Japanese Restaurants – Page 24

Revisits – Donburi Kitchen and Okan Diner

July 30, 2017 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

Donburi Kitchen:

**** Donburi Kitchen has closed

I was driving back from a meeting and wanted to grab some lunch. That really horrible katsudon from Minato 3 had me wondering how Donburi Kitchen whom I visited when they first opened last year was doing.

I was hoping that they'd added a couple of more traditional, standard donburi to the menu other than the Unadon. In fact, I recall the nice young man telling me during my visit last year that they would be expanding the menu in the near future.

Well, fast forward nearly a year; and other than now having a ton of sushi roll on the chalkboard; the menu was the same.

So, what to order. I wasn't a big fan of the ramen last time and really wanted some rice. I had seen the Unagi Bowl and was not going to order that. So I went with two items that I thought were pretty good before.

I'd thought the Agedashi Tofu; while not being perfectly dusted/battered was decent; so I ordered that rice bowl ($7.50), along with the Chashu Ponzu ($5.50), which I enjoyed on my previous visit.

The tofu displayed the same pluses; nice molten texture and the same weaknesses, the batter/coating didn't hold up well, and the sauce was really watered down and weak. I'm not a big fan of radioactive green seaweed salad that looks like it's full of artificial coloring. Again, the Vietnamese styled pickled vegetables, and some really good quick pickled, almost "smacked" cucumbers.

The green salad that accompanied the meal was nicely dressed, the veggies crisp and fresh.

This time around, the Chashu Ponzu was disappointing.

Lacking in the previous soy-mirin flavor and without enough ponzu to lift things; this came off as being rather bland. Unlike the previous time I had this; the pork was also dry with some very hard bits.

So, with tax almost fifteen bucks. I was disappointed; at that price point, I could have eaten near my office at Okan Diner. So, to me, as the saying goes, Donburi Kitchen "is what it is". "San Diego" style Japanese food for the masses. Nothing wrong with that; but not my kind of thing.

Donburi Kitchen
6030 Santo Rd
San Diego, CA 92124

Okan Diner:

Speaking of Okan Diner. I returned a few days after my Donburi Kitchen revisit to see if they had expanded the menu a bit. No such luck. But it was a pretty hot day so I went with the Zaru Udon ($8) and added the Katsuni Don ($2.50), which is actually a mini katsudon.

I did enjoy the noodles, which were prepared perfectly….nice toothsomeness. Everything was as it should be; the tsuyu not too salty, not watered down, a touch of wasabi. Still; eight bucks for this? that's kind of on the high side.

The katsuni was three pieces of tonkatsu, but it had held up well, with some parts still crisp. The pork was decently tender; nothing like Japan mind you, but still pretty good. The onions were a bit too raw for a good katsudon in my opinion and there was a lot of rice; but the sauce had permeated everything.

I'd say the service here is still spotty and not up to the level of the food. But it is a "diner" after all, right?

Okan Diner
5430 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Minato 3 Ramen & Sushi

July 25, 2017 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

**** Minato 3 Ramen & Sushi has closed

A few months back I'd head that a new Japanese Restaurant had opened up in the old Com Tam 75 space. While I wasn't particularly motivated to try the place out; I needed to head over to Northgate Market for a few things and really didn't feel like eating at Pho 87 again. So I decided to head on over to check the place out.

The interior was basically the same as the old restaurant; save a few changes….same odd, wheeled chairs; the counter area converted into a sushi bar that was too high to actually serve folks…..the televisions played Korean Boy and Girls Band videos constantly.

I glanced over at what the other two tables where eating…..rolls; I knew I wouldn't be going for the sushi….so I looked over the "Ramen" part of the menu. I decided to just try one of their basic ramen. Not that it matters, but when the employees spoke, it was in Korean; thus the videos

I went with the Tonkotsu Ramen ($8.99).

