Japanese Restaurants – Page 59

Episode 17.Week 3=Oishii in Santee: Japanese and Thai Cuisine and Sushi Bar

October 17, 2006 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in in the interim.

So, you are thinking to yourself "Did I read that title correctly?"…Japanese and Thai cuisine and Sushi Bar…in Santee…?!?

Yes, you did….and it is something you can’t miss. All three types of food are prepared here to excellent standards.

Located in a nondescript strip mall, across the street from the Albertsons in Santee, Oishii has been in its present location for about 3 years. Before that, it was a Thai Buffet and before that it was a kind of American Restaurant that sold some really good prime rib. It is small inside, with 10 seats at the sushi bar, 5 booths and 7 tables.

Editor’s Note: The owners of the Thai Buffet are still the owners and are family members/have worked at Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas.

This post will be long, since the Mister and I have tried all three types of foods here. First, the Japanese menu:

The sushi lunch special ($8.50), 3 vegetable rolls, 4 tuna rolls, sunomono (cucumber salad) and albacore sashimi. The albacore was soooo tender. This is served with an excellent miso soup, filled with silken tofu cubes and seaweed.

The mixed tempura appetizer ($5.00) includes one very large shrimp. The breading is very light and delicate, not oily.

The combination lunch ($9.50), in this case beef teriyaki and spicy tuna roll. The beef is cooked medium rare and is tender and flavorful. The spicy tuna is very fresh and the spice is on the edge of being overwhelming and is highly complimentary to the tuna. This is served with soup, salad and rice. The portion size is quite large for lunch.

All of the Japanese dishes on the menu are very fresh and well prepared.

The Thai menu. Most of the people working here are Thai. When the restaurant was a Thai Buffet, I really liked the foods.

The fried soybean cake appetizer ($5.00), served with a homemade sauce that was neither too sweet nor too salty. The soy cakes were nicely crispy and not too thick, so the soy was warm throughout.

The fried calamari appetizer ($5.00). Lightly breaded squid which was very tender. The accompanying sauce is nice and spicy.

The pad see ewe with beef ($7.95)…the thick noodles were very nice textured, made with a black soy sauce and broccoli and carrots, this is a mild dish and the beef was not as tender as I would have liked. Not disappointing, but not exciting. I like the Pad Thai here better. However, the chicken Panang ($7.95) was excellent. It is made with coconut milk, red peppers, basil and green beans, the amount of heat that kicked in was wonderful. This is the way Panang should be cooked. The description on the menu, mentioning onions and mushrooms, is wrong and was not prepared that way.

I enjoy the Thai food here because they ask how spicy you would like it and almost always when I order Thai, the cook comes out from the kitchen to ask how I liked t.

Now, on to the sushi menu:

Along with the Special Rolls menu:

The sushi and nigiri served here is always fresh and wonderful. There is never a night when the sushi bar has no patrons. Even on Monday or Tuesday.

We always have edamame with sushi. ($3.50). A good sized plate.

The oyster shooter ($3.50) is made with 2 oysters, ponzu sauce and topped with masago and ginger. The lime slice in the side is a nice touch. The oysters were fresh and mildly flavored, very tender.

The albacore was so very tender and wonderfully flavored, the nigiri is not served with wasabi on it. It is not needed. Dipping the fish lightly into shoyu is enough to bring out the flavor. The rice is very well made sushi rice and worth the $4.50.

The amabei (sweet shrimp) ($6.00) were served with the fried heads (atama) at the same time and with the hamachi (yellowtail) ($5.00). Excellent, all three.

The Mister an I opted to share three rolls This is the Santee Roll ($6.50) Described as "Crispy tuna, (no rice) topped with the house sauce". The tuna is wrapped in seaweed, dipped in batter and fried, so the tuna cooks. Its different and good.

The spicy crunchy albacore roll was on sale for $5.50 the night we were there. There are usually five or six specials listed on the chalkboard. The albacore was again, fresh and tender and crunchy bits of tempura were dispersed throughout the roll, which also had cucumber inside had toasted sesame seeds on the exterior.

