Japanese Restaurants – Page 51

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori – A first look at the ramen

February 1, 2010 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, What Howie Eats - Where the Foodie from Foodieview Eats

I usually try to contain myself and wait a bit before trying out a new restaurant. I'd just mentioned that Yakyudori's second branch would open today. A good example of waiting for a bit until the "kinks" are worked out would be San Diego's Santouka, whereas my first visit really wasn't quite that good, the problems where worked out by my subsequent visits. But today, the opportunity arose to grab a bite at Yakyudori, with two of my favorite FOYs(Friends of Yoso), Candice and Howie. So of course I jumped at it.

I was quite interested to see what changes have been made to the very "fast-foodish" interior of the former BBQ Express Teriyaki. I like the warmer colors, the sort of casual (all the beer posters of course) Japanese Pubish interior, and there's even a "bar" area for solo, or dual slurping….

The menu is small, and there's no yakitori yet, as I believe they are waiting for their liquor license. Six types of ramen, and a couple of small dishes. One of which, Takoyaki ($4.50) we ordered.

I've not had a great deal of Takoyaki, but this was just kinda mediocre in my opinion. First off, it was on the dark side, but lacked that thin layer of crispness. Also, I like the interior to be molten, and creamy, this one was just barely hot and gummy. I enjoyed the "sauce" used, which tasted a bit like a mild Nihai-zu, a vinegar-soy-dashi based sauce. The mayo was overkill in my opinion…. but I'm sure that there're folks who just love the stuff.

I ordered a Shio Ramen($6.50), and noticed in the photo there was corn in it. I prefer to have it sans corn, and ordered it that way. The bowl arrived, and the aroma was excellent, so familiar, and so comforting.

You'll quickly notice that this isn't "Tonkotsu style" (milky pork bone soup) broth. And I'm kinda glad it's not. I love the simple, yet complex tones of a good Shio or Shoyu broth. There is just enough oil to keep you satiated, and the umami flavors come through unmuddled. The noodles were perfect, a bit of stretch, a nice chew to them. I'm thinking that I prefer these to Santouka right now, but perhaps it's just an infatuation with the new kid on the block. One thing for sure…. this sure ain't your standard issue JFC type noodles…..

The egg was wonderful, the yolk was seductively soft and first mildy resisted, than yielded to your bite. The wonderful flavors of soy with a touch of sweetness came through clearly. There was a hiccup or two, to be expected during a grand opening. My bowl arrived with one slice of Chashu, which the young lady quickly swept back to the counter to add the second slice. The second slice of pork was on the dry, grainy side, perhaps because it hadn't had enough time in the jacuzzi. The flavors were as to be expected, rich and decadent, seemingly a bit more homemade than the richly polished version at Santouka. I also think the broth could stand to be a bit hotter, though this type of clear broth stands up better under less heat than a tonkotsu style broth. Also there were a couple of kernals of corn in my broth, so I figure that the kitchen started putting it together, and did an "oopsie". No harm, no foul.

As far as I'm concerned, this was miles above anything Chopstix, Gunco, or Teri Cafe could produce, and I'm glad there's another option for ramen. When I need to be fortified, it'll be Santouka. On those days when I want comfort, there's now Yakyudori.

One other item. I think folks are going to rejoice over this. It looks likethis location of Yakyudori will be open from 1130 am until 3am! Yes, 3am everyday….. be still my heart…..

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

Open 1130 am to 3am daily.

Chicken Wing Thing: Phuong Trang, Tajima, and Huynh Hoa Tuu

January 27, 2010 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Japanese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Anyone out there kinda obsessive about things? I'll be the first to admit that I love chicken wings….. I mean I've created a category for them. To add to the obsession, I've even created my own little "value scale" for chicken wings….. I automatically divide the price of the wings by the number of wings in an order. Of course taste is king…. but I gotta admit at Kyochon level price levels,$1 a wing, it better be pretty darn good. I guess that's why I've thought Royal Mandarin's Salt and Pepper wings at $7.95 for an order, which usually contained 14 wings (about 57 cents per), was a bargain. I hope they reopen soon. For some reason, I've kinda drawn a mental "line" of 79 cents a wing, as being reasonable. Of course, Tebasaki Wings are in a category all their own. Weird, I know…….

Anyway, I've had a couple orders of wings from different places (surprise!) in the last couple of months, and here's a short round-up.