So that's what arrived; a super thin, bland, lukewarm "broth", that had a rather odd fragrance that I can't quite place. Eventually, the beni shōga (pickled ginger) bled all over the soup. The noodles were typical mass produced, "JFC" stuff and quickly got mushy. The boiled egg was fine, but not seasoned, and ice cold. The chashu was actually pretty decent; slightly porky, tender, and had been heated before serving. Of course there was all the corn and other stuff in the broth.

Maybe it's because the last couple bowls of ramen I'd had before coming here were at Menya Ultra, Ichiran (mediocre, but ten times better than this) in Kyoto, Gogyo Ramen (Kyoto), and Kizo (Tokyo), that this seemed below mediocre. But I'm fairly certain that if I even went to Ajisen tomorrow, it would be several levels better than this. Bummer.

Well, you know me, right. A couple of weeks later I decided to head on over to Minato; just to…..well see if my meal had just been an off day. There was no way I'd be having ramen; but since it seemed everyone really enjoyed the "sushi" here; I'd at least try the fish. So I ordered what was called "Carpaccio Salad" ($7.95) on the menu. Which was basically four slices of sashimi drenched in ponzu and sesame oil with some Kaiware (radish sprouts) and two slices of avocado as the "salad".

The salmon was the best piece here; the shiromi (white fish) was still partially frozen and stiff as a board and even drenched in the sauce; the maguro, which actually looked good, tasted a bit off.

I'd also ordered the Katsudon ($10.99), which I kinda expected to look like this (my home version), if not better.

This is what I got.

Check out that albumen. They didn't even bother to cook the eggs at all. It seems they just decided to crack a raw egg over the tonkatsu. Hey, I love tamago meshi, but this ain't that. This definitely needed more onions and cabbage really doesn't belong. The pork was tough and rubbery; the sauce tasted like the bottled stuff you add water to.

Good lord, I hate to be harsh, but this was pretty bad. Makes Katsuni at Okan Diner seem like it deserves a Michelin star.

Usually, I'd give a place another shot….three strikes and all that. But I just can't bring myself to return. The folks working here are sort of friendly. That is, the Server, who was actually chewing on food once when he served me, is really nice. The sushi guys are kind of detached. I'm hoping you enjoy the food here more than I did if you check them out.

Minato 3 Ramen & Sushi
5420 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Nagoya – Nadai Kishimen Sumiyoshi

July 22, 2017 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Nagoya, Travel

I slowly awoke on our last morning in Nagoya. Unfolding myself from the futon….man; it had been awhile since I've slept on the floor and my body really wasn't used to it. Plus, we'd put in some mileage over the last two days. Still, falling into an exhausted sleep really helped since our apartment was pretty small and the train tracks were literally outside our window.

We got our things together, cleaned up the apartment, showered, closed up, and basically crossed the street to the JR Nagoya Station where we checked out some of the shops featuring local snacks….the ever present Nagoya Teba, in gift boxes for your enjoyment!

Anyway, we headed up to our tracks. We were about an hour early, our Shinkansen wasn't scheduled to leave until around 0845. There was a reason for this. If you recall, the Missus really enjoyed the Kishimen at Kaburaya and I promised Her we'd get another bowl of this Nagoya specialty. But where? Well, on our return trip from Tsumago, I pointed out this little booth between tracks 10 and 11.

This is one of the shops of Nadai Kishimen Sumiyoshi, there's another between tracks 3 and 4 as well. I'd read a bit about this tiny, stand up noodle shop; where you eat standing up, before catching your train. I told the Missus that folks had even recommended making a stop here just to grab a bowl on the train tracks before transferring to the next passing train. The Missus was fascinated with these type of shops, so She was totally game!

Of course ordering was by ticket machine and the Missus being to read Kanji helped a bit. We put our money into the machine and got our tickets. The shop opens at 0730; it was almost 8 and the only other customer in there was finishing up already. We surrendered our tickets and the woman went to work. It was a tidy little shop; a one woman show here….she was super organized and even communicated via sign language to let us know that there already was an egg in what the Missus ordered and did we really want another? The answer of course was yes.

