Japanese Restaurants – Page 32

Kayaba is now Musashiya

December 16, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

Well, I gotta say, based on my last visit to Kayaba, it seemed the place was "not long for this world". Sad, because I'd had some pretty good meals there in the past. At the end of October, I received a text from Dennis showing a new sign going up. A shop named Musashiya, which I believe has the same ownership as the Udon shop in LA.

So, before leaving on our trip, I decided to drop by. Looking at the menu and the plastic food, it seems that only the name has changed.

I've had the Katsu Curry at Kayaba many times, so I decided to go with that.

Well, as you can see the place has some spiffy new plates. Also, notice there basically nothing in the curry….it's almost all sauce. And while the curry at Kayaba would sometimes vary wildly in flavor, this tasted about right, mild heat, mild spice, thick gravy. At least the tonkatsu wasn't fried to death…….it was moist, though the breading could have been more crisp. I think there was a mild malfunction with the salad as it had no dressing. I also ordered a side of the potato salad, which I'd always enjoyed at Kayaba. This version had enough onion, but needed some salt.

Here's a vintage photo of the Katsu Curry…..

Well, at least the tonkatsu was decent, right? So upon returning from our trip to Seoul and Japan, I decided to try the tonkatsu and this is what I got.

Good lord. Talk about deja vu all over again. Dry, fried to death, breading as hard as rock, and check out the gaps between the breading and the pork! Very sad. Well, the potato salad tasted well seasoned this time around. The miso soup at Kayaba had always been kind of insipid; that held steady.

Here's another vintage photo of better days past……

So like the lyrics go at the end of Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who: "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss….."

Perhaps the menu will change…perhaps we'll see handmade udon….perhaps the new boss will be the same as the old boss. And I'm sure to get fooled again, though not by Musashiya…….for at least a couple of months.

Musashiya
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd Ste 119 – In the Mitsuwa Marketplace
San Diego, CA 92111

COMC, the two “T” edition: Tadokoro and Taisho

December 15, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

It's time to Clear Out the Memory Card (COMC). It's been a few months since I did one of these. It's also a nice coincidence that two of my favorite places here in San Diego are Tadokoro and Taisho. If you check the Big List you'd see how many posts I've done on these places. So, here we're doing mainly photos.

Sushi Tadokoro:

It had been a while. It was nice chatting with Take-san.

For some reason the lighting gave me fits – that's Tai.

Kisu – which I believe is Whiting

My favorite Ankimo.

Sushi Tadokoro
2244 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110

Yakitori Taisho:

During one of our weekly "fixes" at Taisho.

Yakitori Taisho
5185 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

Izakaya Sakura’s “Sign of the Times”

December 8, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

Hard to believe that one man lift and one new sign could make such a difference. Right before our trip, FOY (Friend of Yoso) "Xiāngjiāo" sent me a text and a photo showing a sign going up…….on Izakaya Sakura!

During the week that followed, I received at least 8 emails…many expressing sadness and even dismay about Sakura's new sign. I guess having no visible identity was part of Sakura's identity in their mind. ChrisR even used the phrase "end of an era", which I think describes the opinion of most of those emails. I do think TS's "Tearing Down the Berlin Wall" analogy was perhaps a bit much though!

Anyway, in case you haven't seen it yet, his is what the final product looks like.

I'm not fond of the sign, but it's a sign. While we've posted about Sakura over 25 times in the over 10 1/2 years we've been in existence, I guess I'd never quite put together how much the lack of signage gave the place some kind of cult status in San Diego. Fact is; I recall Sakura having a sign, circa 2002 or 03. San Diego was quite different in terms of Japanese (or even Chinese/Thai/Korean, etc) Restaurants in those days. I recall being in the place (Ed, not sure if I was having dinner with you) when a customer insisted on Kazu serving him some set of rolls. He was quite pushy, somewhat verbally abusive, Kazu actually brought out the phone book offering to help the guy find a place that would serve him what he wanted. I believe interactions like that led to the removal of Sakura's signage, though I've never asked. Personally, even though I've been there many, many, times over the years, I don't know Kazu well enough to ask….so maybe one of you will.