Phuong Trang – Butter Chicken Wings:

In the comments area of my post on City Dragon's chicken wings (at 7 for 6.99 was in Kyochon territory, and believe, it wasn't even close to Kyochon), "Arlene" mentioned that the chicken wings at Phuong trang might be worth chicking ummm, checking out.

The item mentioned was the "Butter Chicken Wings", and take a while to cook, at least fifteen minutes. So if you order these, and your Com Tam or Bun comes out first, the "appetizer sin" occurring, at least you can be sure you get some hot and sizzling wings.

At $8.95 for a dozen wings, this runs to about 75 cents each, which is reasonable. The wings are juicy and sizzling hot, these are more crusty than crunchy, as the batter turns out to be kinda crumbly. It deteriorates quickly, and gets to be kinda greasy…. but, hey they are called "Butter Wings", right? I thought these were kinda high on the salty scale, and I like salty wings….

Decent price, but overall, just ok.

Phuong Trang
4170 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Tajima Sushi and Japanese Tapas Restaurant:

On one of my visits to Tajima "2", I ordered the fried chicken wings. I thought at $5.95 this was pretty inexpensive…. but with only five wings, these broke the Kyochon price ceiling:

These are what I call "dipped wings" and are made much like my Garlic Chicken, where chicken is first battered and fried, and then dipped into a mixture right after frying. These were nice and sticky, but very low on the flavor scale, edging toward sweet. The batter wasn't very crunchy, and the meat was on the dry and chewy side.

In my opinion, not worth the price.

Tajima Sushi & Japanese Tapas Restaurant
4411 Mercury St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Huynh Hoa Tuu – Hot Wings:

Update – Huynh Hoa Tuu has closed.

After all the dishes I've had at Huynh Hoa Tuu, you know I had to check out the "Hot Wings". At $5.95 for 7, this was on the high side with regards to price, but still below the "Kyochon line".

These wings were battered and fried, then cooked, a la Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings, but with the addition of a sweet and spicy Nuoc Mam Cham(fish sauce) style sauce. These were still crunchy, and the flavors came through very well…. salty, but in a good way, with some depth. Some of the garlic had been burnt, which caused some bitterness, but on a later visit with some FOYs it was done better. There was some decent spice, and the hints of sweetness helped.

Overall, like much of what Huynh Hoa Tuu serves; good beer food.

Huynh Hoa Tuu
4660 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

So there you, three more orders of Chicken Wings served up! Much thanks to FOYs (Friends of Yoso) like Arlene without whom I'd be chicken-wing deprived (or is it depraved???).

Road Trip: A’Float Sushi Japanese Restaurant- Pasadena

January 13, 2010 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Sushi and Sashimi, What Cathy Eats!

Hello. You are reading mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. The usual blogger here is Kirk. Sometimes ed (from Yuma) writes about what he ate. Sometimes it's Cathy writing. Then occasionally Vicky and a few others also write about their meals. Today, Cathy's writing about a meal she and The Mister enjoyed.

So, the other day, The Mister didn't have to go to work and we fueled up the car and drove North. We had seen this place in Pasadena for years…at the Corner of Colorado and Arroyo, a pretty central intersection in the Old Town area. We decided to pay the meter and have lunch.
Floating sushi. That's what it's about. Walk in, sit down ask for some tea and watch the boats go whizzing by.

You can see the boats are chained together. They are constantly moving. There is space for up to four plates on a boat and you just grab and stack plates. The plates are priced by design which is noted on the menu/placemat.

We grabbed the fried shrimp ($3.58) when we saw them being brought out from the kitchen and placed on the boats. Light, crispy and the shrimp with flavor. Note the placemat and prices with corresponding plate designs.

The mini lobster wrap with soybean paper was only $3.58 and that filler is real crab, not rice. To the right, the fried squid were $3.08 (see, it's on a plate with a different design). The squid pieces (rings and tentacles as well as one *really* fresh whole shrimp and one breaded and fried green bean) were very tender and lightly breaded. Again, you have to grab the fried stuff as soon as you see it or it gets cold on the trip around.
The dumplings ($2.58) were chilled. They tasted good, were filled with mostly crab.
The oysters ($3.58) were fresh and chilled and quite plump.
The cucumber salad ($3.08) was refreshing. Crispy and with good flavored tomatoes. Topped with a light rice vinegar.
At the end, I stacked the trays by design, to make it easier for our waitress to tally the bill. (Hot tea was free). (The far left plate was for a $1.98 California roll, 3 pieces. Those were fresh and with real crab) It was fun and different for us. You could ask for anything on the menu to be brought out, or for specific cuts of sushi or rolls to be made. We'll do that next time.