Finally, we had to try the most popular roll sold here, the Cindy Roll, ($12), made with tempura shrimp and asparagus, topped with tuna and the special sauce and surrounded with house and ponzu sauce. Excellent crispy, still warm shrimp and the asparagus is fresh cooked crispy with beautifully brought out flavor.

All in all, no matter which cuisine you order here at Oishii, you will leave very satisfied.

Oishii Japanese and Thai Cuisine and Sushi Bar

10251 Mast Boulevard Santee 92071 (619) 596-4852

Open Monday-Sat 11:00 a.m.-9 p.m., closed Sunday

Episode three-week one/Niban

October 3, 2006 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

Niban-fast, inexpensive, fresh, un-fancy, second best (?)Japanese and sushi.

So I don’t know much about the Japanese language except the Numbers one, two and three: ichi, ni, san…and so I use the Google Japanese translator and ichiban means "first", niban means "second" and sanban means "third". Then again, if you merely Google "niban" well, that is a brand name of a boric acid based granular bait used for pest control…I know I have seen restaurants named Ichiban…so to name yourself Niban, well, that takes …guts… on so many levels.

So yes, of course we eat here, regularly.

Its a simple system. You walk in, pay, then sit down. (If you are doing a "to go" order, you can sit at one of the chairs lining the front window). One of the people who works there takes your receipt, asks what you would like to drink (hot tea is free) (if you have paid for soda or beer, they ask you what kind you want) and they bring it to you and soon your order arrives.

The menu is simple:

and there are daily lunch specials written on a chalk board on the wall in front of you when you walk in, and other specials written on a chalkboard to the far right of the cash register (but also displayed in a glass case to your right as you walk in the door-you can see it from the front window right underneath this GIANT menu taped to the window.) Also, there is a monthly special, printed on a colored sheet of paper taped to the front window, a glass case straight ahead when you walk in the door and on the counter when you order. For October it is katsu curry-either chicken or shrimp, with salad and beverage for $5.50..regular $6.25 without beverage.

The specials are usually 75¢ to $1 off the regular price. There is a sushi bar with 7 (seven) seats total to the right and to the back of the cash register. If you want only that, you can walk in and sit down…paying when you leave. No photo; the people eating didn’t want to be in a picture.

But I like this display of plastic sushi and mirrors in the front window anyhow….

This is what we had in the last two visits:

The calamari appetizer- 5 pieces of squid steak breaded and fried. That sauce that looks like thousand island dressing..it isn’t…it has jalapeño in it…

The chicken katsu salad (regularly $3.50, sale price $2.75). I can eat this as a meal. Lettuce, chilled rice noodle, sliced carrots, sliced cucumbers and a ginger-garlic dressing served on the side. One whole piece of katsu chicken.

We got the sushi combo one night: 6 pieces nigiri and 2 hand rolls:$10.95

The hand rolls are regularly $3.50 each and are quite large. One was with crab meat and the other spicy tuna. All the fish was very fresh, tender, sliced thick enough and served on proper rice. Nothing outstanding, nothing bad, either. Below in this photo are the gyoza, served steamed or fried. ($2.95) Five handmade, thin skinned and filled with mostly pork with good ginger flavor as well as some water chestnut crunch. Very good.

On this visit, one of the daily specials was this bento box of chicken teriyaki, fried croquette (potato cake), salad, pickled bean sprouts, cold rice noodle and rice, served with miso soup. ($5.95 regular $6.75)

The chicken was mostly dark meat, the teriyaki sauce is good, not too thick or sweet. The croquette was excellent: crispy on the outside, and good mashed potato on the inside.

The October special, katsu curry.

We tried it with shrimp-you get three. If you get the chicken, you get 2 patties.

The curry tonight was not as thick as usual, but still tasty, with a nice "bite"..beef based, Japanese flavored, some chunks of beef (we have had more beef in it previously), potatoes, carrots and, according to the Mister, an inordinate amount of onions.

There is a TV on each side of the restaurant, none on the outside patio- but Players Bar and Grill is across the sidewalk and they have 4 television sets playing outside, for the smokers.

…and..my most favorite piece of decor:

The sushi clock!

All in all, Niban is good, fast and inexpensive…and has some sort of issues going on with self esteem, near as I can tell. Someday I’ll ask why they chose this name.

