came to mind. I hadn’t been there in a while, but it was just past 10am and they don’t open until 11. I could have driven to Poke Etc, but decided to see if there was parking on the Market on 8th. I’d been meaning to check the place out before, but could never find parking. On this day, I kind of lucked out. I say “kind of”, because I did find a parking spot, but it was just a 60 minute stall. Which meant this would be a take out visit. So, I walked on over.

Not much open at 10am…..and there were locations of places like Kiko’s whose truck I’ve been to Morena several times. The cuisine is mostly Mexican here and most places were closed, but I did have one in mind. If only I could find it!

I checked out the map and was still a bit confused….

Though finally, I came upon the destination.

Donburi Rice Bowls was the place….I kind of knew that this would probably a Westernized fast casual kind of place. After all, “donburi” does literally mean rice bowl in Japanese….so Donburi Rice Bowls is kind of redundant in my opinion.

Anyway, I took a look at the menu; the prices seemed pretty reasonable for these days.

Not being able to make up my mind…and with the clock running on the parking, I decided on the Sumo Bowl ($17) which means you can have two items. I went with the Yakiniku and the Karaage. After placing my order, I was given one of those “buzzer” thingamajiggies. I then went to check out the market hall a bit more. Things seemed a bit cramped and thoughts of bringing JJ went out the window when I saw the pets weren’t allowed in may places…even the patio.

Eventually, the buzzer went off and I picked up my hefty feeling package and headed home. Once home I unpacked. Knowing that I’d be doing takeout, I made sure to get the Sriracha Mayo for karaage on the side.

The container was indeed hefty…there was a sumo sized portion of rice to be sure. In fact, I could only finish half of it and saved the rest.

The rice was fine….quite typical, not very fragrant, but fine.

The karaage seemed like the frozen stuff, like you’d get from Ajinomoto, or the like. The chicken was on the drier side, the thick batter kind of mushy. The flavor very generic, pulling to salty.

The Beef Yakiniku was the better of the two items. The beef had been sliced thinly and griddled nicely.

Quite a bit of gristle, but because it was sliced thinly, it didn’t bother me too much. I enjoyed the pungent-sweet onions. The marinade skewed to the sweeter end of the scale but was not bad at all. Pretty much by-the-book Yoshinoya-ish.

Overall, the beef was pretty good, pass on the karaage, fits the mold of fast-casual, food hall dining. The amount of rice was huge and the prices reasonable for these days. Not worth a special trip, but I’m glad I tried it.

Donburi Rice Bowls (In the Market on 8th)
41 E 8th St.
National City, CA 91950
Current Hours:
Daily 10am – 9pm

What’s My Craving? Wa Dining Okan and Chicago Fire Grill Revisited

Hot Dogs, Japanese Restaurants

It’s funny what triggers a craving. Sometimes, it’s not even food……

Like I was organizing my drawer of favorite t-shirts and came across this one.

You know where this is from?

Yep, Hot Doug’s, which I visited all the way back in 2010! The owner Doug Sohn closed up the Avondale shop in 2014, but the place is still fondly remembered by many. After all, this was the shop that Anthony Bourdain declared has “the best hot dog on the planet”. I’m sure New Yorker’s would disagree; but those who read our little blog know that I have a thing for Chicago Dogs (though that foie gras dog from Hot Doug’s was awesome). So of course after staring at that t-shirt fora while I had to head to……

Chicago Fire Grill:

It’s been a while since I’ve been here…like 2 1/2 years! The place seemed a lot busier than I recalled and the owner George (who always cracks me up) was super busy behind the griddle…he’s got two folks working for him now as well.

I was somewhat surprised to see that the Chicago Dog was still nine bucks?

Which is a bargain these days. No wonder the place is bustling. A few months back there was hot dog cart in the parking lot of V Outlet next to Bay Hill Tavern and they were selling hot dogs for $10!

Anyway, I got my order to go. When I got home, I was still pondering the nine dollar price. Perhaps it didn’t come with fries anymore? However, upon opening, I was proved wrong.

I would have been fine without the fries, since, although they are “hand cut” are usually soggy and dry. The one thing that was missing from this were the sport peppers. Now really, can we call this a Chicago Dog without those pickly-spicy-briny peppers? Hmm…..I would have easily traded my fries for those peppers.

Other than that; this was as expected.