A Float Sushi Japanese Restaurant 87 East Colorado Boulevard Pasadena 91105 (626)792-9779

Tajima Sushi & Japanese Tapas Restaurant

January 4, 2010 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

So a couple of days ago I received an email from someone I hadn't heard from in ages, say about a year and a half. I'm not sure many of you were reading when I did the "Dude, like where's all the Asian Food…." post. Apparently this fellow is here to keep me on the straight and narrow. This time around it was, "ok, the holidays are over, so can we get on with eating in San Diego? Enough with the other stuff and reruns!" he-he-he……. What would I do without folks like this to keep me focused? So here goes……

A few months back, while driving up Mercury to do some shopping at Marukai, I passed the "newer" location of Tajima, and realized, even though I did one of those "odds and ends" posts on the place in 2006, I'd still never been to the place. So it was time to remedy the situation…..

And though I still call the place "Tajima 2", it's actually called "Tajima Sushi & Japanese Tapas Restaurant" whew, what a mouthful. First off, the interior is fairly stylish, though the tables are a bit too close together, and things are a bit "wide-open" so you can mind everyone else's business. This is not much different from many Izakaya type places though. On each visit, Jazz was playing in the background, and you could clearly make out the trickling "waterfall" in the background…ambient noise as an attempt to distract you from all the conversation. It is also pretty dark, and all my attempts at taking a photo (I never use a flash) failed.

Enough of that, here's rundown on what we ate during our visits…..

The Tako Wasabi ($4.50) was fine. I'm pretty sure that like most sushi bars, it is bought from one of several distributors, but for some reason, it is a bit more sweet, with less of a sinus clearing wasabi bite, than other versions I've had.

I usually enjoy Tako Wasabi whenever I've gotten it, and this was no different.

The Geso Karaage (Deep fried squid legs – $3.95) didn't thrill me as much:

These were a bit over-fried, as the squid had become really tough, and the batter tasted a bit bitter.

I thought the Chicken Mizore (Chicken Karaage with Tsuyu and grated daikon – $4.50) would be a better choice than the Chicken Karaage at Tajima, which tends to be bland and gummy(see my previous Tajima post) :

The Tsuyu – tempura dipping sauce and the daikon oroshi did liven up the rather bland chicken.

The funny thing is, one of my favorite dishes at Tajima was the Nonkotsu Karaage ($3.95), which is on the menu as "Chicken Gristle", but is actually battered and deep fried chicken cartilage.

I'm guessing that the batter which I think is a bit too thick and heavy for Karaage does well with the cartilage. The cartilage adds crunch to a batter which kinda lacks it. The Missus wouldn't touch it, but I finished the whole thing.

The Missus on one visit decided to try out the Chirashi, which is bargain priced at $11. I tried to warn Her off…. you know what they say about cheap and the words sashimi and sushi, right?

The Missus said that the salmon was quite good, everything else less so. Personally, just from looking at it, I thought the cutting skills of whomever put this together needs some work. It seemed like some of the fish was just shredded. The Missus did say that it was pretty much worth the price.

The Missus always has to order Shishamo ($5.95) whenever She sees it on the menu:

The Missus told me that the skin of the fish was not grilled as crisp as She prefers, but this was pretty good as a whole. One odd thing, the Missus left half of one fish, the one on the far left. As we were leaving I asked Her why, and She told me it was cold, and hadn't been grilled properly. The other four (and a half) were okay.

I also ordered the Buta no Kakuni (braised pork belly – $6.95), and was amazed at the portion size.

Having made this several times, and even having done a post on one of the versions (I guess I should do another post someday), I know that the yield for a good version is fairly small. First off, the Missus loved the boiled egg, which had a wonderful soft yolk. The braising liquid tasted adequately good, but the pork was on the dry and tough (for Buta Kakuni) side. In fact, it reminded me more of Pork Shoulder than Belly. Still, this was a pretty large portion size…… is there such a thing as too much braised pork belly???