The food scene and tastes in San Diego have changed a lot since I first started doing business here in 1998-1999. And as much as I might seem too serious in my thoughts about what's being served, I think what's available is much more diverse than back then and am thankful for it. Social media and how we get our information has changed things as well.

The food is the bottom line, right? So here's a post signage chicken karaage. Looks much like what I've had over the years. No difference, no signage tariff.

As long as the food stays consistent; I'll keep eating here. Sign or no sign…….

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St Ste 121
San Diego, CA 92111

In case you really miss it……just one more time, ok?

For old times sake.

Hope you're having a great week!

Narita: Naritasan Shinshoji Temple and Seabura (pork backfat) Ramen at Miyamoto

December 7, 2015 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

It was nice to see Narita by daylight as arriving anywhere at night makes things a bit mysterious. The vibe of the city seemed quite relaxed, it's quite hard to believe that over 35 million people pass through an airport just a few miles away. Looking out from the window we had our first glimpse of the colors of the season. Something we don't get here in San Diego. Since our shuttle back to the airport wasn't until 940 and it was only 6am, we decided to do a bit of exploring and find something to eat.

Things seemed quite calm as we walked through the JR Narita Station, which is nearly right next to the privately operated Keisei Narita Station next door. We could make out some of the streets that we thought were so confusing the previous night. There were quite a few small temples tucked along the side streets.

We decided to visit what is probably the most popular site in this part of Narita; Naritasan Shinshoji Temple which is easily found by following the signs. The street heading to the temple, Omotesando, is lined with shops and restaurants, which were all closed at this time of the morning.

The street were very quiet except for schoolkids headed off to class. One particularly feisty little girl marched off quickly in front of us. Everytime we'd speed up, so would she, when we started catching up, she broke into a full on sprint….she refused to let us pass her! It seems we had become part of the morning entertainment.

The temple grounds were quite a bit larger than we anticipated. There's was a good amount to see. Sorry to say, my photos of the Main Hall were among those that were corrupted and unrecoverable form one of the SD cards. Still, there were quite a few distinct structures like the Three Story Pagoda.

For me, the most interesting structure was the Shakado Hall, which looked both grand and imposing at the same time. This was temple's main hall until the 1960's when the larger main hall was built.

Workers were taking down plants and flowers from an autumn flower show which had concluded the previous day.

There's also a large park. The cloudiness in the photo below is not an artifact, but the mist coming off the spruce as the environment warmed up.

We climbed up the stairs next to the Shakado Hall and were greeted by folks as they walked down past us.

The Missus read a sign that basically said, "shortcut to JR East Station", so we followed the trail. And wouldn't you know, we somehow quickly ended up quite close to the station.

We started looking for something for breakfast. And according to the Missus, "a pastry and coffee is not going to cut it!"

We circled around a bit, then ended back at Keisei Narita Station, and noticed a 24 Hour Ramen place. This seemed to fit the bill of the Missus wanting "as much ramen and yakitori" as we could possibly find on this trip.

There was one person manning the shop and one customer in attendance. The typical ramen ticket machine in the corner. The Missus couldn't make out some words and the proprietor (his photo was on the posters adorning the walls) was nice enough to point to different photos on the walls so we could correlate them to choices on the machine.

The Missus read some of the signs and said this place serves "backfat" ramen…….that would be "seabura" ramen. So what the heck, I went whole hog (no pun intended) and ordered the large bowl.

The Missus went with the Tenkasu-don – those crispy bits of tempura batter on top of rice, drizzled with a tentsuyu type of sauce, along with a raw egg. She added another boiled egg for good measure.