Snappy Vienna Beef hot dog; the necessary fluorescent green relish, the slices of tomato, pickle wedge……

Chicago Fire Grill
8935 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

And then JJ and I were having some coffee at Bay Park Coffee and chatting with one of the regulars there. He had just returned from Japan and even though we weren’t discussing food, I had a sudden craving for Tori Nanban? What the heck????

Anyway, I had been meaning to return to…..

Okan:

I recall seeing outdoor seating and “FOY” Junichi also reminded me of this. I just visited solo for lunch to check things out and get me “fix”.

So yes, there’s still outdoor seating for lunch, but I had my usual place on the “bar”.

The Tori Nanban lunch special has gone up two dollars since my last visit in July of 2024. It’s now $16. Sitting at the counter made me miss those days when Okan had those huge bowls of Oozara Ryori on the counter…man, those were the days!

Soon enough my lunch arrived.

I enjoyed the miso soup as it wasn’t “watered down”.

The rice was steaming hot, though very mushy. I think it had just finished cooking.

The chicken was moist, tender, good seasoning and flavor, though not as crisp as on previous visits.

For some reason, I really like the rich, sour tartar like sauce, which balances out the savory-salty flavors from the chicken.

This was a nice lunch. Perhaps I’ll bring JJ along next time to eat outside when I get my tori nanban craving.

Wa Dining Okan
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

So, have you been craving anything recently?

Midweek Meanderings – Signs are up for Sugarfish by Sushi Nozawa and Handel’s in Little Italy. And HNL is Losing Two More Favorites as Tamashiro Market and Fort Ruger Market are Closing

Honolulu, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Oahu, Poke, Sushi and Sashimi

I know….this post might be shorter than the title! But just a couple of quick things.

During my walk to where I park after my usual visit to the Little Italy Mercato, I noticed that the signs for Sugarfish by Sushi Nozawa and Handel’s Ice Cream are up.

I know…yet more chains! I’m sure fellow blogger Soo is going to be quite happy since he enjoys Handel’s.

And even though the original Sushi Nozawa closed up in 2012, namesake Kazunori Nozawa has created quite the empire with 18 locations currently spread around Los Angeles and New York. This will be the first location in San Diego.

Both businesses will be located at:

2100 Kettner Blvd.
San Diego, California 92101

Tamashiro Market Closing on 04/30 and Fort Ruger Market Closes:

Sad to read that one of my long time favorites; Tamashiro Market in Kalihi is closing. It’s been all over the news. After 80 years, the second generation owners, the Tamashiro Brothers are closing up shop. Both brothers; aged 72 and 69 are retiring. I hope that they enjoy their retirement after giving us so much ono seafood and poke over the years.

That photo is from my visit back in 2010! In fact, Tamashiro was in my first post on Honolulu after not visiting in like a decade. Sad to think that two of the three places in that post have closed……Char Hung Sut closed in 2020.

This one caught me by surprise. I saw this on Instagram and was shocked to find out that Fort Ruger Market is closing! So, I went to double check and came across this on Facebook. What a bumma!

I think they’ve changed ownership since my last visit?

While maybe this one is deserved based on what is posted in Facebook and Reddit, it’s still sad to know that the place where I first rememba’ getting poke is going to gone.

According to the Instagram reel and “FOY” Mar’s sharp ears; this is going to be something called “CU” store?

Just kind makes me stop and wonder……..like I’ve been doing this for so long now……

Circling Back to The Original Location of Menya Ultra

Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

While I was doing ramen posts on my three favorite ramen shops in San Diego and then a revisit to Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai, folks started asking me “what about Menya”? Well, what about Menya? I recalled not enjoying my last bowl from Menya….which in fact drove Calvin and I to head to Nagi in spite of the lines at that time. Though, taking a look at that post…well, it was on the Mira Mesa location of Menya. So, I headed to the Big List to see when I last visited the Clairemont location. Now this was interesting, my last five posts on that location of Menya was for takeout! Menya was a part of our takeout rotation during the pandemic. The last time I actually ate in the restaurant was back in August of 2017 and the last time I had the Ajitama Ramen was in May of 2017….like almost 9 years ago! Sheesh!

So, I made up my mind to revisit. I arrived on a Wednesday for lunch at around 1110.

This turned out to be good timing, since it does seem that there’s still a line during opening hours as the place was over half full when I entered.

I just got the Ajitama Ramen ($17.95).