Which kinda gets to my point; Tajima is a good place to try a bunch of dishes without breaking the bank. Thinking in terms of economies of scale, it is much cheaper than Izakaya Sakura, and the prices reflect the difference. The funny thing is, that the atmosphere here is probably a bit better than Sakura as well! I think Tajima is good place of you're on a tighter budget, and perhaps looking for stuff like "Kimchi Pork" and "Crunchy Roll", followed by a good dose of Soju.

Tajima Sushi & Japanese Tapas Restaurant
4411 Mercury St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Ramen Revisits – Chopstix, Tajima, Gunco Ramen, Teri Cafe, and Santouka

November 30, 2009 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

The recent weather made me want some ramen. So I decided to revisit a bunch of places I've posted on before. This really isn't a comparison, as my favorite style of ramen is Tonkotsu style, which is made by rapidly boiling pork bones, making the broth a rich, cloudy white. Not all of these shops sell Tonkotsu style ramen, or if they do, I've had that before and it wasn't very good, so I went in a different direction. I've arranged them from my least favorite to my favorite….and I was a bit surprised. So let's get slurping……

Chopstix:

As I've mentioned in my previous post on Chopstix, I've never had two bowls of Ramen at Chopstix that were the same. No Tonkotsu Ramen here, so I went with the deluxe Chashu-men($7.95).

I don't quite know where to start……the broth which tasted like salted soy sauce water, or the Charshu which was extremely dry, crumbly, with a stale, fridge-flavor. The noodles were typical mass produced, standard ramen noodles, but were prepared perfectly.

Geez, this was pretty disappointing, the only thing I finished were the noodles. I dunno, I haven't been here in quite a while, and I'm hoping this was just an off day.

Chopstix
4633 Convoy St Ste 101
San Diego, CA 92111

Tajima:

Before Santouka came to town, Tajima was where we went to for ramen. I hadn't been back in a while, but expected the same dependable Tajima. In my mind, Tajima has always made a decent bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen, and that's what I went with, a Regular Tonkotsu Ramen ($6.95):

I expected the broth to lack the amount of richness that I enjoy, but this was pretty weak in that department. It was also very, very salty. And there was a familiar after-taste that I tried to place. It wasn't until I was making some ramen at home, opening that foil pouch that I recognized the smell, and later the flavor…..could it be that they are augmenting the Tonkotsu broth with some kind of base? I hope my sense of smell and tastebuds are wrong…….

The Chashu was also very tough and chewy. My favorite item was the boiled egg……

Say it isn't so……..

Tajima Japanese Restaurant
4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Teri Cafe:

**** Teri Cafe has closed

I've never really had great luck with Teri Cafe. Even after my rather unsatisfactory visits to Teri Cafe, I returned due to several comments and emails, some of them rather nasty, but all of them informing me of the error of my ways……. I did return, and it only confirmed that I enjoyed the noodles, but the dishes were overly sweet, too salty, and to me, seemingly put together in a rather cavalier way. But I decided that I needed to visit them again….it had been two years after all, but I decided to skip the Tonkotsu Ramen, and tried the simple Shoyu Ramen($5.95):

This was not bad, nice shoyu flavor, maybe a bit on the mild side….but no artificial taste. It was decent, though the Chashu was soft, but tasteless. Funny thing was, the item I've always enjoyed most, the noodles were a bit over-cooked in my opinion on this visit.

Still, I was pleasantly surprised, and may revisit Teri Cafe again soon. Hopefully the next time those noodles would be on point.

Teri Cafe
7305 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Gunco Ramen:

I thought it wouldn't be fair to do a post on ramen in San Diego without including the much over-looked Gunco Ramen. Located in Chula Vista, it might be a bit out of the way of you live in North County or close to downtown, and I wasn't really impressed on my previous visits. Still, I'd make sure to visit Hogetsu Bakery, which would make the trip worthwhile…heck if I didn't enjoy the food, I could still hit Internacional 2000 for some Al Pastor to ease the pain.

Here I went with the Shio (salt) Ramen:

The noodles were decent and well prepared. The Charshu had good flavor, but was a bit on the tough side. The broth was perhaps a bit too light, but wasn't overly salty, and I enjoyed it, except for one thing……. there was a fairly strong, and cloying ginger flavor that clung to my tongue……

Still, based on these visits, pretty much even with Teri Cafe…..

