Category: Japanese Restaurants

Meetings in the Hillcrest area meant that I got to check out Rakitori; which lead me to wonder about the Hillcrest location of Tajima and also revisit Ouan. So here we go……

Rakitori Japanese Pub & Grill:

I recall someone; I don't quite remember who, mentioning this place, so I thought I'd give it a try.

This is a nice little spot right off hectic Washington Street….kind of trying to be hip (vegan ramen, bulgogi tacos), a few craft beers available. 

Looking at the menu, I believe the place is a fusion of Korean - Japanese. The young lady waiting on me was very nice. When I ordered the Oxtail Ramen, she started explaining that this "wasn't Japanese ramen"…..so I asked if it was like Gori Gomtang……and she smiled brightly and said, "oh yes, are you Korean?"

So here's my Oxtail Ramen ($10), which had everything but the kitchen sink.

So where to start with this? There was the equivalent of perhaps one oxtail worth of fairly bland oxtail meat, really not worth the asking price. The garlic actually tasted really delish in this…..well, because Gori Gomtang needs a heck of a lot of salt added….the salt provided didn't strike me as being of the best quality, making things a bit bitter. And there was a bit of scum as well, though the amount of collagen in this did well coating the straight from Nishimoto noodles (cooked adequately though). You see, no matter how much salt or pepper you add to this; the noodles just seem out of place as a vehicle for moving flavor. And that kimchi mandu, the sour flavor, just didn't go well with this whole thing to me.

The corn was a decent addition adding much needed sweetness to the bowl, the wakame I'm not so sure about.

Good gori-gomtang needs nothing but really good sea salt and a ton of green onions….this, well, had me wishing for rice instead of noodles for some reason.

Rakitori Japanese Pub & Grill
530 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Tajima Ramen Bar:  

**** This location of Tajima has closed

After Rakitori, I was curious about how much ramen was available in Hillcrest over basically three blocks, so I decided to visit Tajima Ramen Bar.

Man, remember when this was the original location of Yakyudori…then it became something else…then Tecchan Yakitori and Izakaya, and now part of the Tajima empire.I remember the original Tajima when I had my consulting gig on San Diego (late 90's) and then when we moved here (in 2001). And while I'm not the biggest fan of the various locations, you have to admit that they have a successful formula. And this location is no different. The service here was the most polished and professional of the three places listed on this post.

I like the set-up; basically two "bar" type areas for solo/duo eating, a communal table, and several four tops…..they've got that covered. Nice, modern design.

I went with the standard tonkotsu ($8.50) with the thicker noodles, which to me, would do well with a rich tonkotsu broth.

So here's the thing…I just noticed that I have an affinity for the "chopstick-noodle thing", so maybe you can tell me what other shot I can take? First off, the egg was nice, not perfect, but decently soft boiled. The chashu was fairly tender and actually had some flavor, the temperature of the broth was nice and steaming hot. Not a big fan of bitter fried garlic in this and the tonkotsu broth was really low on the collagen/fat scale. Still, this wasn't too salty, nor did it have that "tinny" flavor of an quick "base" broth. In fact, this might be the best bowl I've had from Tajima in years, strangely much better than what I've had on Convoy. This doesn't mean I'll be driving up here for my ramen fix….but it was a nice surprise.

Tajima Ramen Bar
3739 6th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Ramen Izakaya Ouan:

**** Ramen Izakaya Ouan has closed

If I was doing Rakitori and Tajima, it seemed only right to revisit Ouan.

I got there a few minutes after 5pm. I was told to take any seat I wanted. To be considerate I took a seat at the bar….which turned out to be quite, well, like a visit to the twilight zone. To the right of me was the "selfie duo", who couldn't help but keep taking selfies during the entire meal….I counted 9. To the left was the "drunk and obnoxious foursome"…..ripped at 5pm……two of them kept drumming on their plates with the chopsticks and singing along with whatever was playing overhead. And of course, service was a bit slow, so they couldn't help but flag down the Server and tell him, "look….we need your undivided attention and service….you take care of us and we'll take care of you…" Aaaah, selfish and condescending in one swoop! Meanwhile, the "selfie girls" ordered a cold sake….and decided that they didn't like it and wanted something better……like the hot sake! Shades of Navin Johnson, do you recall "snails on her plate"??? But who am I to judge, right?