Niban 7081 Clairmont Mesa Blvd San Diego (858) 268-0465

Lunch Mon-Sat 11:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Dinner Sun-Thurs 5:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m., Fri and Sat 5 p.m.-10 p.m.

Restaurant Yakata Part 2

September 28, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

This past Saturday, the Missus was in the mood for some sushi and Japanese food, but I was a bit too tired to drive all the way to LA to Sushi Komasa or Sushi Gen. We also just wanted a quiet evening, so having recalled what Makoto at Restaurant Yakata said on my visit, "Saturdays nights are my slowest…" We decided to see if this was true, and drove down to National City. Well Makoto-san was correct, it was 630pm, and only two tables were taken, and the sushi bar was empty.

Being absolutely ravenous, we decided to order some food from the menu, and also a 10 piece Nigiri combination. I told Makoto, not to worry about price, just give us a variety.

The Missus started with Tempura Soba($6.50):

Soba, Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura, in a light broth, the Missus really enjoyed this.

I ordered the Tempura-Teriyaki Chicken Combo ($7.25). The dinner came with a bowl of miso, that was salty, but strangely very weak in miso flavor, and a green salad with a ginger-sesame dressing that was pretty good.

The Chicken Teriyaki was very uninspired, the sauce too sweet and watery.

The Tempura on the other hand was very good.

Though not very large, the shrimp had the perfect amount of crunchy batter, and the shrimp was cooked perfectly, soft and moist. The vegetables included were a broccoli floret, a thin slice of Kabocha, and a thin slice of Eggplant. The Tentsuyu(tempura dipping sauce) was fine, though I would have enjoyed some Daikon Oroshi(grated daikon) for the sauce. Still, this was a good amount of food for the price.

While we were eating the Nigiri arrived:

The Missus went straight for the Unagi, which is always the safe choice for Her and She enjoyed it. The Maguro was okay, and the Hamachi not as good as my previous visit. I thought the Sake(salmon) was quite good, as was the Saba. I had the Missus try the Mirugai(Giant Clam/Geoduck), which She really enjoyed, and the Hokkaido Hotategai(scallop) which She adored. The Tako(Octopus) was fine, as was the Ika(Squid), and Hirame.

Having figured out what She enjoyed we went for another round:

More good Mirugai, and excellent Hotategai. Makoto even remembered how I enjoyed eating my Aji. Up to this point in time, the Missus had always refused to eat Aji, associating it with the sometimes very fishy Saba. But tonight, She decided to give it a shot. As She ate the piece of Nigiri, Her eyes opened wide….."Wow, this is really good, almost milky in flavor, the texture is awesome!" I guess we’ll be fighting over the Aji from now on.

All told, our fairly hefty dinner(no alcohol) came out to about $50, without tip. By no means cheap, but quite satisfying. As we left Yakata, the restaurant was totally empty. I guess Makoto is right about Saturday nights…..

So if you want to grab some pretty good sushi on a Saturday night, and not have to deal with noise, crowds, or traffic, Restaurant Yakata might be a good choice.

Restaurant Yakata
2424 Hoover Ave
National City, CA 91950

Restaurant Yakata Part 1

September 24, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

Sometimes you get lucky, I had missed my exit on the I-5, and went over to the Mile of Cars exit to turn around. I turned into a strip mall and saw Yakata. And even though I just did a U-turn in the mall, Restaurant Yakata just kind of stuck with me. The final straw was reading through Jeni’s post on Sushi Zo – Off the Beaten Path, and Yakata quickly came to mind. I did a Yahoo search on Yakata, and came up with almost nothing……perfect!

I arrived at about 530pm on a Friday evening to find Yakata totally empty, and I thought that my instincts had turned on me.

Being alone I took a seat at the sushi bar and started looking over the fish. I started cautiously, with Maguro and Hamachi, just to get my bearings and determine the quality of he fish. I had also started a conversation with the Itamae; Makoto. Please pardon the photos, the lighting in Yakata is really tricky.