When my bowl arrived, I could see what looked like rice porridge on top of the ramen. It quickly became clear that these were silky little minced pieces of fat. Some of which melted away, some not. It added quite a bit of richness to the broth, which, in spite off all this fat, never became greasy. It added a different dimension to what was pretty much a ubiquitous bowl of ramen. The tonkotsu broth (minus the rendered pork fat) was fairly light and on the salty side. The noodles were done adequately…the Missus said the boiled eggs were decently flavored, though a bit on the over-cooked side for Her taste. There was a huge amount of beansprouts, I enjoyed the textural contrast it added to the ramen. The broth wasn't quite hot enough for us, which would have ended up in an even richer bowl of ramen in my mind.

While not an excellent bowl, this was still good enough for us. Would be in the top 2 in San Diego……is San Diego ready for backfat ramen?

Miyamoto (宮本)
814-5 Hanazakicho (Next to Keisei Narita Station)
Narita, Chiba

Plus it sure beat out McDonalds at Narita Airport.

Which had the longest line! Sheesh. Well, at least the portion sizes looked a bit smaller……

Belly full of ramen……we were ready for Seoul!

Thanks for reading!

Narita: Sumibi no Uttori

December 5, 2015 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

Even though we had an amazing time during our trip to Japan last year, our time in Kyoto was limited because of Typhoon Vongfong. That was among more than a handful of reasons we decided to head back; the Missus had always wanted to see the fall foliage and She had gained a real affection for Yakitori (and ramen – remember the Santouka effect?). Also, She needed a use for the $$$$ Burberry overcoat She had bought….. So we decided to head back to Japan. Our trip was scheduled for 17 days and we had a 14 day Japan Rail Pass, so we needed to figure out what to do with those extra days. Seoul seemed like a good idea and that ended up being the plan. We arrived at Narita Airport quite late in the afternoon……man, the sunsets here at like 445pm! I decided that we should just the evening in Narita, before heading to Seoul the next morning. We stayed at the Narita U City Hotel, which is a bit dated, but very close to the JR Station, has a friendly staff, and even a free shuttle to the airport.

After settling in, the first course of business was getting something to eat. Of course the place I'd been looking forward to eating at was closed, even though Tabelog said they were open on that day. So we passed through the JR Station and started exploring, up and down the somewhat confusing side streets of Narita. Until we came across this busy little shop.

And the Missus did want to eat a lot of yakitori on this trip, right? The place was a hoot; the young man who managed the front of house would loudly greet guests as they entered and shout to find seats for customers. In this photo he is shouting upstairs to find a table for some customers. The staff were friendly and quite boisterous. There was an English menu, but we decided to ignore it and take a walk around the counter to see what we wanted.

That combined with the Missus's ability to understand some Kanji helped us make some good decisions.

Of course we started with a couple of beers.

It seems like the place also did a bustling hot pot business, but we were here for grilled meats. In looking at what was being ordered we quickly noticed that pork was really popular here, so we ordered mainly pork influenced items, even though none of them were on the English menu.

The Butahorumon (pork intestine) was very tasty. Smoky, with a crisp exterior, it had that nice savory slightly musty intestine flavor I love.

The Missus favorite was the delicious Yamaimo (mountain yam) wrapped with Pork.

Crunchy, slightly sweet, the thinly sliced bacon added a nice touch of smokiness. Just the right amount of salt made this quite tasty.

The Renkon (lotus root) was also wrapped with bacon.

It wasn't quite as pleasing as the yamaimo though.

Veering away from swine, we just had to try the Tsukune (chicken meatball), which was just ok, too many hard bits, not too flavorful.

The Pork Skin was seasoned well and had a nice deep smokiness, but was a bit too rubbery, with hard bits for our taste.

I ended with a nice Yaki Onigiri, grilled quite well.

This ended up being a nice little meal to get us started. I recall the prices as being quite reasonable as well.

The Missus had wanted to eat a lot of yakitori, right?