Anyway, it took 40 minutes for my ramen, which I thought was really weird……even at places like rokurinsha, with a line that went down to forever….I've never waited that long for ramen. Having had some of the other ramen offerings here, I went with the simplest; the OG Ramen ($9).

So, getting down to brass tacks, how was this? Well first off, the noodles, in terms of texture were perfect for my taste. It basically ended there as the two tiny slivers of pork was tasteless and the broth too "shoyu forward" for my taste……I wanted a bit more shoyu/dashi balance in lieu of the lack of richness/fat in this type of shiru. The "onsen tamago" was ice cold, but there was an abundance of bamboo shoots….this could more accurately be called menma shoyu ramen.

At nine bucks, I think they could do better, sad because I love places like this…….but waiting 40 minutes for a nine dollar ramen…etc…..

Ramen Izakaya Ouan
3882 4th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

I do try to revisit places as much as I can….so long the food or the service wasn't terrible. And my initial visit to Nishiki Ramen during their soft opening was neither of those….though the hype machine was in full swing….shades of RakiRaki! So I waited things out and after returning from our recent trip managed to visit twice.

I will say, post grand opening hype, that things were pretty calm, even slow during my visits….though I do try to get in as early as possible. Also, the service here was really nice; the two young ladies working were very efficient and quite friendly on both visits.

So, it off to the ramen, right?

I decided to start with Nishiki's "signature" tonkotsu style ramen ($9.95), which looked sort of like what I had in my soft-opening visit. Having had a mild, poultry forward broth previously, I was kind of stunned at how salty this was. Also, the broth wasn't as hot as I'd have preferred. In spite of looks, this wasn't quite as rich, nor did it have much in terms of personality with regards to flavor….perhaps it was just too much salt? The chashu was cold, a pet peeve; though the egg was quite nice……perhaps almost perfect.

The noodles had a great texture, nice pull, though the flavor of them seemed different from what I recalled….strange, I know, but something seemed to have changed.

The Chicken Karaage was better than on my previous visit. The flavor was excellent; I'm pretty sure they use shio koji to add that extra complex depth of flavor.

When it arrived it was nice and crisp, but it quickly became soggy……..not quite worth the $6.95 I paid for it.

In order to perform my "due diligence" I returned the following week. I saw something called "Nishiki Black" on the menu…there are places that use black garlic oil in their ramen and places that use a black sesame infused oil. So why not, right? Also, I ordered this with the "thicker noodle" which in my mind would prove to be a nice vehicle to move a thicker broth.

So here's the thing about the broth……the flavors are pretty mild here overall and there was a ton of that black garlic sauce/oil in this, way too much as the flavor of the garlic, which really didn't have the nice sweetness of black garlic, overwhelmed the whole bowl. In addition, the temp of the broth wasn't hot enough for my taste as this just projected itself as greasy. The chashu wasn't cold and tasted nice, the egg was again excellent, in terms of being cooked and flavor….away from that broth.

I had ordered the thicker noodle, which, while not what you'd expect for a tsukemen, I preferred to the thinner noodle, I did expect something along the lines of what is served at, say Nagi Ramen. Overall, this was a bit too over the top for me….this coming from a guy who had pork backfat ramen in Narita! And at $10.95, I think it's a bit over-priced.

So, I enjoyed the service, the noodles…..it seemed that the "bloom is off the rose" here as the place was pretty much empty……so we'll see. I'll try to drop by again in a couple of months.

Nishiki Ramen
8055 Armour St
San Diego, CA 92111