The Hamachi was quite good, the Maguro decent, but on the very cold side. The rice was a perfect temperature. Things were looking up. Makoto was just the opposite of the talkative and friendly Sam at Sammy’s, being on the reserved side. But since there were no customers in the restaurant, I was given am excellent opportunity. You see, part of what can make eating sushi a great experience is getting to know the Itamae(Sushi Chef), and giving the Itamae the chance to know my eating habits. Makoto also noticed that I didn’t use any "Wasabi"(da’ fake green stuff) with my fish, opting for just the most minute touch of soy.

So having started a conversation, I asked Makoto, "what is good tonight?" And after looking at me, and asking me a few questions, he came up with this:

The Hotategai(scallop) was excellent, sweet, with a buttery-velvety texture, among the best I’ve ever had. When I mentioned this to Makoto, he told me it was Hokkaido Hotategai. The Mirugai was also good, sweet and crunchy, obviously very fresh. I bought Makoto a Sapporo to thank him for such great sushi.

A short time later, Makoto asked me if there was anything I really didn’t care for, and why. I mentioned that I’m really not fond of Saba(Mackerel), as most times it overly fishy, and can be quite funky. So a minute later, a pair of Saba Nigiri appear in front of me, Makoto placing them on my plate with a grin.

The first thought that entered my head was, "how confident…." That said, the Saba was good, very good, just the right touch of the oily fishiness, enough to make you realize that this soft piece of fish was Saba. By now we had entered into a very nice conversation. It seems that Tuesdays through Thursdays are his busiest days. During the afternoon, it’s a combination of customers from local businesses as well as Japanese customers from the area, and those returning from Mexico. During the evenings it’s His regular customers, and Japanese returning from various businesses in Mexico.

Finally, I ordered some Aji(Spanish Mackerel). When asked my preference, I requested a thin slice of lemon in place of the usual minced ginger.

This was most excellent, the lemon added a slight citrus hint to the almost milky-rich flavor of the Aji.

By now several customers had made their way through the restaurant, most sitting at tables having tempura, teriyaki, and the such. And 2 elderly Japanese customers who went for Sashimi and Gohan(rice). I started asking Makoto about other items, and came to find that to balance both having the best product available for His customers, and getting the most out of His investment, Makoto will only have many of His specialty items "in season". That means Tai(snapper) usually only the spring, Ankimo(Monkfish Liver) during the winter, Aji and Amaebi(sweet shrimp) during the summer and fall. I had also found out that Makoto hails from Tokyo, though He has been in San Diego for 16 years, the first 14 in North County, opening Yakata 2 years ago.

This nice light dinner cost me a bit under $40(including 3 large Sapporo). I left satisfied, and with the knowledge that Saturday evenings were His slowest in the back of my mind….I knew where we were going on Saturday.

Stay tuned for Part 2 later on this week.

Restaurant Yakata
2424 Hoover Ave
National City, CA 91950

Yakitori K-1

September 21, 2006 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Japanese Restaurants

*** K-1 has been replaced by Wa Dining Okan. You can find posts here and here.

I approached Yakitori K-1 with a bit of apprehension, because I really can't remember the last time I had good Yakitori. Still, seeing the sign for Yakitori K-1, every time I shopped at Nijiya finally wore me down.

We arrived at 6pm, and found the tiny, spartanly decorated shop, empty.

The menu was simple, and short, but all the usual suspects were present.

So we placed our orders…and off we went. It is normal to order several different items, and eat slowly, usually with "liquid refreshment", but Yakitori K-1 is still in the process of obtaining a liqour license. I started with one skewer of Momo (Thigh – Momoniku – $1.29), and Negima, Chicken pieces(In this case chicken breast) and Green Onions($1.79).

The Momo is a good test of the Tare(basting sauce), and cooking technique. The Missus thought the Tare was really salty, I thought it was pretty one dimensional, with shoyu overpowering everything else. The chicken pieces were fairly moist, but I'd have enjoyed my chicken a bit more caramelized. In a case like this, I'd rather just have "Shio", or salt on the chicken. The chicken breast was kind of dry, it would have been really nice if the some of the skin was left on the chicken. And just two pieces of Negi(green onions) meant that you were not going to get the flavor of the green onions in every bite, unless you did the sword swallowing thing…..