The Missus had ordered the "Shop Special", only for this shop; the Shrimp Tempura Version, 500¥, think a bit over $4.50, with an additional 79¥ for an extra egg.

I got the "Seasonal Special", a vegetable tempura version for 500¥.

Boy, the soup, which tasted like a sweeter, stronger, dashi forward Kitsune Udon broth really had that "aaah" appeal. Very comforting; it was the beginning of April, but there was still a chill in the air. In fact, I'd read and Kat had mentioned to me that it had snowed in several parts of Japan just he previous week. The Missus of course loved mixing in that raw egg…or in Her case, the raw eggs. It's really the noodles that appealed to the Missus, flat and slightly wide, these noodles had a really nice "stretch" to them; what my Taiwanese coworkers would call "QQ"…..enjoyably chewy and toothsome, but not hard. No spoons here….you drink from the bowl! Man, this was good!

Nadai Kishimen Sumiyoshi (名代きしめん) – Between Tracks 10 and 11 JR Nagoya Station
1-1-4 Meieki
Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan

As our train arrived, I went to the ever present vending machines….one could write several blog posts about these; and bought some hot coffee and tea and we boarded.

And we were off. Our reserved seats were right behind the Engineer and I really enjoyed watching him. Taking note of he various hand signals and how he sped up or slowed down.

As we got closer to our destination; there it was….snow!

The Missus and I looked at each other and smiled….whatever was waiting, we'd make the best of it.

And as we had learned during "Typhoon Day" several years back, from Kat and others. When there's a possibility of unknown weather ahead, an important step is to………have snacks!

So, at least we were prepared for that!

Thanks for reading!

Nagoya – Hinotez 2

July 21, 2017 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Nagoya, Travel

We had intentions of revisiting the original Yakyuudori againon our last evening in Nagoya. Taka-san even told them to expect us. Yakyuudori doesn't take reservations, so our initial plan was to be there right when they opened. However, we'd had a pretty full day already and had passed out after lunch at Yabaton. When we awoke, it was getting late….but since Taka-san had told them to expect us; we had to show up. And we did. Yakyuudori however, was absolutely packed….folks were eating on the benches against the wall! The really nice guy from last time came out from behind the grill and told us; "you go to Hinotetsu 2"….so we decided to go down the street and find the place. But, in typical Japanese manner, he came out from behind the grill and insisted on walking us there!

We felt really bad in having him walk us to the place…..but he insisted and was so nice. He made sure to introduce us to the chef.

We quickly noticed something about the style of grilling at this location. There was minimum use of tare.

As was evident by the Kimo; chicken liver.

Though the Missus said She really liked this version as it had really absorbed the bincho flavor.

The butashiso was very good; the pork was tender and moist and the flavor of the shiso came through nicely.

A very nice version.

Last time around, I didn't know that Yakyuudori and Hinotez serves up basashi, raw horse, one of my favorite things. This time I made sure to order it.

While a bit leaner than my favorite version; the flavor was clean and the ginger and ponzu really made this refreshing.

We tend to use Tsukune; chicken meatballs, as our measure of a yakitori shop. This version didn't do it for us.

This was really tough and hard, totally different from what we enjoy in a good tsukune. It really had the texture of an over worked sausage; even the beautiful egg yolk, nor the tare, of which it was drenched in couldn't help.

The teba; chicken wings were prepared in a different manner than the classic Yakyudori/Taisho splayed version, but the skin was very crisp and it was seasoned well.

We finished off with some kawa; the chicken skin.

This did real well with the straight up bincho grilling. It was nice and crisp and salted quite well. Though we did miss the crisp edges and the buttery interior of our favorite versions.

Overall, a mixed bag, but not bad. If anything, we appreciated Taisho even more after this visit. We'll make sure to get to Yakyuudori on time when we're back in Nagoya.

