Japanese Restaurants – Page 35

Circling Back to Ichiro’s Japanese Restaurant

April 8, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

**** After 36 Years Ichiro Closed in 2021

Recently, I was told that Ichiro's had been renovated. During my last group of visits, the place was starting to look its age. Which is over 30 years old. Ichiro's (though Ichiro is no longer at Ichiro's) is kind of a dying breed; the uncorporate looking, concept free, family owned joint…..I will often use the term "Japanese-American Diner" when talking in terms of places like Ichiro and Yoshino. Fairly inexpensive, by the book, Japanese style dishes. Not quite super gringo, but safe enough for the unadventurous.

I decided that I should do one of my circling back posts on Ichiro's and recently revisited for several lunches.

While the exterior looked pretty much the same, the interior had been upgraded or at least freshened up a bit. And while the tables and chairs were of pretty typical quality, the booths looked quite nice and the walls clean.

We've been going thru some see-saw weather recently. On this day, it was pretty cool outside so I went with the Nabeyaki Udon.

The broth was too salty, like something from a base. The noodles were a tad overdone and starting to get mushy….speaking of mushy…that sad looking shrimp tempura was it. This was disappointing.

I thought of just writing the whole circling back thing off, but decided to play it out.

On my next visit, I went with a basic dish that any Japanese Restaurant serving it should do well. Katsu; in the case Chicken Katsu. When it arrived, the first thing that went thru my mind was, "man, this thing need to spend some time in the tanning booth".

In spite of the very light color, the chicken katsu was done pretty well; it was light and crisp, the chicken moist, and unlike a version I'd had the weekend before, the breading was not falling off the chicken. Everything else was pretty much by the book. The miso soup was actually a bit better than what I'd had before……it actually had some flavor to it.

Not bad overall.

Which meant that I had to complete the trifecta of visits. By this time the weather had turned; well quite warm. In fact, we had a few days of record high temperatures. I looked thru the menu and saw the Reimen, basically Hiyashi Chuka.

This was ok; the noodles were standard issue and the sauce tasted like it came from a package. The crab mixture tasted a bit off…..sadly, the item I enjoyed best was the corn, which kind of says a lot.

During my visits to Ichiro, I noticed a couple of things. during my three visits, there was not a single Asian person other than yours truly eating in the place. I also saw a couple of interesting, well, humorous things. One guy had a salad for his entrée delivered to his table. He didn't know how to use chopsticks and asked for a fork. When they went to get it for him, he just proceeded to eat his salad with his hands! Yikes! And then there was the guy on the table next to me who looked at my reimen and asked the very nice server what it was……she told him, "it is cold ramen, called reimen." Apparently he couldn't hear very well because he said real loud, "OK….I'll have some of THAT SEMEN!" I almost spit my food out!

So while the food just wasn't what I was looking for….at least the nice folks here, and the customers gave me a good laugh. I'll never look at reimen the same way…….I'm not sure that I can even order it again!

Ichiro's Japanese Restaurant
4344 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Midweek Meanderings: From Mignon Pho + Grill to Lucky Crab to Mignon Pho + Seafood in three weeks and Taisho closed until April 5th

April 1, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants, yoso-silly

From Mignon Pho + Grill to Lucky Crab to Mignon Pho + Seafood in three weeks:

I usually stop by Nijiya a couple of times a week. Once for shopping and once or twice to pick up a bento rush for lunch.

Imagine my surprise when I found that Mignon Pho + Grill had become something called "Lucky Crab"?

So, yet another one of these Cajun/Creole Crawfish/Seafood places?

Not so fast Kemosabe……..two days later I'm at Nijiya again, and it's no more crabs?

Now it's sort of back to Mignon Pho….minus the "grill" plus "seafood"…… How's that for commitment to a "brand"?

This might set the record for most name changes in 2 weeks?

At least they just had to buy 7 letters for the last name change.

Still owned by the same folks…….

Restaurant name this week
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Taisho is closed until Sunday April 5th:

So no Taisho stop for us this week. The Missus is having withdrawals…..

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

Ramen-mania: Ototo and Oton

March 23, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

So here's more Ramen; one by request (Ototo) and the other because of a sign I saw.

Ototo:

I guess it was inevitable based on the discussion in the comments of this post. A couple of folks asked me what I thought of the ramen here…including Taka-san at Taisho. You know I'm not a "rolls" kind of guy, so otherwise, this second restaurant from the owner of Sushi-ya really wouldn't interest me.