The ShisoMaki (Shiso wrapped thigh – $1.49), and 2 orders of Teba (Tebasaki – Grilled Chicken Wings – $1.99):

The Shiso Maki, was simple lightly basted thigh, though I really thought it was breast. In this case the minty-basil flavored shiso went well with the lightly basted chicken, which was very moist. It had me wishing for Momo no-Ume Shiso, where minced ume (Japanese Pickled Plum) is mixed with shoyu, mirin, and sake, and slathered onto one side of the chicken. Thinly julienned Shiso is sprinkled on the ume concoction. This is really good stuff! The Teba was by far the best item we had all night. Simply seasoned and grilled, skin crisp, with a small squeeze of lemon, these almost had the addictive "crack like" quality like really good Tebasaki.

Because I needed a bit of starch in the midst of this protein-fest, I also ordered the K-1 Stick(skewered rice balls with tare – $1.49).

These are like mini Yaki Onigiri(grilled rice balls). Excellent texture, crunchy on the exterior, moist and starchy interior. The Tare fell seriously short here as well, just a strong shoyu flavor.

The Missus ordered the Tsukune Bowl($4.99).

Tsukune refer to the Chicken Meatballs. The Missus thought they were very rubbery, and lacked flavor. In fact She traded 3 meatballs for 1 Teba. The tamago(egg), was well, tamago. The ground chicken was sauced with the tare, though here it tasted a bit sweeter. One thing for sure, there sure was enough rice.

To be perfectly fair, Yakitori K-1 was out of two of our favorites; the Sunagimo(gizzards), and Kawa (skin….mmm…skin…). So we weren't able to sample those. As we left, several customers walked in the door.

The prices at Yakitori K-1 are very reasonable, though I'd steer away from the combinations, which have mostly Momoniku and Mune(Sasami – skinless breast). I'm far from an expert on Yakitori, you may enjoy the Tare at Yakitori K-1, it's just not to our taste.

Yakitori K-1
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Crispy Tonkatsu

September 20, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

**** Zion Market has moved and Crispy Tonkatsu is no longer

Crispy Tonkatsu(at least that's what the sign and business card says), shares the Zion Marketplace Food Court with Happy Meal.

While having lunch at Happy Meal, I noticed a group of guys having lunch from Tonkatsu, and I must say it looked pretty good. So I decided to check it out for myself. The menu at Crispy Tonkatsu is rather small, and consists mainly of…what else? Katsu, though Udon, and other items are available. There is also an interesting handwritten sign titled the "Well Being Project" describing how healthy, and fresh the food at Tonkatsu is. This really cracked me up, after all, we're talking about breaded, deep-fried, pork cutlet, right?

On this day I ordered the Chicken Katsu($6.99 – $7.99 dinner):

This rather hefty lunch came with a rather watered down miso soup. Two pieces of crispy fried mandu, which were on the skimpy side, but not bad. And a "salad", that was a basically a cole slaw "mix". The dressing was quite unusual, I'm pretty sure it was a blended asian pear, rice vinegar, and sugar, type dressing. A bit too sweet for my tastes.

In addition to the good sized bowl of rice, was a small portion of Baechu Kimchi(not very good), and some fairly good pickled radish(daikon). A single pitted, canned Lychee was provided as a dessert/palate cleanser.

The Chicken Cutlet was perfectly fried, and moist, the breading was crisp, and on the lighter side. It's just about the same as the katsu, though not quite as flavorful as the version I make at home. The Tonkatsu sauce was another story. I'd say that it was probably the worst tonkatsu sauce that I ever had(next to the lousy sweet-sour stuff at L&L), watery, really low on flavor.

Still, not bad for $6.99.

I'm afraid to say that I wasn't through. On the day I had made up my mind to check out Crispy Tonkatsu, I saw the Gentlemen on the next table sharing some really plump, good looking Gyoza. Good enough to cause me to go into a bout of Gyoza envy. I'm not a big fan of how many lower priced places make Gyoza, because it's usually the same as store bought Gyoza…remove from plastic bag, and thrown in the fryer. But these looked pretty good, so I ordered some ($2.99):

What arrived didn't look quite as plump as I had remembered seeing. I guess it could just be a case of "the Gyoza on the other table always looks better." Still these weren't bad at all, there was a mild ginger flavor in the meat filling, and the soy based dipping sauce wasn't too bad.