Sumibinouttori
533-13, Hanazakicho
Narita-shi, Chiba, 286-0033

Tokyo: Rokurinsha

November 11, 2015 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Osaka, Ramen, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region

Sadly, Osaka would be the last stop on our trip to Japan. Well, not really our last stop as we left Osaka early and decided to grab lunch at Tokyo Station.

As always, the Shinkansen was perfectly on time. It's such a comfortable way to travel.

People watching is such fun……..and we saw this group of folks; mostly men having a great time in the rows in front of us.

There was one guy taking photos…..I guess the designated photographer. As soon as the Shinkansen started; they started….breaking out the beer! 8am in the morning! I sent Kat a text and a photo and she explained that it looked like a company outing……hitting the brews at 8am? That's one heck of a company outing! They sure were having a great time. What was even more impressive…..after they exited I walked past the seats and it was spotless! As if no one had even sat there…..they sure did a great job cleaning up.

We had a small bento to share……

We decided to spend our last few hours at Tokyo Station before heading to the airport. They call it Tokyo Station City and if you ever visit there it becomes quite obvious that it's large and populous enough to qualify as a city.

There was one last eating destination that I wanted to try. It is located in the basement of Tokyo Station near the Yaesu exit. Here you'll find Tokyo Ramen Street. Here you'll find one shop with a line that stretches around the corner….like a bunch of teenyboppers waiting to buy Justin Beiber tickets. This is the very popular Rokurinsha….. Hyped by folks like David Chang, even people I know who wouldn't know Tsukemen from Tsukemono have heard of this place. The line says it all. I will say, it moves pretty quickly…there are signs along the way telling you what the projected wait is from that location.

This is one of the those order from the ramen ticket machine places.

We ordered a Ajitama Tsukemen, the standard issue Tsukemen here. Along with some extra chashu, menma, and another egg. This ended up being enough for the Missus and I to share.

I really liked this….the Missus on the other hand didn't care for the heady niboshi (dried baby sardines) – sababushi (mackeral flakes) flavor, with a topping of bonito powder, calling it too fishy. The broth is thick, perfect for sticking to those thick and chewy noodles….did I say chewy noodles? Let me say, very chewy noodles. This was also a bit too much for the Missus.

It was also a bit much for the quite…ummmm….hefty young lady seated on the table next to us. The Missus kept laughing as the young lady, who had ordered a large bowl of tsukemen, with chashui and extra egg….in other words more than what the Missus and I were having combined, kept complaining about how chewy the noodles are…making her jaw sore, in Mandarin. But that sure didn't stop her from finishing off her bowl and the remainder of her eating companion's as well. In fact, the other young lady looked a bit tense. When the Missus mentioned this to me, I said, "she's afraid that she's going to be dessert!"

The chashu was very nice; it looked too tough, but was tender and well flavored. The egg….well, you can tell how good it was. I loved this, the Missus, not so much. Oh well, that how it goes. I will say that for some reason the broth gets cool quite fast…..it was getting less pleasant to eat at the end.

For me, it was a nice way to end our time in Japan. And makes me want to return soon!

Rokurinsha (Tokyo Station)
1-9-1 Marunochi, Chiyoda, Tokyo

For a number of reasons, I'd always hesitated when travel to Japan was mentioned. Those reservations were misplaced, we both loved Japan. Travel was easy….while finding addresses were not. We noticed that each city we visited had it's own distinct personality and of course wagashi (confection). The food…..oh yes, the food, from Sushi Iwa and Suzunari to Okariba and Mizuno, I don't think we've ever eaten so well!

Thanks for reading!

What’s My Craving? Wa Dining Okan

November 8, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

Recently, I was having quite a hectic day and needed to get away for lunch. I'd also been craving the Chicken Nanban from Okan. So I headed on over. I got there right at opening time and it was nice and quiet.

And of course I ordered the Chicken Nanban – Fried Chicken with Vinegar and Tartar Sauce ($9) and even splurged a bit and went for the Chasu Gohan ($3.50) as an "extra".