My bowl arrived in what seemed to be the blink of an eye!

This was interesting as the broth was not very hot, thus the soup had a fairly greasy mouthfeel. Nice savory tones, not overly salty. Would have been pretty good if it was nice and hot.

The Chashu was somewhat tough and chewy, but still nice and porky.

And you know my pet peeve…..well, since the broth was basically just past lukewarm….of course the ajitama was ice cold. Sigh…..

The noodles were decently firm and slippery.

Well, this could have been quite good….but there’s a reason Menya is no longer in my top 4. There seems to be a lack of quality control here. Like many other restaurants, Homestyle Hawaiian comes to mind. Expansion seems to dilute quality. Too bad, because Menya was such a hit when they first opened in 2017. I remember being like the one of the first ten people in line on their grand opening day. To me, Menya changed the ramen game in San Diego. And blew up even further after making the Michelin Guide and being named Eater’s Restaurant of the year in 2017. It’s just not on my regular ramen rotation anymore.

Menya Ultra
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 2pm, 5pm – 9pm

So “FOYs”…what’s on your ramen rotation these days?

Ju-ichi is now serving lunch again

Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

After having some fairly mediocre experiences with chirashi at the newish…..kinda “westernized” Kiiro and Oishi, being the old fuddy-duddy that I am, I decided to head on over to one of my old favorites. After doing a bit of shopping at Zion and Tokyo Central, I headed down Engineer Road and a sign caught my eye.

It seems that Ju-ichi was doing lunch again! Back when they first opened, Ju-ichi did lunch service. In fact, one of fellow blogger and “FOY” Denver’s first posts was on lunches at Ju-ichi! Unfortunately, by the time I had decided to visit, they had stopped serving lunch.

The sign really did seem like a “sign”, so I decided to detour here. The parking lot was mostly empty, which is a rarity in the evenings, and I parked and walked in.

Walking into the place nostalgia overcame me. I was last in here when this was Sushi Yaro, which I had been a regular customer of. In fact, the very first time I dined out after Covid closures was at Sushi Yaro! I was greeted and seated and handed two menus; a regular menu and a lunch specials version.

I did want my (these days) lunch time usual…the “regular” Bara Chirashi was like $50….a bit too much to spend for a regular lunch in my opinion. The lunch menu had a mini Bara Chirashi for $18 and figuring it would be a rather “petite” bowl, I also got…yes, I’m a creature of habit…some karaage ($13).

Soon enough my order arrived.

After my last two terrible experiences with karaage; I was happy to see a more traditional version…yes, using dark meat chicken and the batter seemed to use katakuriko (potato starch) and had a decent, light crispness.

The meat was moist; light in the flavor department, it could have used more savory-soy flavor, along with some pungency (i.e. a hint of ginger). The (not) spicy aioli added additional richness and the nori in the mayo was a good savory addition. I need to be doing my “karaage rounds” again.

As for the bara chirashi, yes, this was indeed a “mini bowl”.

Being bara chirashi, I did expect the smaller cuts of fish. What I really enjoyed in this bowl was the ikura, it was savory and briney, but not overly salty. It had been preserved nicely and not over salted, which is also an indication of lower quality ikura. Nice burst of oceany-umami that went well with the tangy sumeshi. The rice was warm and soft; it had obviously just been cooked and prepped.

The salmon, hamachi, and shiromi were decent, with the meaty and tender maguro being my favorite.

Loved that there wasn’t any chewy connective tissue in the maguro, it was quite good.

And while I do miss Sushi Yaro, this was a nice lunch and I’ll probably return for some sushi and sashimi in the future as the fish seems to be of decent quality. And Denver; looks like you can get your lunches at Ju-ichi again! Hope to see a new post from you one of these days!

Ju-ichi
7905 Engineer Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon, Tues, Thurs 1130am – 2pm, 430pm – 9pm
Friday 1130am – 2pm, 430pm – 10pm
Saturday 430pm – 10pm
Sunday 430pm – 9pm
Closed on Wednesday

Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai Revisited

Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

I guess after checking out Marufuku and revisits to Nagi and Santouka, I’d had enough tonkotsu (i.e. what every ramen shop has to serve in San Diego) ramen and needed a break. Of course, HiroNori and their shoyu ramen is a favorite of mine; but I‘d just been there a couple of months back. Then it came to me. I hadn’t been back to Kitakata Ramen in over a year! And even though they’ve given up and have started doing tonkotsu, it’s their signature Fukushima style shoyu ramen that I was after. As a plus, I recall being able to order my noodles “katame” (extra firm) the last time I visited.