Gunco Ramen
305 Palomar St
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Santouka:

I sometimes wonder if I'm just very biased…….but here in San Diego, Santouka does the trick for me…or perhaps I should say us, as the Missus, never a big ramen fan, based on what She says is bang for the buck, really will only have ramen from Santouka in San Diego. Yes, it is pretty expensive, if you're looking at only portion size……. but it is more than that. I'll let the photos do the talking:

The Missus and I discussed why She enjoys the broth at Santouka so much, and She came up with this. When She was child, and got sick, Her parents would make a deep boiled pork bone soup as a remedy, which I believe is much like Korean Gamjatang. Santouka's rich broth reminds Her of that, and when She is feeling a bit under the weather, She now wants some rich Tonkotsu broth. Coming from a background where dough is king, She also enjoys the noodles at Santouka.

The Missus prefers the Miso Ramen, which I find too salty. I prefer the Shio Ramen. When the Missus is feeling a bit under the weather, we'll often go to Santouka, and share a bowl of ramen, the result of which is usually this:

Though recently the Missus has "discovered" the Tokusen Toroniku version which comes with everything on the side, along with a more fatty version of the Charshu.

At over ten bucks a bowl, this ain't cheap…but I've never had the Missus leave Santouka hungry…….

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

Thanks for hanging in there and reading!

Happy Thanksgiving

November 26, 2009 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants

We're keeping a pretty low profile this Thanksgiving, just hanging out and relaxing.

The Missus and I did run into Dennis of A Radiused Corner at Izakaya Sakura. Dennis and I have a long standing joke about running into each other at Sakura, and it finally happened….on Thanksgiving of all days.

The Missus had Her standard; Unadon, while I had Menchi Katsu, usually described at "deep fried meatloaf", "deep fried hamburger" or or something like that.

Nice and crunchy panko crusted exterior, moist ground beef with just the right amount of filler………it sure did fill me up!

Tonight, perhaps it'll be another place on our rotation. You know which one, right?

And maybe some Gan Bian Niu Rou Si……

Anyway, we'd like to wish you all a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

Revisiting the Rotation: Mien Trung and Izakaya Sakura

October 13, 2009 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Japanese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple more revisits to our rotation.

Mien Trung:

Our recent cold weather meant an immediate return to Mien Trung, easily my favorite Bun Bo Hue in San Diego. I've had my share of Bun Bo Hue and keep returning to this little Mom and Pop shop. It is literally a Mom and Pop shop; back in 2007 Mien Trung was closed for almost a month. When they reopened we asked why they were closed for the better part of a month. The answer was simple, "Mom was on vacation. No Mom, no soup!" It does beg the question of what happens when Mom decides to retire…. But let us consider more pleasant thoughts for now.

The Bun Bo Hue:

The soup was as usual spot on, full of lemongrass flavor with a nice lip and back of throat heat, and a mild savory fermented component to boot. One aspect I think is important with Bun Bo Hue, is the temperature of the broth. The main reason being the shredded veggies served on the side. The vegetables to me, are an integral part of the dish, and the soup needs to be very hot to soften the veggies a bit. I've become used to the thicker cut meat in Bun Bo Hue, those who want the tender rare steak, should stick with Pho Tai, as at all of the more traditional Central Vietnamese shops that serve Bun Bo Hue serve it that way. The noodles always seem to be served a perfect al dente at Mien Trung.

The perfect panacea for the cooler weather…… I have encountered a problem with eating Bun Bo Hue and Bun Rieu. It is the matter of attire, slurping around the annatto tinged broth, you are better off wearing something where little red dots aren't so conspicuous. I mention this because Ed from Yuma always seems to wear white or other light colors when we've eaten at Mien Trung……

Mien Trung Restaurant
7530 Mesa College Dr
San Diego, CA 92111

Izakaya Sakura, yet again:

Yes, another place that we've posted on many, many, times. Though if you think we pay a bit too much attention to Sakura, you should check out Dennis's posts on Sakura, which truly defines the word obsession dedication, the heights of which I've never seen in the world of blogging. I'm kinda glad cooler weather is upon us, since I haven't seen Kazu around much during lunch hour. No Kazu means no Chirashi, no natto-maguro don, etc, etc…..

So on this day, the Missus got Her usual, the Unadon – Unagi Rice:

The Missus really enjoys this… perhaps a bit too much, as She now visits Sakura solo. That in itself is not too bad, but She always makes sure to call me and let me know what a great lunch She's having!