I don't know if I'd have these again, but they were not as bad as most.

Here's a photo of the whole thing.

The prices at Crispy Tonkatsu are very reasonable, and I believe you get your money's worth, at least for lunch, when everything is a buck cheaper than dinner. The ordering process is the same as Happy Meal's, you place your order at the counter, pay, have a seat, and your food is brought to your table.

Overall, not bad….but please, don't tell me about the health benefits of Tonkatsu….I already know them!

Crispy Tonkatsu
4611 Mercury St
San Diego, CA
In the Zion Marketplace Food Court

Yoshino’s

September 12, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

I have a very special place in my heart for those Mom-and-Pop, American-Japanese restaurants, what many people I know call "Teriyaki-Tempura joints". Growing up in Hawaii, a special occasion would mean a meal of either Chinese (what I call Hawaii-style Chinese), or a trip to either Wisteria Restaurant or Suehiro Restaurant, both now sadly gone.

Yoshino’s on Washington street is one of those simple "old-school" Japanese restaurants.

I used to have quick dinners at Yoshino’s when I first did some consulting work in San Diego in the late ’90’s, and we used to eat here once in a while when we first moved to San Diego. A few years ago, the restaurant changed hands, we paid a visit, and the food didn’t seem to be the same, and we had never returned. Yoshino’s just kind of dropped off the radar so to speak. The storefront is so unassuming, that you don’t give it a second glance. I must drive past Yoshino’s at least 6 times a week, and I still paid the restaurant little or no attention.

Until recently. One of my regular inexpensive Teriyaki-Tempura-Rice Fix lunch stops; Teriyaki Cowboy had closed, and an Email from Claudine, mentioning Yoshino’s jogged my memory. And so I thought, why not?

As you can tell by the interior, this restaurant is no thrills and no frills. Sometimes the best food is found in places like these.

A daily special is offered for lunch Tuesdays thru Fridays. The price is not bad, $6.45. I’d say the best of the specials is the Sesame Chicken(Tempura-style – Wednesday lunch special):

The meal comes with a generic iceberg lettuce salad, rice, and miso soup. The miso soup is really not bad for what is usually included in these types of lunch specials, though a bit light on the miso, and salty. The chicken is satisfying, two slices of white meat chicken, coated with tempura type batter, deep fried, brushed with a mildly sweet teriyaki sauce, and finally sprinkled with sesame seeds. As someone very dear to my heart says; "hey, if it’s fried right, it’s got to be pretty good, right?"

Crunchy, salty, fried, slightly sweet……………say no more!

There are other dishes offered for lunch. Here’s the Katsu Don($6.95):

On the good side, the pork cutlet(Tonkatsu) was very moist. On the bad side, everything was too moist, the Tonkatsu and egg was over saturated with the sauce, leaving not one bit of crunchy goodness. Think of over saturated Chicken Parmigiana…why bother breading? The sauce was decent, maybe a bit on the sweet side, with not enough soy, though many people enjoy it that way. The portion size was good, with enough rice and sauce. Though it seems very easy, a good KatsuDon isn’t that easy to make. This also came with the standard miso soup.

One day, I had to try the Teriyaki Chicken(Tuesday lunch special – $6.45):

Not a good move on my part. First off the chicken wasn’t caramelized at all, and had a gummy texture, and though I enjoyed the teriyaki sauce on the sesame chicken, here it didn’t add enough flavor to the dish. In this case the sauce was really wimpy. I’ll stick with the Sesame Chicken.

Just for the heck of it, here’s the ala carte Tempura($5.95):

Didn’t care for the vegetables, zucchini and carrot???? The batter was too thick and not crunchy enough for me, but it wasn’t bad as a whole, I’ve had much worse priced much higher….

Though I still haven’t been back for Dinner, Yoshino’s provides me with a good "rice fix" for lunch, and the prices are very reasonable. Here’s something I noticed, and found interesting, all the Servers are very nice, and are also Japanese, but I have yet to see any Japanese, or anyone of Japanese ancestry in Yoshino’s(except me). But maybe they’re coming for dinner???