I arrived at around 1115 and was shocked to see the place empty!

And strangely, I was the only customer dining in…there were several takeout orders during my entire meal! The young lady working was so sweet and friendly.

I was really after only one thing.

The Kitakata Ramen is now $14.45 and I added an ajitama which has an upcharge of $1.70.

Because it was really slow; my bowl arrived in the blink of an eye!

In previous visits, I’ve noted that the broth was quite salty on occasion. However, that wasn’t the case this time around. Nice shoyu-savory tones. The broth was also a bit richer than I recalled.

The ajitama was……drum roll…..warm! Hallelujah!

No cold boiled egg! It was also nicely seasoned.

The Chashu was thinly sliced, with a nice toothsomeness.

It was however, a bit more salty than I recalled. Still, not bad.

My favorite part of the dish? Well, it was the extra firm, curly noodles. Which did a great job of “picking up” the broth.

Overall, while not in the league of HiroNori’s Shoyu Ramen, this was an enjoyable bowl. I should probably visit more often….especially since this bowl of ramen was cheaper than the last couple bowls of pho I’ve had. I am a bit concerned about the place being totally empty…..I hope they manage to stay in business here. Even though many folks would disagree; I think we need more than just tonkotsu ramen in San Diego.

Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai
7951 Othello Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon-Thurs 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm
Friday 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 10pm
Saturday 11am – 10pm
Sunday 11am – 9pm

Tanuki Revisited with JJ

Dog Friendly, Japanese Restaurants

With the combination of the record heat and later sunsets due to daylight savings time, we were looking for a nice place for sort of an “happy hour” with a covered patio for JJ. Tanuki came to mind as we hadn’t been there in about a year. So, we headed on out, arriving just as the clock struck 5 , and got one of the treasured parking spots right at the door of the restaurant.

We were quickly seated on the patio and a bowl of H2O was quickly brought out for JJ!

Based on our previous visits, we were pretty sure of what to order and decided to also try the vegetable tempura.

The Wagyu Tataki Ponzu, now priced at $20, was different from what we’d had previously.

It was a leaner cut of meat, at bit chewier, and as you can see, not as marbled. It was also cut a bit thicker, though still quite beefy in flavor, with the daikon oroshi adding the nice pungent “bite”. The nice, almost refreshing taste of the citrusy-savory-soy ponzu sauce was really good on this warm day.

The Toro Wasa ($12) was also decent.

If you understand that it’s leaner chutoro, you’ll do fine. The wasabi “mix”; I’m certain it’s not straight up wasabi does the sinus clearing work…….for some reason, I really enjoyed the brightness the shiso brought to the dish on this day.

They did have Hamachi Kama ($20) on this day.

Which was quite moist, crisp skin and even better than what we’d had before!

And of course…..

We now have a “Kama Psycho” in the house hold. So he got the skin, which he loves.

I was wanting that Kakiage that we’d had all those years ago, but they no longer have it; so we went with the Vegetable Tempura ($15). This didn’t quite do it for us.

The onions and shisho leaves were quite good. I’m thinking it’s because Tanuki doesn’t seem to fry the veggies for very long and the carrots, zucchini, andespecially the sweet potato was super hard and almost raw.

We did enjoy ourselves; though we did accept that it was going to be pricey, even without drinks, over $60. Still, it was a nice early evening out to beat the heat.

Tanuki
4191 Adams Ave.
San Diego, CA 92116
Current Hours:
Monday 5pm – 9pm
Tues – Thurs 12pm – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm
Friday 12pm – 3pm, 5pm – 10pm
Saturday 5pm – 10pm
Closed on Sunday

Elle, I know you were going to check Tanuki out. Wondering if you ever made it?

Honolulu – Bozu Japanese Restaurant

Beer, Honolulu, Japanese Restaurants, Oahu, Travel

Man, it’s so hot right now yeah? Like record heat. So, when I was looking at stuffs I had to post on…well, there was ramen, pho, more chinese food and noodle soups….not quite up to doing those posts right now! So, I thought I’d just do a post on our final meal in HNL during our last trip.