I went with the Curry Udon:

The pleasantly hot, but somewhat thin broth was topped with a "slick" of Japanese Curry.

A little stirring with the chopsticks, and viola!

The curry added some heat, richness, and flavor to the rather thin and bland broth which I tasted before mixing. The noodles had a nice pull to it, which of course posed another problem….has anyone invented a "slurp proof" shirt yet??? Maybe Dennis might know!

Even though the curry had bits of ground beef in it, I had thought this would be a bit short on the protein, and it in fact was, which justified my ordering the Chicken Karaage.

I usually end up making my own Chicken Karaage at home since it's so easy, but I think Sakura's version is nice and light, if a bit short in the flavor department.

So I guess with all these visits, Izakaya Sakura easily stays on our rotation.

To finish up, I just thought I'd throw in a coupla photos of the ever changing "special bento", just for the heck of it.

Anyone know where I can get a "slurp proof" shirt?

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

Haru Ya Sushi and Sake…we didn’t, because there are no rules

October 9, 2009 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog you are looking at, probably because you bookmarked it, or googled it or something. Kirk, ed(from Yuma), Cathy and a few others share in writing here. About meals they have had. Today, Cathy is blogging.

Hi. It was one of those "neutral" days between birthdays. The Mister and I are seven days apart, but really it is eight days we celebrate by going out to eat-The Mister gets the first three days of where and what to eat (Saturday, Sunday and Monday) and I get the last three (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and on Tuesday and Wednesday, we both have to agree on where to go. So we did one of our 'date night' meals at Haru Ya- which used to be Haru, which used to be Takeya…you know in the mall with Khan's Cave Grill and Tavern and Boll Weevil, kitty corner from the Registrar of Voters. Date nights are when you seem to agree on everything…

It's been re-decorated, with an emphasis on the Sake/bar area and there are daily Happy Hour Specials.

We wanted none of that and proceeded to confuse our waitress with our order.

First, the seaweed sashimi salad ($12). Assorted, randomly cut sashimi pieces – a lot-, seaweed salad, baby lettuces, shredded daikon topped with a lemony/sesame oil/slight wasabi flavor dressing. There was a lot of sashimi-tuna, yellowtail, salmon, red snapper and albacore and a lot of lettuce. We started and ended our meal with this salad…

because everything else we ordered was fried- and an appetizer. On the left is the fried calamari ($4.95) it came with the dipping sauce above it-light and soy based. The calamari was very tender and lightly breaded and crispy fried, not greasy at all.

On the right, the mixed tempura vegetables (one each of onion, broccoli, squash, sweet potato, carrot and green bean)($3.95)- it was listed as vegetable pancakes on the menu and was shredded in that photo, but this was fresh vegetables and again, lightly battered and fried properly…not greasy. It was served with the homemade mayonnaise dipping sauce in front. Light and lemony.

We also ordered the 4 piece shrimp tempura ($4.95). Lightly battered, crispy, flavorful moist shrimp.

The agedashi tofu ($3.95)- lightly fried and served on a tempura sauce- was my favorite.

Of course we had hot tea and miso soup…

and a nice mid-birthday week dinner of exactly what we wanted.

Haru Ya 9340-B Clairmont Mesa Boulevard 92123 858.569.9595

Crepe World-on Convoy, dessert crepes after a quick meal at Chopstix

August 30, 2009 Cathy Desserts, Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog and today Cathy is blogging. Because Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are eating.

Hi. The other day, The Mister and I went to Chopstix and got large bowls of soup, because at 96°, with 18% humidity, it just wasn't warm enough for us. The top one is the miso ramen and the bottom one is the dumpling ramen. Each about $6.50, huge, tasty, warm. When we were done, we walked out and wanted dessert. We thought about Yogurt World and Tapioca Heaven, but this new building is closer when you walk across the street. Crepe World. (The Nice Young Lady who waited on us was wearing a Yogurt World t-shirt; I did not ask if they were owned by the same people)It is right on Convoy, so you don't have to encounter what I like to call the 'parking lot from Hell'. It was not crowded. As in, we were the only people there, our order number was 13 and it was 6:41 in the evening…I think this was the second day of it opening. A large area, lots of tables and chairs and some park benches for seating…a rather extensive menu of savory (takoyaki, various 'sandwich crepes') and sweet crepes and waffles. There is a website on the business card, but it is not set up yet. We ordered and each crepe was served up in pink paper cones. (click to see full photo)(Typepad is acting strange again) I chose the #20, red beans with custard and bananas ($4.58). It was huge and filled with all the ingredients. The crepe was light and crispy on the edges. The custard was light and eggy tasting, the red beans were sweet and tasty. The Mister chose the #15- a fruit crepe stuffed with Nutella® and fresh strawberries ($3.68). The same delightful crepe, filled with nutty, chocolate-y Nutella® and sliced juicy, flavorful strawberries.