Hinotez 2
105 Fujimigaoka
Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

Nagoya – Nagoya Castle and Lunch at Yabaton

June 22, 2017 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Nagoya, Travel

After crossing the Gojo Bridge we walked past the Nagoya Noh Theatre….where the Missus was smitten with this Cherry Blossom tree.

I had gotten a good dose of the Missus's love….obsession with sakura a bit earlier on the trip so I just ket Her carry on; while I took a look around.

That's a statue of Daimyo Kato Kiyomasa who was known as the premier castle builder of his day. Under orders of Ieyasu Tokugawa, several Daimyo's including Kiyomasa were tasked with rebuilding Nagoya castle which had been abandoned.

Once the Missus was done taking Her photos and admiring the sakura, we headed across the street to the entrance of Nagoya Castle.

We paid our entrance fee and stopped by the tourist office where the very friendly young lady pointed out several places of note.

Apparently, there was some kind of festival going on………not quite sure what it was about, but seeing folks in….ummm….costumes kept us smiling.

And some browsing time as well…..

All in the shadow of the Castle's Turrets.

Here's another statue of Kato Kiyomasa. Apparently, it was from this stone that he would command the building of the castle.

We headed to the other end of the castle grounds, to the East Garden.

Where we found a Tea House and decided to take a break. The Missus loves Macha….if you only knew how much She spends ordering stuff from Ippodo, Lupicia, and other places….

The Missus wanted some extra "bling" in Her tea…..

We walked back to the area of Hommaru Palace, part of which is being restored. We could actually enter and view the restoration taking place and were provided hard hats…..which made for a couple of silly hard hat photos (of course).

It was really neat to be able to check out all the elaborate construction being done.

Genkan, the entrance hall and Omote Shoin, the main hall have been restored and are open to the public. We got a chance to see the wonderful wall and partition paintings.

We had, of course, saved the Main Donjon (Tower) for last.

On the way there we passed the "Kiyomasa Stone", the largest stone in the wall said to have been put there by Kato Kiyomasa himself; though it is said that Kuroda Nagamasa was actually in charge of building this part of the wall.

We loved watching the kids take photos with the "Samurai"….in fact, we ended up taking photos with him as well (ssshhh, don't tell).

There was an interesting reproduction of the castle town along with what some of the meals looked like.

There's a replica of the Golden Kinshachi, two of which adorn the roof of the Dojon, and are symbols of Nagoya.

And a nice view from the 7th Floor as well.

After this we decided to head on out……there was some shopping that we needed to do.

But first, we just had to stop and watch the children's dance performances.

The littlest one's were really adorable.

Done with Nagoya Castle; we headed down Honmachi Dori and somehow managed to find the Nadya Park Shopping Complex. We went to the Montbell Store and bought some ultra-light Plasma 1000 down jackets.

That done, it was getting kinda late, so we headed back toward Nagoya Station. We decided to take our chances at the Yabaton in the underground ESCA shopping center. Indeed, there was a line when we arrived….but, things moved quickly and they actually took your order while you waited in line.

So by the time we got to our table; things were just about waiting for us.

Misokatsu is one of the classic Nagoya food items….ask Taka-san at Taisho about it and he practically smacks his lips. Yabaton is probably the most well known chain of misokatsu restuarants.

I went with what Taka-san told me to order; the Teppan Misokatsu.

I shared my rice with the Missus. The miso soup was really good as well. In the teppan version of misokatsu; the tonkatsu is delivered on a hot plate lying on a bed of cabbage sizzling away. The miso sauce is then brought to the table and you can tell them how much you want.

The miso isn't overly salty; nice beany flavor, the breading on the cutlet is nice and stays crisp for a while. The pork is surprisingly tender….but man, this was a lot of pork.

The Missus got some small dishes which She enjoyed.