“FOY” XJ and her wonderful husband Mikey recommended a place not too far away, in McCully Shopping Center on the second floor. I’ve always thought of MSC has having some of the skinniest parking spaces around. So, I was happy we could walk on over. Plus, at least when I lived kinda close by, it was kind of a revolving door for restaurants, though Fook Yuen (which my friends had another name for….I’m sure you can guess it!) is still there!

It was a pretty quick walk, even with rush hour traffic on Kapiolani which is no joke!

We didn’t have reservations and were seated at the sushi bar. Looking at stuff online, I pretty much was sure I didn’t want any sushi here.

And of course a beer to start. A nice refreshing Kyoto Bakushu White Yuzu Ale. It seemed to have a mild herbaceous nuttiness to it as well.

We went with stuffs from the Otsumami menu, a couple of daily specials, and a couple of amiyaki (grilled) items.

First to arrive was the Tsubugai (Whelk) Sashimi ($35) something you don’t see on many menus.

Quite crunchy, clean and oceany, with a nice sweetness.

Next up was the menu item that Missus loved; the Pickled Bitter Melon ($5.50).

It was definitely bitter melon, with the puckery bitterness, but was really enhanced with sour and salty tones, with a hint of sweetness. This is what made the Missus request that I make pickled bitter melon at home.

The Missus really enjoyed the Chawan Mushi ($11). Served cold, it was very refreshing.

Topped with Uni and Ikura, this was quite savory with the kiss of the ocean. The brininess of the ikura really gave the cold-creamy, and slightly sweet chawan mushi the kick it needed. A really good dish.

And the, even more Bitter Melon.

Followed by Fried Tofu with Natto ($8).

This was really beany tofu, combined with the pungently “neba-neba” natto, topped with savory katsuobushi and shoyu, this was my kind of dish.

Then the two Amiyaki items arrived; starting with the Chicken Wings ($5). I got the version with tare.

The skin was really rubbery and the meat dry. The tare was overly sweet for my taste. Even a squeeze of lemon didn’t help much.

And of course I had to try the Tsukune ($6.50). Sadly, I ordered this with tare as well.

I’m sure regular readers know that I will often figure out if a Yakitori shop will be to my taste is by ordering Tsukune which, at least to me displays both the kitchen and grilling skills. This was not good, very tough, too lean, and lacking in flavor other than the tare.

Well, these two dishes meant we had to have “dessert”; which was guess what?

So, the meal definitely ended on a high note. In the end, while Izakaya Uosan seemed a level above Bozu, we enjoyed many of the dishes here. If Bozu was in our neck of the woods, we’d probably visit on a regular basis. I’m sure we’ll return!

Bozu Japanese Restaurant
1960 Kapiolani Blvd Suite 209
Honolulu, HI 96826

Thanks for the recommendation XJ and Mikey!

We took our time heading back to the Ala Moana Hotel….we actually went for a walk along Ala Moana Beach for the sunset.

And enjoyed our last evening in HNL….

Thanks for stopping by!

Sizzling House Has Closed, Juewei becoming L.A. Hot Duck, and Isaki Japanese Restaurant Taking the Former 85°C Spot

Bakery, Chinese Restaurants, Desserts, Japanese Restaurants, yoso-silly

Here’s some stuffs I noticed in the Clairemont Mesa/Kearny Mesa area recently.

Sizzling House Has Closed:

Noticed this during our most recent visit to Eastern Dynasty.

Whoa, Sizzling House didn’t even last a year. So, much for the sizzling plate/pepper lunch fad, huh? Looks like this is going to be an outlet of Las Vegas based Urban Matcha…so one feeds another?

4698 Convoy St. Suite 107
San Diego, CA 92111

Juewei Becoming L.A. Hot Duck:

**** Update: Looks like this location is going to become Coco Bomb

Also during that visit we noticed a new banner covering the Juewei sign.

Funny thing, I just mentioned how dissatisfied we’d been with our most recent visits to Juewei in my post on Spicy Duck Wang La Ya. Juewei seemed to be constantly changing concepts, last I saw they were trying to do Hot Pot, before that they had initiated doing skewers. They had an inconsistent inventory of items we enjoyed and we just decided to stop and not waste our time there.

So, I’m not sure if it’s still the same owners with a new concept….I do know there’s a LA Hot Duck in Rowland Heights. What’s up with all these places from the SGV opening here? They do not appear to be open yet; so we’ll see!