Strangely, I always end up calling the place "Otot", which I'm sure my friend and fellow food blogger "CC" will get a kick out of. BTW, Happy 9th Blogga-versery CC!

The shop is located next to Mr Fish and Chips in the Balboa Mesa Shopping Center.

The décor is simple, but modern, with an area of stool and bar type tables, which I thought was kind of neat.

The menu features 3 types of ramen; a red (miso) based, a white tonkotsu, and a chicken based version. I went with the Shio White Tonkotsu. The young lady and gentleman serving me were quite nice, but on the slow side. I watched my ramen come up and stay in the window while they gathered themselves to do…well, I don't know.

Eventually, the ramen made it's way, first to another, then finally my table.

My first reaction was, "is this tonkotsu"? Where was a the nice milky richness. The broth had a yellowish tone and even smelled somewhat "chicken-ny". It had a decent amount of oil, but was still not very rich. I'm wondering what kind of salt they use, or perhaps it's a bagged base, because it tasted kind of bitter to me. The boiled egg was quite good, the chashu, hard, cold, flavorless. The noodles were mushy and overcooked….perhaps it had waited a bit too long to reach my table?

In my opinion, overpriced at $9.50. I'll take a pass on this…..

Ototo Sushi Co
5651 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

Oton:

I saw a flier that mentioned Oton was serving Tonkotsu style ramen for lunch. So I thought I'd go and check them out.

A small, by the book salad accompanied the ramen.

Which when it arrived looked totally like it came from the Tonkotsu 101 manual. But let us first spend a moment admiring that lovely orb of goodness, the egg. This may be the best ajitsuke tamago in terms of cooking time and prep in San Diego. The noodles were also a perfect texture for me…….mass produced, but prepared well.

The broth was very white, but also too thin, and almost fully defatted which took away from the "coat your tongue" feeling you get from a good tonkotsu. The flavor was also mild, but passable. The chashu was cold, hard, though it had decent flavor. What's up with serving a solid piece of ice cold pork?

Not bad, but I'd rather go several other places before coming here for the ramen.

Oton
5447 Kearny Villa Road
San Diego, CA 92123

So where do I think these rank in the now crowded world of ramen in San Diego? Well, Otot, umm Ototo is definitely second tier. Oton, is higher second tier, perhaps along the lines Ouan, or maybe even better.

Sashimi Break – Sushi Yaro

March 21, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

**** Sushi Yaro has closed

Isn't it nice to be able to walk into a place and say, "I'm hungry, can I just get some sashimi?" And get something like this?

I'm not expecting anything mind-blowing, no Michelin star experience. It's been a long week and I want some decent fish, a good meal, to leave satisfied. I get all of the above.

I've known Sam for over a decade now. And he knows me….such is the relationship of the Itamae and his regulars. That is why the term "Sushi bar" seems so appropriate. Like your favorite watering hole, be it here or wherever……it's such a great feeling to walk in after a hard day and have your drink waiting on the counter when you arrive. As a regular customer, I feel that I have some responsibility as well. I'll often request to be served last, new customers are the lifeblood of a small business, I try to tip well, and I never take freebees.. At Tadokoro, I make reservations for the earliest possible time. I know Take-san will do his best and when you're slammed, regardless of your profession, you can't do that. It's about being a good regular customer as well……

The reason I'm writing this is because I've seen various posts on sites such as Chowhound that flaunt this idea of self-entitlement, and have even seen in person cases where folks will say; "I'm a Elite (the four lettered review website) member and I want xxxx". It disturbs me. So I needed a sashimi break……though really….it's not all about just me.

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Playing Chicken: A comparison of Karaage/Chicken Nanban – Okan, Izakaya Sakura, Yamadaya, RakiRaki, and Tajima

March 15, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, yoso-silly

On of my go-to items for lunch is chicken karaage. I just never get tired of the stuff. After returning from Japan I decided to do the rounds and do a short comparison of Karaage and Chicken Nanban(vinegar sauce), commonly served with tartar sauce in these parts. I'm leaving out Taisho and Yakyudori since I recently did a comparison between the two places. So here's how they line up in my opinion.

1 – Wa Dining Okan:

A bit surprising since, I'd been underwhelmed by lunch here at times. The fried chicken with vinegar and tartar sauce was quite good, if a bit rich.