Some notes on Yoshino’s: There is inadequate parking for the businesses served, as with everything else in the area. Yoshino’s is closed on Mondays.

Yoshino’s
1790 W Washington St
San Diego, CA 92103

Lunch: Tues-Fri
Dinner: Tues-Sun

Thanks for the reminder Claudine!

Teriyaki Cowboy….Rides into the Sunset

August 2, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

Feeling much better, I decided to drive a few blocks to pick up a bento from Teriyaki Cowboy for lunch today. Only to find the place closed, with this note posted on the door:

Bummer! TC, had been a semi-regular stop for inexpensive bentos.

This little Mom and Pop hole-in-the-wall, had a quaint, comfortable atmosphere. Though the food wasn’t great by any means, it was good to fair, and the prices right. Too bad I never got around to posting. So here’s a posthumous Teriyaki Cowboy pictorial.

I’ll miss sitting under my favorite print.

Rest in peace Cowboy, you’ll be missed.

Oshizushi

July 26, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

This recent hot and humid weather has really dampened my appetite. It has been kind of a challenge coming up with items that I really feel like eating, and there’s no way that I’m going to slave over a stove, or even turn on the oven.

So it kind of hit me during a nice lunch with Captain Jack, who does His San Diego Restaurant Reviews Site. Understanding that he’d want something a bit different, I ordered Oshizushi:

Oshizushi, literally "pressed sushi", is created in a wooden or plastic "box", called an Oshizushi-Bako. This version is from Sammy’s. Though this version is somewhat "Westernized", it is still quite good, and pretty filling. At Sammy’s they call it "Six in a Box". A layer of rice is placed on the bottom of the mold, then another layer, usually with uni, hamachi, masago, and green onions. Another layer of rice is placed on on the rice with maguro and salmon, or another item, then a lid placed on top of the mold and the sushi is "pressed". Sammy finishes His version of Oshizushi wrapping it with Tororo(made from Kombu).

I once sat next to an Gentleman enjoying His Oshizushi, and became engaged in a nice conversation. He told me about the wonderful Oshizushi he had in Osaka, according to him, the "home" of Oshizushi. The rice for Oshizushi there was very aggressively flavored with vinegar. He also mentioned Battera; a specific type of Oshizushi topped with Saba. The Oshizushi at Sammy’s uses his regular mild Sushi Gohan(rice).

I just thought I’d do this post, because I really don’t see this much anymore, and it tasted quite good on such a hot and muggy day……..

I’ll be back with a new restaurant tomorrow. Hope everyone is keeping cool in this hot weather!

Portland: Restaurant Murata

June 19, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Portland, Oregon, Sushi and Sashimi, Travel

In need of a short break, the Missus and I decided that yours truly should take a short vacation to recharge. The last real trip I took was a week long trip to Washington D.C. over two years ago, and other than short road trips to Mountain View, Yuma, and many trips to LA, I’ve been at home. I decided to visit a city that I’ve always wanted to visit; Portland(the Oregon version). This trip was mainly for pleasure, and I really didn’t do too much research. I did come up with a short list of places to eat, and a rather long list of places to visit. I’ll do a non-food post on those a bit later.

I arrived at the Marriott City Center at almost 3 pm, checked in, took a quick shower, and was on my way. The first thing I noticed was how very kind all the drivers were; pedestrians are treated with a great deal of respect; cars almost always stop in drive ways to let pedestrians cross. And no honking!

After reading a short description in the Willamette Week, I decided on Restaurant Murata.

Even though I was advised to take the Portland Streetcar down to SW Market Street, I decided to walk. Though the walk was about 15 blocks, the distance was only about a mile, and took a leisurely half hour. Next observation about Downtown Portland; the "blocks" are small, and Portland is a great walking town. Along with the small blocks, there are no steep hills to tax you.

When Murata opened, I entered and seated at the small(about 8-10 seats) sushi bar, by the traditionally dressed Server. The restaurant is quite small, and there are 3 Tatami Rooms located to one side of the restaurant. I haven’t seen one of those in years. As I sat Murata-san was very busy doing prep work.

As I sat I looked over the grease board "specials".

To my surprise, I was handed a sushi order sheet, even though I was seated at the bar.