4690 Convoy St. #103
San Diego, CA 92111

And finally….

Isaki Japanese Restaurant and Nothing Bundt Cakes Taking the Former 85°C  Spot:

I noticed some signage on the doors of what used to be 85°C off Balboa so I walked on over. Looks like they’ve split the spot into two businesses.

One of the signs said Isaki Japanese Restaurant.

And the other looks to be another franchise of Nothing Bundt Cakes.

I don’t have much to say about this one…..

5575 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Oishi Sushi on Blvd – Lunches with JJ

Dog Friendly, Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

I’m still looking for those perfect Asian dining spots to have meals with JJ. In terms of Japanese cuisine; well there’s Tanuki, where JJ does like the service and we thought some of the dishes were enjoyable; but it’s more of an early dinner spot for us as the lunch menu is quite limited. I had read about Oishi Sushi on Blvd and thought that perhaps JJ and I should give it a shot for an early lunch. So we headed on over.

Remember when this tiny shop that faces ECB was Medina Moroccan-Baja Kitchen?

Anyway, we arrived and took a quick peak around the tiny dining area and front porch before the nice Server sat us.

We didn’t have a chance to see the sushi bar area, but I can imagine how packed things can get here.

I was handed a menu, of which one whole side is “specialty” sushi rolls; like 41 in all with “14 basic rolls” on the other side of the menu. Yes, I did count them. The other side has more of what I’m looking for as I’m not a “sushi roll” kinda guy. Everything from ramen to yakisoba to nigiri to pulled pork sandwiches? Hmmm….. I guess they’re trying to please everyone here.

You know my strategy when wanting to see the quality of the usual “sakana”. I got the Chirashi ($28).

My goodness, the amount of rice was crazy? Did I look like I was a sumotori in training? I was able to finish less than half of the rice and took the rest of it home! Which was of decent quality; the shari was quite vinegar forward.

While the fish was routine; in my opinion, it was of much better quality than Kiiro, and the cuts much thicker.

My least favorite was the overly chewy and slightly metallic tasting Akami Marugo, much too lean. The Salmon was cut quite thickly and was fine.

The Hamachi was pretty tender, though on the drier side. As was the hirame.

The “Spicy Tuna” was made with scrape (nakaochi) which actually had a nice texture.

I thought the tamago was on the sweeter side and my favorite item in the chirashi was actually the hotate; scallop which, even though was a half slice was very tender and sweet.

Like I mentioned earlier, while the fish was fairly routine, it seemed to have been handled with some care; the quality, portion size, and execution much better than Kiiro in my mind.

I would also say that Oishi is more “Dogs Allowed” than dog friendly, though JJ didn’t mind.

A few weeks later I decided to revisit with JJ. It was basically at the same time as my previous visit and the place was quiet and relaxed. It was also the same woman as before.

This time I decided on some Chicken Karaage ($13) and not really wanting any otsumami or sunomono….I had thought the scallop was good on the Chirashi so went with a Scallop Handroll($7.50).

The portion size of the Karaage was quite large, but you see the immediate problem I had with this, right?

Yes, the chicken had been sliced…probably to check doneness? Real amateur hour here as this results in drier chewier pieces.

This also seems to be white meat; sigh…what’s up with places serving that as karaage these days? Perhaps it’s to control inventory, since they already make katsu and teriyaki chicken, so they only want breasts? Which are too dry and bland for karaage.

The batter got fairly soft rather quickly, but the seasoning had good soy-savory, slightly sweet tones. Still, the cutting before serving and the use of white meat is a deal breaker for me.

The hand roll was also quite large.

The hotate coated with salty-briney-crunchy tobiko. Like before, the scallops were nice and sweet and the amount of hotate was quite generous as it ranged all the way to the end of this rather large temaki.

The rice was a bit drier this time around; but that shari was just as strong. No complaints and I’d say that this was well worth the $7.50.

Overall, I’d say Oishi is pretty much in the same vein as Kiiro. Kind of a Westernized fusion (and portion sizes) of Japanese food serving everything. I enjoyed it more than Kiiro and it was nice having JJ along for lunch. Both lunches were on weekends at 11am and we were the only customers dining in until just before I finished my meal. I think it’s time for me to return to those more traditional favorites of mine…..

Oishi Sushi on Blvd
2850 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92104
Current Hours:
Sun – Wed 11am – 10pm
Thurs – Sat 11am – 11pm