While everything was prepared well; this was perhaps too much of the same flavor and it was rather fatiguing after a while.

Nice meal; though I'll probably stick with some kushikatsu next time.

Misokatsu Yabaton (ESCA Shop)
ESCA Underground Shopping Center
Tsubakimachi 6 No. 9 Gosaki Esca
Tsubakicho, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya-shi, 453-0015
Hours:
11am – 10pm Daily

Revisits – Island Style Cafe and Katsu Cafe

June 11, 2017 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

A revisit double dose of places with "Café" in their name.

Island Style Café:

It had been over a year since my last visit and I wanted some time away from the office for lunch. So I decided to head over to Island Style Café. Looking at my earlier posts, it's hard to believe this place has been here for nine years already! Time sure does fly.

The place was almost full when I arrived. Seems like business is doing quite well.

Of course I got the Kaloko Moco…..I'm still fascinated with the sweet-savory interplay of flavors with that crepe.

This time around the hamburger patty was nice and moist, the gravy not too salty, though the eggs, like a couple times before were over-well instead of over easy like I requested. The fried rice was nice and moist.

Man, nine years….though the food here has been fairly consistent over those years; my appetite has not and I was only able to finish half of this…..

Island Style Cafe
5950 Santo Road
San Diego, CA 92124
Hours:
Tues – Fri 9am – 2pm, 430pm – 8pm
Sat 7am – 8pm
Sun 7am – 3pm

Katsu Café:

Wanted to stay close to the office for lunch, so I decided to head back to Katsu Café. I wanted to check out how the Chicken Katsu was doing here….well, at least now it's actually called Chicken Katsu. For a long time it was "Chicken Cutlet" on the menu; though the name of the place was Katsu Café. The place filled up very quickly; the young lady manning the register was kind of surly, but the two Server were really nice.

If I had to note one thing that improved since Teri Café became Katsu Café, it would be the miso soup. Which, while still not great is decent and has enough miso in it.

Man, the portion sizes here seem to be getting larger.

But, just as on my previous visit the panko coating on the katsu just crumbled right off and the chicken was dry. I'm thinking either these guys overcook this stuff, the chicken is way too cold when they bread it, or the oil temp is off. The rice was also subpar; dry, with hard bits. The best items were the standard issue green salad and the potato-mac salad, which was nicely seasoned, cold, and pretty darn good.

It's still more about quantity….or even more quantity, than quality. I finished the two salads and left most of the katsu and just about all the rice.

Katsu Cafe
7305B Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Lunch at Okan Diner

May 21, 2017 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

I recently noticed that Okan Diner was open for lunch. Since my first visits in March, I'd pretty much left the place alone. What I had was decent to pretty good; but I thought the prices were a bit on the high side. Now that the place was open for lunch, I was interested in checking out if anything had changed.

You see; I really don't think a $17 Kamameshi for lunch would be sustainable.

I was happy to find a lunch menu; the prices weren't too bad; though, based on the udon I'd had during a previous visit; those prices still seemed a bit high.

Still, it was nice to see a simple set of lunch specials. Picking one out was easy; the Katsu-Ni ($11.50).

Think of it as being Katsudon; without everything poured over rice……….though I wished that they perhaps did donburi instead of these types of preparation….it would be in character of a "diner" in my mind.

Overall, I thought the focus of the meal was well prepared. The sauce had a nice balance of salty to sweet. The onions were tender; though I enjoy having some scallions as well. The tonkatsu was tender and still crisp, a very important thing when it comes to these type of dishes. The egg was a bit overcooked and not "fluffy" enough for my taste, but that's splitting hairs. I did see the dish sit on the counter for a while, so perhaps that had something to do with things. The rice was perfect for this dish; though again, I prefer it saturated with sauce…..but no complaints here. The miso soup was decent, not too watery, not too salty. The side dishes….well, I expect more than mass produced seaweed salad and bland moyashi. This after all; carries the Okan banner and even at lunch the sides are at the least interesting.

