Today Kirk and Cathy are busy. Ed (from Yuma) not so much, so he's posting.
Sakura. About a dozen years ago, when Kirk and I first ate at Sakura together, I had no idea that this Izakaya would be the restaurant most posted about at mmm-yoso!!! Of course I also had no idea that Kirk was going to be starting a food blog and that I would ever do a post for it. Long time ago.
Gleefully surprised to find an empty space in the lot, I parked, walked over to Sakura, tried the door, and learned that it doesn't open until 11:30. That explained the parking space. But I was content to sit down at an outside table, enjoy the pleasant weather, and wait.
When they turned on the sign and opened the doors, I knew what I wanted, tempura soba and iced green tea. The tea showed up first: 
That's bright green.
Then the tempura soba: 
This is an old favorite of mine. I love the textures – the crunch of the tempura, the juicy chew of the shrimp, and the gentle coolness of the buckwheat noodles in the broth. Contrasts of temperatures and flavors.
I also enjoyed the basic cabbage salad: 
and the pickles and rice ball: 
In some odd way, the simplicity of the lunch just seemed right.
Prime, in contrast with my lunch, would be a much more elaborate meal in a new Korean restaurant where Kirk, Cathy, and I had never eaten before. It was great for me to get together with Kirk and Cathy since I don't get to see them very much being stuck out in the desert. But we had a great time and a dang good meal. Cathy has already posted about it, so I’ll try not to repeat a lot.
Dipping sauces showed up first: 
The little one in the middle was slightly sweet and was intended for the brisket slices which were not marinated. The largest bowl was my favorite sauce as it had some tartness that helped cut the richness of the beef. Also the crunch of onions added texture, and the sauce seemed to go with everything.
I was happy in general with the pan chan. The kimchi was complex and deeply flavorful, not too sharp or sour: 
The shiitake mushrooms were simple and focused: 
We all liked the little shrimp in a sweet chili sauce. Pleasant textures too: 
The bean sprouts were unusual with horseradish or wasabi seasoning and went well with all of the beef: 
To me the cucumber slices were well prepared with more crunch and bright flavors than standard cucumber pan chan: 
For my tastes, the only shortcoming to the pan chan was the lack of anything dried – dried radish and dried tofu being particular favorites.
We also got this vegetable and soybean paste soup that we ate very little of: 
And a nice fluffy custardy egg dish with mild seafood flavor: 
But Prime is all about the meats, and what an array we got with Combo C: 
It's interesting comparing Cathy's picture of the meats with mine because we sat more or less across from each other and our photos have a different perspective. This picture, for example, emphasizes the size and thickness of the ribeye steak.
All this top-quality meat was tasty. Prime even uses ribeye steak for their bul gogi. The ribeye steak itself and the brisket were totally enjoyable. But my favorites were the two furthest away in the picture. The boneless ribs were full of tendon and cartilage and had deep flavor and a pleasant chewy mouthfeel. The marinated galbi was supremely rich and butter tender. Overall it was a first-rate Korean beef barbecue.
When I first saw that plate of beef hit the table, I thought there was no way we would finish it. However: 
One final note – our server was friendly and helpful throughout. She explained the dipping sauces, put the meats on the grill, took them off, cut them up, and otherwise facilitated, which was great because we three could concentrate on our conversations and our eating. I sure had a great time.
At least if the ABC notice is correct. Something named Menya Ultra. Some quick slapping on my keyboard yielded a clue…. and a bit more. I'm pretty sure that the folks at Nishiki Ramen can't be happy at the company name. But another Hokkaido ramen chain in San Diego? Well, I think there's room for that.