They do have regular chicken karaage on the menu, but I found that the batter on this is different, more crunchy and light. The tartar sauce isn't too sour which helps things.

Wa Dining Okan
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

2 – Izakaya Sakura:

Sometimes a bit inconsistent, as I mentioned in a karaage comparison post back in 2011.

Still, this was crisp, light, though you really had to use that tsuyu to give it some flavor.

Wish they'd pump up the flavor a bit more, but this isn't a bad choice.

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

3 – Ramen Yamadaya:

**** Yamadaya has closed

In spite of not being particularly happy with the ramen here recently, I gave the "Chicken Tartar", a version of Tori Nanban a go. I liked having the tartar sauce on the side as it was really mayo heavy, so a little went a long way. The chicken seemed to be fried a bit too "hard", but that turned out to be a good thing as is stayed crunchy for the whole meal. Love the vinegar tones with a touch of tartar sauce. As I noted in my post back in 2012, there a nice hint of ginger in this which I enjoy as well.

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairement Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

4 – RakiRaki:

All the posters said "best Japanese Fried Chicken in San Diego".

Of course, I say, most "self promoted hype machine in San Diego". It seems like this place sometimes just throws stuff up on the walls to see what sticks. The flavor, with a hint of curry is indeed unique, but the pieces were huge……very ponderous with chopsticks. It was kind of dry and a lot off the batter had flaked off during the cooking process. The portion size was quite generous, but the Tsukemen is preferred……..though let's say that might be the best in San Diego by default.

RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

5 – Tajima:

Usually, consistency is good thing.

But being last in two fried chicken comparisons….maybe not so much. Gummy, lacking in flavor…..to be honest, I'd rather get cold case-bento Karaage from Nijiya. Nothing's changed from my last set of visits nearly a year ago. Consistency…..

Tajima Japanese Restaurant
4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Kula Revolving Sushi Bar (Rancho Cucamonga)

March 1, 2015 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, Road Trip, Sushi and Sashimi, What Cathy Eats!

Thank you for once again stopping to read mmm-yoso!!! Todays food centric blog post is written by Cathy because Kirk is (once again) very busy and Ed(from Yuma) is very retired and busy in his own way.

I've mentioned before that we still get newspapers delivered to our home daily. There are many advantages to this old fashioned way of receiving news, not limited to easier comprehension for those of us who grew up learning to read the printed word on paper. Yes, I'm talking ads that can't be 'blocked'.

For the past few months, on a Saturday, the Los Angeles Times has run full page ads for L.A. based 'Revolving Sushi' restaurant, Kula. The ads mention specials (January was 'Winter's Hot Food Fair', February until March 12 is 'Salmon Fair', no ad was in this past Saturday newspaper, so I expect to see something next Saturday).

There are three $5 off of $20 coupons at the bottom of the page. This was a reason to put the ad into the car when we were taking a drive North one weekday. We were hoping to find a place closer to home that reminded us of our experience at A'Float Sushi, in 2010.Unsure of how crowded this restaurant would be, we chose the Rancho Cucamonga location (one of seven) and had alternative plans to stop at the Bass Pro Shop a few miles away, remembering our meal at the in-store restaurant, Islamorada Fish Company, in 2008. As you can see, we had no worries on this weekday morning.Walking in, we saw the sushi conveyor moving around the restaurant. Each booth, table and seat at the bar has access to the plates. It wasn't crowded at opening (11:30), but was almost filled up by the time we were leaving.Taking seats at the bar gave us access to watching the rice maker, which not only cooks the (organic, from Lundberg Family Farms) rice, but pops out pre-formed, uniformly sized servings. I was fascinated by this machine. We also were privy to watching the constant preparation of conveyor items.

The sushi conveyor constantly moves via a belt under the crescent shaped chain, turns at the end to return in the opposite direction. The sushi makers prepare three plates of a serving (all conveyor items are $2.25), placing a plate with a description which you see first, then the three serving plates, each covered for your protection. Some servings have one, two or three items, some servings are in bowls.Above, you can see the first plate with the label for Conch, two empty spaces, where plates have been removed and one remaining plate, ready for the grabbing. When the sushi makers see only the plate with the signage passing by, they remove it and that's another order of three plates they need to prepare.Fresh wasabi is brought out to the table. The condiment tray with chopsticks, a covered ginger container, soy sauce server and red pepper are all you need here.