So how was it? Well, I'll pass on the chashu rice bowl next time. The portion size was quite generous, but the pork was ice cold, on the dry side, really waxy, and lacking in flavor.

The chicken delivered as it did before. The chicken was light and very moist. The batter crisp and almost laquer like. The vinegar added a nice mildly sour component which really cut the richness….of both the fried chicken and the tartar sauce.

The sides were fine, rather mild in flavor….. I've noticed that over the years the portion sizes here seem to have gotten larger.

As I was eating, the place really filled up. I must have been stuffing my face with some enthusiasm as the guy who sat next to me asked me what I was eating. I pointed it out on the menu and he ordered it. The guy next to him decided on this as well. While chatting, some of the tartar spilled on the sleeve of my shirt. Not ten seconds later, one of the servers came by with an oshibori to help me rub out the mayo stain. Acts like that make my day…….everything just seemed a lot brighter and nicer as I headed back to the office.

I wasn't a big fan of lunch at Okan at first. It was a nice place to have dinner with friends, which I've done a couple of times over the last seven years. Now I'm a fan of lunch as well.

Wa Dining Okan
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Osaka: A Deep Fried Meatfest at Kushikatsu Gokakuya with One of My Favorite Food Bloggers

November 7, 2015 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Osaka, Travel

On our last evening in Osaka, we finally managed to meet up with one of my favorite Food Bloggers, Kat and her husband Satoshi. Over the years I've seen blogs come and go, I really do miss many of them. But Kat has been a constant with me since probably late 2007 and has been blogging as many years as I. We'd come close to meeting up a few times, but timing and scheduled were never in synch. So finally, the Missus and I got to meet the both of them. We met them at the local Don Quixote had some snacks and coffee and basically strolled around and chatted…..the thing about knowing each other in the bloggas – sphere is that there was a wonderful familiarity to the whole thing.

When dinner came along, we just popped into this Kushiage shop, named Gokakuya.

First rule of Kushikatsu…."no double dipping"!

Satoshi did an amazing job of calling back our orders…..the Missus loved the sauce.

You can read about the whole meal in Kat's blog post.

Those fried chicken skins were really great.

The fried whale….which tasted like very bitter "chiai" – fish bloodline. I'll pass on this in the future.

It was a great time thanks to Kat and Satoshi!

Kushikatsu Gokakuya
1-7-5 Dotombori, Chuo, Osaka

Kat and Satoshi went crazy on the omiyage….we left laden down with gifts…..

Thanks so much guys! It was such a pleasure!

Osaka: Ippudo (Namba)

November 6, 2015 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Osaka, Ramen

Our last full day in Osaka was going to be a rather "easy" one….well, easy in relative terms. We woke a bit later than usual, then hung around the apartment a bit. We then headed off South. Walking was quite easy and we eventually came to the first of two gigantic shopping malls; the first, Namba City, basically two huge multifloor complexes, going two floors underground and two stories above ground with over three hundred shops. The second Namba Parks, built on the site of the old Osaka Baseball Stadium has a huge roof garden with waterfalls….and to keep the Missus busy, a ton of cosmetic shops. All of this was fine with me because just a block or so away on one of the side streets is a location of Ippudo Ramen. I'd been wanting the Missus to try classic Hakata style Tonkotsu and this was our chance.

We basically found the place based on the unique sign. It was dead on opening time and we walked right in.

Ordering was dead on easy…..the Shormaru Special; the classic tonkotsu with chashu and egg.

We'd gotten into the habit of ordering one bowl of ramen, with the Missus ordering a rice bowl and extras, and basically sharing.

The Missus got the "Hakata Chikara Meshi" – basically chashu gohan. This was pretty darn good…the pork just tender enough, moist, it was a very nice bowl.

We got an onsen tamago for the Missus to have over the rice.

I gotta say, the ramen was excellent, perhaps the most picture perfect example of Hakata style ramen I've ever had. Rich, but not too rich or oily. The broth temp was nice and hot…..