A nice ending on another hot, but not humid, day in San Diego.

Crepe World 4646 Convoy #102 San Diego 92111 858-268-8388 Website (listed on business card)

Revisits: Kayaba, and (yet) another visit to Izakaya Sakura

July 29, 2009 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

Just some revisits for today……

Kayaba:

***** Kayaba has closed

Sometimes just the mention of something can really get me going……. Yesterday, all it took was reading one of the daily posts from one of my favorite food blogs, Our Adventures in Japan. Kat, much like me, is an ex-pat Kama’aina, and is currently on vacation visiting “home” which, of course, would be Hawaii. Obviously I’m glued to each and every one of her posts. So yesterday, what does she post on? Why it just had to be Tonkatsu (albiet a Tonkatsu Sandwich), from Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin. The worst thing was that Kat, who usually includes a few photos from every meal, didn‘t do that for this meal. With good reason as she was having lunch with a good friend, and I‘d do the same. The problem was, that all I could think about was their $36 Tokusen Kurobuta Tonkatsu Teishoku. Sorry to say, there’s no Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin in San Diego……but I just had to have some Tonkatsu. So I settled for Kayaba:

It did a decent job of “scratching that itch”…..it ain’t no Ginza Bairin, but was bit a bit cheaper at $8. I think if I’d missed the boat at Kayaba, I’d have even settled for shredded cabbage with tonkatsu sauce……weird, I know, but much like Kathy, I can’t resist slathering katsu sauce all over my cabbage. One does need 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day right?

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

(Yet) Another Visit to Izakaya Sakura:

Yes, you can say it now…….how many posts can one do on Sakura? It’s bad enough that Ed, Cathy, and I have all done posts on Sakura. But to make matters worse, we’ve each done multiple posts. I have however, taken comfort in the fact, that I haven’t even come close to the level of obsession with the place as displayed by Dennis in his wonderful food blog, A Radiused Corner. Oh, and in case you missed it, here’s his latest post on Sakura. Now that’s dedication!

And our recent weather had a nice visit to Sakura written all over it. On this visit, the Missus and I sat in the “smoking section”…… just joking, we sat on one of the tables outside where I’ve seen guys taking surreptitious puffs of cancer sticks in the past. You can’t drink alcohol on these tables, but you can sneak in a few stealth puffs if you need to.

On this visit, the Missus had one dish in mind, while I had several. I started with one of my favorites Maguro Yamakake. Simply cubes of Maguro topped with Yamaimo (mountain yam) which has been grated to give it a gooey texture. Along with a bit of soy and wasabi, I find this a refreshing dish. Though a good FOY (Friend of Yoso) calls it “snot on tuna”. (You don’t want to know what he says Shiokara smells like) It really has a mild flavor, and is more of an acquired texture than anything else.

I followed that up with the Albacore Tataki, slices of seared Albacore in ponzu sauce, topped with sliced onions and scallions. The meaty Albacore, which sometimes can be on the dry side, does well with the citrusy ponzu, and just as red meat goes well with sweet, acidic onions, the Albacore does the trick.

In need of something rich, I also ordered the Ankimo (steamed monkfish liver), another of my favorite dishes:

I realize that it’s not the optimal time for Ankimo (which is winter), which is probably why this wasn’t the best Ankimo that Kazu has ever created. It was very fishy, with a more wax like mouth feel than the usual pate texture. It was too strong for the Missus, who also loves Ankimo.

When it’s hot, I love Zaru Soba (cold soba), and I enjoy the version at Sakura.

The Missus was still waiting for Her dish, and wanted a a taste of my soba. I had forgotten how She eats Her Zaru Soba; She ended up dumping the entire ball of wasabi into the tsuyu(the broth), creating a nasal singeing experience for me. I had to keep reminding myself, “real men don’t cry in their soba”…… ouch! On the good side, my sinus problems were a thing of the past……