There is a separate menu wherein you can order items from the kitchen.

We ordered green tea, miso soup (each $2)and a soft shell crab ($ 3.80) from the kitchen. Everything else came from the kaiten, the merry-go-round track of plates moving in front of us.
This is a Kula roll. Real crab, topped with both tuna and salmon. Very good.Karaage chicken, with mayonnaise for dipping. Perfectly fried.Seared steak sushi…good…different.The Mister wanted to try uni. He had never had uni. The plate has a single portion. Yes, it appears it had been frozen and a mushy thaw…let's just say The Mister has no desire to try uni again. This had a label of Chicken Sukiyaki. Smooth flavor, dark meat chicken with an onion-y sauce.Sorry for this blurry photo of the wonderful cucumber salad, a refreshing mix of sliced cucumber, seaweed and bamboo in a sesame oil-soy dressing topped with toasted sesame seeds.More apologies for this blurred photo of scallops with a sort of mayonnaise sauce on top of rice. This was very good.You keep your dishes and steam covers stacked and the waitress counts them at the end to calculate your bill.

The food is…good, the experience is fun and interesting. We spent $33 before the $5 discount…it's so easy to grab a plate; discipline is needed…

Perhaps you are wondering why I'm posting about a Los Angeles based chain. After we ate here, I was researching other posts about Kula and saw this article by Candice Woo in the Eater, written in November. The space it will occupy in San Diego shares the same parking lot with Iceskimo and appears to be ready to open very soon.

Kula Revolving Sushi Bar Website Address: 9659 Milliken Ave., Suite 104-105
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 Phone:909-294-3429 Daily 11:30am-9:00pm (Last Seating, Last Order 8:45pm)

Ramen Weather: Revisits to Ramen Yamadaya and Santouka

February 22, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

So last week the mercury was flirting with the 80's. I was thinking about which taco shops I needed to visit. This weekend it's cloudy and now it's starting to rain. Go figure……

The one silver lining….this gave me a chance to revisit a couple of ramen shops.

Ramen Yamadaya:

**** Ramen Yamadaya has closed

Since they are open all the way through from 1130 on weekends, I decided to check them out at 4pm, thinking they'd be fairly calm.

I surprised to see how busy they were….not a full house, but at least 3/4 full. They had the seat yourself thing in place, so I had a seat……they saw me, but still, I waited, and waited……and waited. Another group arrived after me and they had water served and orders taken……a couple sat on the table next to me….and they waited……while I had my order taken and another group who had come after them were being served…the woman decided to take matters into her own hands and just grabbed one of the servers……so they could finally get some water and get their orders taken. The place just seemed much more disorganized than I recalled, even with three working front of house. They seemed to spend a good deal of time huddled at the POS and doing things like organizing chopsticks while dirty tables sat…. They were really nice kids, but it seemed like they needed someone running the front of house.

When I did get my order taken – Kotteri, with Kakuni Pork, noodles extra firm, things went fairly quickly.

The Hakata style noodles were exactly as I like them. While the broth isn't quite what I'd call "kotteri" it was passable, if a bit too mild in the flavor department. Two things kind of killed this for me. While the broth was served at a decent temperature, the egg was ice cold….now if you serve it on the side, I'd be ok with that, but in my soup, no thanks. Ditto with the buta kakuni, which was adequately tender, if a bit on the bland side…..but ice cold.

Something has changed since I first visited this location in 2012. Things seem to be less consistent during our recent visits.

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Santouka:

Yes again. Though the Missus is over "the Santouka effect" and is now, kinda, sorta, back on planet Earth, we're able to enjoy Santouka in context.

This was the status quo…..on this day, they were giving out the eggs……overcooked for us. The pork cheek was tender and porky, the noodles had a great chew. The broth, shio, which ironically is the least salty of all choices was scalding hot…the thick ceramic bowl kept the temperature "right" for the whole meal. The broth coated our tongues and bellies….and while it would not make us forget the best of what we had in Japan, it did the job.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Yakitori Story Part 4: Yakyudori versus Taisho

February 17, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

I guess this post was inevitable. Back in 2012, I did a series of posts comparing Yakyudori to Koubou. It was pretty much no contest. Now, over two years later, there's Yakitori Taisho. In spite of my impressions eating there, I just had to see. Which would I prefer, Yakyudori or Taisho. In spite of having the same owner, the two places are quite different. Taisho is rather quiet and sedate, if you have reservations, you'll have it basically for the whole night until you leave….Yakyudori is an elbow to elbow zoo, which starts serving yakitori at 530pm. They also do ramen an lunch.