So therein lies the problem for me. This place is even more expensive than having my favorite lunch at Okan. And it's not nearly as completely good….notice I said completely. It is still good, but hasn't quite hit the mark yet. Perhaps they are still finding their footing?

I hope so.

Okan Diner
5430 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117
Open Daily
1130am – 2pm
5pm – 1030pm

COMC – Menya Ultra Ramen, Tribute Pizza, China Max, and ‘Dem Bones (again) at Pho Duyen Mai

May 18, 2017 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Gastropub, Japanese Restaurants, Pho, Ramen

It's time to C(lear) O(ut) the M(emory) C(ard). Here are a bunch of photos…and not many words.

Menya Ultra Ramen:

Perfect noodles, excellent ajitama……broth still not quite as good as when they first opened.

Still the best ramen in San Diego in my opinion.

Menya Ultra Ramen
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Tribute Pizza:

Happy Hour on Tuesday to Friday from 4-6pm.

Sea Salt Foccacia with 'Nduja (of course). The Missus really enjoyed the wood fired veggies on the charcuterie board; which comes with its own "Foccacia of the Day". This time it was an "Everything Bagel" version. Our favorite so far was the Cheddar with Chives…..

Tribute Pizza
3077 N Park Way
San Diego, CA 92104

China Max:

In search of more quiet time. I did miss the Missus though.

She usually has most of the seafood. All I really wanted were the noodles.

China Max
4698 Convoy Street #C101
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Duyen Mai:

**** Pho Duyen Mai is under new ownership

Yes it's "Them Bones" again. I actually got busy too quickly and forgot to take a photo until I'd scraped all the meat off the beef ribs.

Though the actual star of the show was this little guy. Who waited patiently, leash in mouth while his mommy finished lunch. What an awesome pooch! Amazing! I couldn't help but tell his owner how impressed I was with his focus.

Pho Duyen Mai
5375 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123

Hope you're having a great week!

Needing a bit of quiet time – Lunches at Okan and Chef Chin

May 9, 2017 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants

Recently, when I've been able to make time to escape for an actual lunch. during the lunch hour, I've been wanting some quiet time. Here are a couple of recent lunch revisits.

Okan:

Now you might think that quiet time at Okan really doesn't happen…..it does on occasion. Like early in the week. And strangely, even though I'm sometimes elbow to elbow with someone sitting on the bar; there's something strangely Japanese about the noise level….most of the time. I am a creature of habit it seems and just went for my usual here, the Tori Nanban.

I keep forgetting to ask for the tartar sauce on the side….very mayonnaise-sy, but the slight sweet-sour tones cut the richness a bit and the crunchy batter on the chicken holds up fairly well. Lest you think it's all about small dishes here; this lunch is pretty hefty. The rice was really good this time around.

And the sides were also to my taste.

Especially that okra….pleasantly slimy, just salty enough. And like before, this was just what I needed on this day……a nice break; fried food, mayo……

Wa Dining Okan
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Chef Chin:

**** Chef Chin has closed

Man, I hadn't been here in over a year. I really wanted some quiet and I got it here as there was not a single person in the place until I was leaving….when a party of 15 came in!

And I also got a nice laugh as I unconsciously started humming along with the muzak……until I noticed something….it was Christmas music……The Last Noel! Now I thought I was perhaps a bit confused, working too hard, maybe going tone deaf…but no; there it was "Silent Night". In a very strange way, it somehow lightened my spirits a bit…perhaps that's what we need to do….play Christmas Music in May!

Unfortunately, that was the highlight of the meal. Still a bit bummed by the lackluster Zui Ji I recently had at Tasty Noodle House, I ordered it here.

The texture of the chicken was lovely, but it had almost no wine flavor, and sigh……being the total opposite from the version at Tasty Noodle House, really needed some salt. The flavor tasted like some cold chicken you pulled from the fridge. Man, I should just give it up and head to Golden City.