So I placed my sushi order, got a Sapporo, sat back and watched Murata-san work. Murata-san did his thing with methodical speed, quick, measured, and precise. Soon, I figured the reason for the order sheet; Murata-san didn’t seem to speak much English.

On to the fish. First off the Maguro(tuna) and Hamachi(yellowtail):

The Hamachi was good, with a nice texture and good flavor. The Maguro was way too cold, a trend I’ve noticed recently. Not too bad overall, but not great. I’d also started to notice that Murata-san is sometimes very heavy-handed with the wasabi, which kills much of the flavor. If I don’t know an Itamae, I usually just use the slightest touch of shoyu with my Nigiri. Depending on initial tastes, I may end up not using any shoyu at all. I’ll use fresh wasabi, but am really not into the wasabi slurry. On the positive side; I enjoyed the way the Nigiri was put together, a nice balance of fish to rice.

The Toro:

Obviously a piece of Chu-Toro(the portion towards the rear of the tuna belly). Frankly, not a great piece of fish. The texture of the Toro was much the same as the Maguro, not velvety, melt in your mouth smooth.

When I had been seated, I had noticed Murata-san working on some good looking Aji(Spanish Mackeral), so I made sure to to order some.

Topped with some grated ginger and green onions, each piece had an entire fillet of Aji on it. Murata-san turned to me and spoke for the first time, "ponzu?", I shook my head. No, these wonderful pieces of fish needed nothing. The flavor(no wasabi this time), was a perfect balance of oceany fishiness, provided by the pieces of skin left behind, along with the oily richness of the flesh. Delici-yoso!!!

Mirugai.

I’m not sure if this was "local" Mirugai(Geoduck, Giant Clam), but it sure was good. Slightly sweet, and crunchy, but not hard. Very good.

Amaebi:

The Shrimp were fresh, both tender and sweet, though one of the pieces of Nigiri had a ton of wasabi on it. Note to self; next time order everything with no wasabi…….

The Atama(heads) arrived a few minutes later:

Nicely fried up, and crunchy. Nice way to end my meal.

The tab? All the sushi and 2 Sapporo for $57, not cheap by any means, but a pretty nice meal.

Some notes on Murata: The restaurant is very small, but the menu is interesting, it’s too bad that everyone was ordering smoked salmon, California and Rainbow Rolls. I’ve also heard that if you call in advance, you can order Kaiseki-ryori meals. I arrived right when Murata opened, when I left all the tables were filling up.

Restaurant Murata
200 SW Market St
Portland, OR 97201

I had arrived to the area where Murata is located about a half hour early(see earlier note on the size of the city blocks), so I was able to take in some of the sights, such as the Ira Keller Memorial Fountain:

And a walk in Pettygrove Park. Did you know that Portland was named based on a coin-toss?

So I could’ve easily been visiting Boston, Oregon, instead of Portland. In peaceful Pettygrove Park is an interesting sculpture called The Dreamer:

Someone told me it’s filled with urethane foam, so that when it rains, the drops don’t make much noise.

After my meal, I walked on over to the Streetcar stop on the campus of Portland State University. Here’s an earlier photo I took before dinner.

As I was sitting waiting for a Streetcar, a Gentleman came up to me and told me that the electricity was out down the line, and the Streetcars weren’t stopping at this and other nearby stops. Here’s where I come into contact with the wonderful Portland hospitality, he asked me if I’m from around here. When I replied "No, just visiting", He told me to follow Him, and we walked a few blocks to SW Clay Street and SW 10th Avenue, and caught the Streetcar there. As we were riding the Streetcar, he pointed out all the landmarks like the Portland Art Museum, and the Main Library. He also informed me of my stop, one of the main reasons I came to Portland:

And yes, it’s all true; the bookstore takes up an entire city block. And yes, you do need a map to get around. And yes…..used books are mixed in with the new. And yes, I think there are people living in Powell’s, that may have not left in years. I managed to tear myself away after 3 hours, and only spent about $50. The variety and quantity of books at Powell’s is amazing, truly a book lover’s mecca. And by the way, did you know that Ferrets have their own magazine!

Powell’s City of Books
1005 W Burnside
Portland, OR 97209 USA