That said, it's all protein on a stick, right? Not so as I recently did a couple of visits…..for research purposes of course, just to compare. Here's what we found……

So let's start with he Butashiso….pork rolled with shiso leaf.

Taisho on top, Yakyudori below. It's kind of easy to see; Taisho's version was more moist and nicely grilled over bincho. Yakyudori gave you more, but was drier, tougher, and more salty.

Taisho 1 Yakyudori 0

Up next, Tsukune, once one of Yakyudori's strong points. However, some time in the last year or two, the recipe seems to have changed and it's now rather tasteless and not as tender.

Good lord, the version at Yakyudori was almost incinerated, it was quite bitter. What happened here?

Taisho 2, Yakyudori 0

The teba, chicken wings are a Yakyudori signature item in my opinion. Here it's a wash.

The wings at Taisho are more moist. Both places have a nice crisp skin.

The wings at Yakyudori is more salty, which I really like with a nice cold Sapporo.

Taisho 2, Yakyudori 0, even 1

The Missus loves Her chicken livers.

It's gotten to the point where Taka-san just puts two on the grill when we arrive…..he doesn't need to ask. And yet, while the version at Taisho is more refined and meaty, what Yakyudori serves seems much more smoky, though dry.

So again it's a wash.

Taisho 2 Yakyudori 0 even 2

So let's move on to those Nagoya Wings…..I love them both, but the Missus has a preference.

She preferred the version at Yakyudori because it wasn't as sweet as Taisho and in spite of the looks, the black pepper flavor wasn't as prominent.

Taisho 2 Yakyudori 1, even 2

And then there's chicken karaage.

Here's where it's interesting again. The version at Taisho, on this visit, had a nice savory flavor.

The version we had at Yakyudori, was more crisp and light.

Taisho 2, Yakyudori 1, even 3

You can see, it pretty close….I will say that as a whole, the standard non-chicken proteins (other than the buta shiso) would probably be better at Yakyudori. Taisho is a bit more refined, less salty, but also not quite the busy scene of Yakyudori.

There are, of course the items that Yakyudori has that Taisho doesn't and the menu is larger.

The Kawasu – chicken skin salad is a favorite.

The natto gohan – natto rice bowl, used to be until it just became a ton of rice and just a bit of natto, which threw the ratio off.

At Tasiho, the kawa – chicken skin is grilled, it often takes a while and the tare gives it a nice sweetness. The texture is crisp around the edges and melt in your mouth in the exterior. We often call it our "dessert".

There's also some interesting specials. Though the Babylon Snails I had the last time weren't nearly as sweet as what I had on a previous visit. The menu is also more limited.

So there you go….I think it's all about what you prefer….the atmosphere and such. Still, it was fun to compare…..

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

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

So maybe you should check them both out and see which suites you the best!

A short stop in Kobe at Mouriya – you know why, right? Plus, Nankinmachi (Chinatown) and other stuffs…like do you want to pet an owl?

February 15, 2015 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Kobe, Travel

We left Hiroshima for Osaka fairly early in the morning. Somewhere along the line, the Missus said, "Kobe is on the way, right? Why don't we stop in Kobe……." I took little convincing (you know why, right?). Admittedly, we had done no research (on sights) in Kobe, so we just winged it. Japan is one of the most convenient countries we've visited. We got off at Shin-Kobe Station, found the information booth, were recommended a couple of sites, got directions to storage lockers and were off.

Now, it was explained that we should catch the subway to Sannomiya, where Kobe's city center. But if you've read enough travel posts, you know the Missus….."it doesn't look too far on the map, we can walk there." And it really wasn't. We wandered about, taking some time to check out the Kobe location of Tokyu Hands…no it's not what you think. Tokyu Hands is a chain of Department Stores. You haven't lived until you visit a couple of department stores in Japan, it's quite an experience….and if you're a guy, shopping in one of those packed by the square inch places will make you wish you were dead…like Matsumoto Kiyoshi in Shinsaibashi, but that's for later.

A short way up the street from Tokyu Hands was this shrine, Ikuta Jinja.