Nothing super fancy nor over-the-top about the broth. Just a nice tongue coating richness, without sodium overload.

The long and thin Hakata style noodles are a problem for the Missus…She dislikes them. But I believed the main reason was because most places over-cook them, even when you ask for it extra firm. This was spot on perfect. Nice pull, just perfectly chewy.

Check out that egg…….I don't think I need to add any commentary.

Since I'd be sharing my bowl with the Missus, we hedged our bets and added a couple of extra "toppings".

I actually heard the Missus say "aaahh" when She sipped the broth.

This was a super solid, no frou-frou, no fancy marketing BS, no noodles made by "blond haired virgins from a remote island in an unknown archipelago" tonkotsu ramen. It was perfect for the day and the best bowl I had on this trip.

The place started filling up as we exited…..

The Missus, even with Her perspective clouded by the Santouka effect, still was impressed. Something else really got to Her as well; "I don't see some senior guy running the place like other ramen shops….it looks like a bunch of college students. It's kind of amazing that they put out something with such attention to detail. There's no way that happens at chains in the US."

And now with some perspective, She's even more impressed.

I guess we'll need to head back there…..soon.

Ippudo Namba
3-1-17 Nanbanaka, Naniwa-ku, Osaka

Osaka: Yakitori Stops and Some Torisashi

November 5, 2015 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Osaka

We'd had a really nice day visiting Nara and having lunch at Kuromon Market. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing after all that walking.

For dinner we headed back to the bright lights of Dotonburi.

This time around we were more accustomed to the area and spent a good amount of time checking out the back streets and arcades.

And while most were a lot more quiet than the main streets…there was still some major crazy storefronts….what the heck is this?

We had no destination planned for dinner and just wandered around until we came to this Yakitori shop.

Fairly non-descript and the yakitori wasn't anything to write home about, but the beer was cold.

The mimiga (pig ear) was decent. The menu was huge with everything from Chicken Tail to Camembert Cheese (?!?)

We ordered a selection and wasn't overly impressed.

Nothing really stood out, but the food was cheap.

Folks started arriving soon after we entered….folks in a good mood, ready for a beer and a nice time.

We headed back to the craziness of Shinsaibashi until the Missus got tired of all the window shopping.

Deciding to walk back to the apartment, we ran into this little shop near the beginning of Dotonburi.

A little older woman saw us peeking in the window and waved us in then sat us at one of the well worn tables.

The bar area seemed to be doing some nice business when we arrived.

Again, the place had a huge menu of grilled and fried items.

We made a few choices; quail eggs wrapped in bacon and chicken skin.

And while things seemed much better prepared than our previous stop, it was nothing special.

The kawa was pretty good, but very salty.

There was one item on the menu I wanted, I saw one of the guys on the bar eating it…. was the torisashi; chicken sashimi. At first the woman ignored my order. So I later went up to the bar and ordered it. I saw a look of apprehension on the face of the Missus when it arrived. The stigma of raw chicken had followed the Missus to Japan it seems. Personally, having had torisashi before, I had no such qualms.

It was pretty darn good, much more tender than you'd think, almost melting away in your mouth. The flavor is quite mild and it went well with the shoyu-wasabi and slightly sweet raw onion. The Missus was shocked at how tender the texture of the raw chicken was.

Now, I'm the last person in the world who is going to twist your arm and make you eat raw chicken (please don't start scarfing that package of Foster Farms raw) or raw horse. But if you enjoy it, why not? And like our good friend Kat says….."if you're going to eat it raw, eat it in Japan."

There is one last funny anecdote. We went back to the apartment and I had a beer. After turning in for the evening, I awoke and noticed the Missus sitting in the dark. I asked Her what was going on. Her answer, "I'm sitting here waiting to get sick….." Sheeesh. Old beliefs die hard. And no, She didn't get sick…..

Thanks for reading!