I was in the mood for some noodle soup. Way back when; during those dark ages of 2012, the Niu Rou Mian here wasn't bad. But when I had it again it was not so good. Plus, they had changed the noodles. There were times when the Wuxi Spareribs here were decent, so I went with the Wuxi Sparerib Noodle Soup….my bad…..

Man, this broth was pretty bad, it tasted weirdly like tangy, burnt, five spice….with a cloud of sweetness hanging around. I also ended up drinking a ton of water as well. The noodles were the thin type and on the over-cooked side, heading toward mushiness. The spareribs were sadly very bland and, as you can tell, dry…..bummer.

It's back to the drawing board….but as a consolation prize, at least I got to listen to Christmas Carols in May, right? And the young lady working was very nice and I got some time to myself…

Chef Chin
4433 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Nagoya – Kaburaya (Main Store) and Kinshachi Nagoya Akamiso Beer

May 1, 2017 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Nagoya, Pubs and Pub Grub, Travel

We were feeling a bit tired after having a full day. So we decided to stay close to the apartment. With ESCA and whole bunch of other shopping centers the choice for dinner was endless. The Missus was fascinated with a place just a block away. Upon entering this place looked basically like an Izakaya……the day was finishing up for folks here in Nagoya. And folks were enjoying a beer (or two) and a bite (or more) to eat.

Looking at the menu cracked me up….along with a bunch of "obanzai" style dishes, there seemed to be every Nagoya specialty on the menu….from Nagoya Teba, to Miso Katsu, to Hitsumabushi, to Kishimen! And some of the menu translations were quite humorous as well…….

We ordered a random collection of dishes and were quite surprised at how good some of them was.

The Missus isn't a fan of Kushi Katsu; but She went for it ordering two Miso Kushi Katsu.

The miso here isn't overly salty, a tad sweet, a thick, hearty texture, the panko was still crisp, the pork surprisingly tender.

The Missus was totally in love with offal in Japan, so the "Gacchan"; pork stomach stew was a natural choice.

Again, with miso, this was very nicely sweet – miso umami, comforting, the pork stomach had a nice chew…….again, surprisingly not very salty.

Out of curiosity, I ordered the kishimen, Nagoya's signature noodle soup. Not expecting much, we, especially the Missus, was pleasantly surprised.

The broth had a nice, almost a condensed, dashi flavor, deep umami. The flat, udon like noodles, had a good stretch to them and the texture stood up for the entire bowl. The Missus enjoyed this so much, she asked me to find one other shop for this before we left…….that was going to be a bit of a challenge, but I did find a shop (stay tuned) in an interesting location.

We were really enjoying ourselves and decided to try some other items….including this.

Yep, local beer….made with red miso? Ohhhh-kay.

Interesting flavor; slightly sweet salty-caramel, mildly malty. Not something I'd crave….but nice to try once.

I just couldn't "not" order the Unagi Honsenbei…..but man, this was way too large a portion.

Crisp, crunchy, nicely salted……. the Missus got tired of this fairly quickly.

We decided to end with the Tori Nanban….it's usually chicken karaage, topped with vinegar and tartar sauce. What we got was a bit too over-the-top for us.

The flavor of the karaage itself was fairly neutral; decently fried, a bit of soy and some nice savory tones. That sauce was a bit too much……like a crazy thousand island dressing; mayo-ketchup, with green onions, celery……carrots! Overpowering the chicken. We'd obviously hit the wall after this one……..

Kaburaya was a pleasant surprise and the Missus really enjoyed Herself. In fact, She'd want another Izakaya during this trip.

The service here was quite friendly. We loved the young lady who Served us, "my English is pretty good, yes?" Yes, it was.

Kaburaya Main Store
15-8 Tsubakicho Nakamura-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi, 453-0015
Chitose GL building B2 – 1F
Open Daily 11am – 1130pm