Here's the sign with the history and story.

Soon enough we started getting hungry. Because of the rather impromptu nature of this stop, I had to dig through by ever fading memory and come up with something. Along the way, I saw a sign, and I knew we were covered.

We'd lucked out, this, along with Wakkoqu were the only two places I could remember.

This location of Mouriya had just opened for lunch and we were the first customers of the day. The place is obviously aimed at tourists, but I was fairly certain we'd be able to get what I wanted here…..

There was a brief discussion….well not so much a discussion, as I explained to the Missus that it was "A-5, or we might just as well leave." After all, when would we be back in Kobe? Here's more information on Kobe/Wagyu Beef than I could ever hope to include in a post.

I thought a 150 grams, about 5 ounces or so per person would be more than enough….it's rich stuff, not "all you can eat prime rib."

While the chef prepped the teppan, we had a Kabocha Bisque…

And a green salad, which the Missus, missing green salads inhaled.

And then it was the star of the show.

We selected one sirloin(the Missus) and one rib (Me).

Good lord, look at all that marbling. When asked about doneness we queried the chef. He said for A5 medium is preferred, except for certain parts of the sirloin….too rare would be like eating "all fat". So we left it up to him.

Each piece is divided up by section, leaner pieces get trated a certain way, the fat another, the mega-marbled yet another.

Watching $100 pieces of meat being cooked in front of you is quite mesmerizing……

Sauces were provided, but I can't tell you what they were since I never used them. The Missus and I swapped as we saw fit; the very rare pieces of the sirloin came to me…..just buttery, beefy, and almost sweet. The Missus also gave me the seared fat cap, telling me, "you can't say I don't love you now, can you?" Oh my…..oh my…..the term melts in your mouth is over used in my opinion, except in this case. That wonderful flavor of beef fat as it melted on my tongue is unforgettable.

As we left, the place started filling up……mostly tourists as far as I could tell. I hope they appreciated the treat that was in store.

I couldn't help but think that this is why the Missus and I work so hard…..for these 3-5 weeks of the year, when we get to explore and enjoy what the rest of the world has to offer.

Mouriya
2-1-17 Shimoyamatedori
Chuo-ku, Kobe, Japan

As we left the restaurant, the Missus told me, "okay fat boy, let's burn off some of those calories….."

I'd seen "Nankin-machi" on the map…..Chinatown. I have fascination with Chinatown's across the world, so of course we had to go and check it out.

We found people in Japan to be ever so polite if not especially warm. Folks in Hiroshima and Osaka were even more so to us. Twice when we stopped to look at our map, folks came up to us to point us in the right direction. One of the people who stopped to help us, smiled, pointed, and said, "Daimaru…..Daimaru". And yes, it right across the street from Daimaru.

It was quite fascinating……that Baozi place above was doing some major business. There were street hawkers inviting you into their restaurants.

It was also a heck of a lot cleaner than just anout any Chinatown we've visited.

The Missus enjoyed checking out the various menus……though I don't think we'd want to partake.

The most interesting business we saw was this one.

Love the section under system:

– You can touch owls and take pictures in our cafe

Ok, so this might be really cool for you….for me….not so much.

Well, I think this was a sign that we needed to head back.

So we walked back to Shin-Kobe.

I was surprised to see a Honolulu Coffee location in Kobe!

We had a fun time in Kobe, but it was time to head to Osaka….and take a nap!

Artisan Bento

February 10, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

**** Artisan Bento is now Hachi Ramen

*** Update: Artisan Bento now opens at 11am. A short update here.

Before things got real crazy at work; we were having dinner with my good friend Candice. Usually the conversation goes from travel, to our friends, and of course to food. Somehow the conversation went to those places we had wished did well, but just seemed to miss the mark. The now defunct Bentowich immediately came up. Candice quickly mentioned Artisan Bento which was opening in Banker's Hill….Banker's Hill? She explained that this was a project of Shihomi Borillo, one of the managing partners of Azuki Sushi and the the ingredients will be mostly local and sustainable….. It sounded interesting, but I wasn't quite sure what the concept was going to translate into.

One evening when the Missus was working, I decided to drop by. There was just a minimal challenge in finding parking. At least it was after 6pm….no feeding the meter on the street. The shop is fairly small, the a couple of tables tucked into one corner, counter seating, and a few tables outside. The place looked more like your friendly neighborhood coffee shop. The glass case gives things away though……very well presented menu items, it would look perfectly fine in one of those basement depachikas, like we visited in Ginza and Kyoto, though the guys behind the counter looked more like your friendly neighborhood barista's than someone working in the bento shop……even a hipster bento shop. The guys working behind the counter on all my visits were really friendly, service oriented, and very nice.

There are of course bento's, a "bento box" with one main and one "side salad" for $9.95 and the delux ($13.95), with one main, two side salads, and even dessert, which is what I got. I ordered the Ginger Pork – basically Shogayaki, something my Mom used to make. Of course what we had at home looked nothing like this.

And yes, this might not look like much, but it was enough to fill me up. I really didn't know what to expect, but was very pleasantly surprised with the pork….it isn't super tender, but the texture is right. So is the flavor, not too sweet, some ginger, perhaps a bit too salty, but it was definitely that bento lunch special pork shogayaki alright. The lotus root was perfect in texture, but weak in flavor….the spinach on the other hand was perhaps my favorite item. Just enough flavor, with the sesame paste coming through without overwhelming the flavor of he spinach. The miso soup was very good in terms of what is usually a throw-away side, much better than many places I've eaten at. Perhaps the item I was most surprised at was the multigrain rice onigiri….I had visions of mushy versions I've had in the past, but the proportion of grains to rice was perfect and somehow, the onigiri itself just seemed fluffy and light. I really enjoyed it….and didn't feel like I needed to take up macrame or tie-dying after having this.

I even enjoyed the yogurt panna cotta, which was light and not too sweet. As to whether this was worth $15 (with tax), well, I'll leave that up to you.

A few night later I decided to drop by and check out some other items on the menu. Starting with "Mama's Pork" Bao Bun ($5.75). Somehow, I envisioned a nice steamed bun filled with rich and fatty pork. What I got was this.

The pork was basically the shogayaki, which I can understand. Not much in the way of kitchen facilities here, they've got to maximize product. It's that bread, which by the way was sliced, even though it looked folded…very ponderous, which reminded me of something like a very bad Da Bing/Laobing. The best part of this were the vegetables and the dressing which had some nice sweet and mint components.

I'm not sure why, but I also went for the Albacore Tataki ($7.50).

Which was pretty much by the book, on the dry and tough side, and unremarkable.

I should have tried the "Cold Ramen Bowl" like I had planned too. Oh well, lesson learned. There's one more lesson I learned as well. I had seen the hours as being Monday – Saturday 10 am to 9pm. When I'm between meetings, one of my favorite things to do is drop by Nijiya, Mitsuwa, or Marukai, and pick up a bento for lunch to take back to the office. So between meetings one day, I dropped by, found parking three blocks away, fed the meter, and walked on over to get a bento. It was 1015……no dice, unfortunately, food is not served until 11am….which I didn't see noted anywhere. I have menu open in front of me and it doesn't say a thing about that either.

Still, I wanted to give the place another shot…..so, working on a recent weekend I dropped by and ordered the Bento Delux with Chicken Skewers. It was put into a box, looking quite neat and all. Dessert separated from the hot items.

Things held together quite well, though this won't win any awards for looking like something from an Ekiben stand. There was some seepage as sauce from the chicken, which was basically tsukune, formed meat, onto the onigiri.

The chicken was kind of dry……I'll stick with the pork, or try something else next time. The other items, the onigiri, spinach, and miso soup all delivered.

I like the concept, the foundation of the menu items are solid, it's not hipster bento….not too sold on the artisan part though, more like boutique bento. There were quite a few questions I had to ask myself about this place. I work in Kearny Mesa which has several Japanese places that I like better and are a better value than AB….like Izakaya Sakura or even Yakuyudori, or Kayaba…. In terms of straight up bento, I could get 2 bento from Nijiya…or maybe three bowls from Marukai for the price of the Delux…. is what AB creates that much better? Was this place worth going out of my way for? I'm hoping they find a niche for themselves in the area. Perhaps the location will be a plus. Like say, grabbing a bento before or after hitting Balboa Park. And while I've had surly service at Yakyudori and even Sakura, the folks here are very nice.

As for the Bentowich comparison…this place is on a different level…and just like that place, I hope they do well. Time will tell and I'll probably be back, just to see……..

Artisan Bento
2505 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
Hours:
Monday – Saturday 10am – 9pm