Chef Jun was one of those "local" places that opened in Bay Ho, back in 2019. While most of what I'd gathered from folks who ate there; it was the "rolls" that they liked, even though they claimed to serve "Kappo", think higher end small dishes and such. I actually did takeout a couple of times during Covid and wasn't too impressed. Still, I made a note to revisit once things settled down….apparently the note got lost…or perhaps my "dog ate it"? Anyway, I'm finally trying to catch up on things from those days. I decided to head on over for lunch.
I arrived at 1145 and was surprised to see a couple of tables already occupied. I guess there's a real demand for places like this in the area. The nice young lady greeted me and I told her a seat at the "bar" would work out perfectly fine for me.
The sushi bar is the "modern" high bar, where you can't see the fish, nor really interact with the Itamae. I guess what I saw at Moment Sushi is kinda the norm these days?
I decided to go with the Sashimi Lunch Special which is priced at $25.
I was happy to see that fresh wasabi is provided.
The lunch came with a sizeable salad.
Which was perfectly fine, except that the Sesame Dressing was quite salty. I came to find out that this is the "house" dressing that they actually sell. My favorite item in the salad were the kyuri-asazuke, the pickled cucumbers which held up well to the salty dressing.
The miso soup arrived next, which was perfectly fine, and scaldingly hot. It wasn't watered down, savory-beany, not overly salty.
And then the sashimi arrived.
I'm not going to go into excruciating detail here. I will say, that my favorite item was the scallop; the hotate was tender and sweet.
There was perfectly fine salmon; most of the slices were quite thin, the Spicy Tuna Roll, which I chose over the California Roll was fine as it was mostly fish, not overly sauced. The shiromi and hamachi were dry, but ok. The unagi was really dry and mealy.
And then there was this.
Was it what I thought it was? Because you can't really interact with the Itamae, I asked the young lady working and she confirmed that it was Escolar (aka "white tuna"), which as far as I know is still banned in Japan. You can Google and find out why. Anyway, it's not my favorite fish; I find it mushy and tasteless.
That really poorly cut, thin slice of maguro was also pretty bad, quite metallic in flavor, but I guess it wouldn't matter if you're using the fish in all those rolls, right?
As a whole, this was fairly mediocre and left me wondering if this is what $25 bought these days? And would it be different if I came for dinner and ordered things ala carte? Still, the environment, which is totally not what I enjoy at a sushi bar….yes, maybe I'm an old fart….but part of the joy of eating there is the interaction between the Itamae and customer…perhaps that makes a difference these days?
And perhaps folks who dine at Jun can tell me what they enjoy here? This place is in my neighborhood and I'd like to support it!
Chef Jun
4033 Avati Dr.
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours:
Tues – Fri 1130am – 9pm
Sat – Sun 4pm – 9pm
Closed on Monday
I walked up to the counter, the place had just opened, but there seemed to be a couple of folks waiting for their orders already. The young man working was really nice, though he looked a bit overwhelmed. I took a look at the menu….even though the portions looked pretty large, I went and ordered the Mix Katsu Combo ($19.99), which included both pork and chicken katsu and curry. 
The katsu had not been fried evenly and there were some darkly colored spots, the texture of the panko was kind of mealy, at least the breading wasn't separating from the proteins, but it was easy to tell which was the pork and chicken. The pork was on the left; it was thicker, had a more spongy texture, but was fairly tender, if a bit on the dry side. The seasoning was one dimensional being quite salty. The chicken on the right side was thinner, dry, and chewy. It was also quite salty. I'd take the pork any day of the week.
I'm pretty sure the curry had been made with "cubes", it had a nice spice, but was barely lukewarm….and I was eating in the food court. It was quite gloppy and was also on the salty side. Dipping the katsu in this was just too much sodium for me.
We checked in and waited until we were walked over to our seats. The restaurant has sushi bar only seating. I counted a total of 15 seats for our dinner.
As you can tell by that photo, hairy crab was going to be in the first dish, which ended up being a wonderful savory chawan mushi.
My goodness; this consisted of six slices of akami maguro! Fresh, nice texture, no off flavors, refreshing. The young lady asked me if I wanted some wasabi and grated ginger and I answered with an affirmative. This just added another layer of enjoyment. The maguro was seared nicely; the fried onions adding a nice sweet-pungent-crispness; there could have been more ponzu, but this was quite good.
I also loved that the wing tips were attached; I just love gnawing on them, even though the sticky-sweet sauce got all over my hands. The batter was on the crunchy side, almost lacquered, and it held up for the entre meal. The meat was moist, had no off colors or flavors. The sauce was a bit too sweet for my taste though, but still, well worth the price.
Egads! This was a bit too much for the both of us. The egg was slightly overcooked, which isn't too bad. But so was the rice. But the thing that really got us was how overly sour; almost puckery, and sweet this was. Also, the menu said it was filled with chicken fried rice, but other than a few tiny pieces, it seems that the bird had flown the coop?
It wasn't fried quite as well, though it was more highly seasoned this time. I swear they put some togarashi on this which I liked. One the negative side, the cut this time around was thicker, with some fairly large pieces. The thicker pieces were dry and only the thin slices made it thru the meal maintaining some crispness. I'm glad they gave me two slices of lemon as I needed them both. Not as good as what we'd had on the previous visit.
My zaru soba arrived looking pretty much the same as always. The tsukemono, mildly pickled, crunchy, which I enjoy with a touch of shoyu seemed so familiar.
As I will usually do when having zaru soba, I have a taste of the tsuyu straight up. And man, this was potent! Very strong dashi, nice soy sauce tones, quite savory. I'd only be doing a one-third "dunk" of my noodles in this! I added all the fresh wasabi and scallions, and a bit of ginger which really added a pleasurable pungency and palate cleansing layer to things.
First thing I hit was the miso soup. I was happy to note that it was flavorful and not watered down.
But that was the only downside to this lunch as the very generous portion of rice was hot and fluffy.
Not much has changed here other than the prices, so here we go!
The soft shell crab roll ($11) is a filling five piece meal. Soft shell crab, real crab and avocado are the main ingredients.
The fried calamari appetizer ($9) is always a good choice. Four pieces of sliced calamari steak breaded in panko, crisply fried and served with (always too much) spicy sauce. 
The Vegetable Delight ($13.50) seems to be a regular choice for me; I found photos from nine different visits. Consistently the same presentation.
Eight pieces of vegetable tempura (potato, carrot, zucchini and onion), salad, eight pieces of Garden Roll, edamame, cold noodle salad, rice and tempura dipping sauce. This is a very satisfying meal with so many varied flavors and textures.
The Combination Bento ($13.95) with pork teriyaki and egg roll is also a good choice.
The Stamina Udon ($13) was a nice meal on one of the (many) cold and rainy days we had early this year. The broth has a light mushroom flavor and the ingredients (chicken, krab, fishcake, shrimp, dumplings, sweet tofu, egg, broccoli) along with the springy udon make this a very filling meal. 
The Shrimp Tempura Bento ($13.50) has five shrimp tempura, lightly fried and served with a house made tartar sauce and a portion of the Seafood Salad (bottom right) which is on the appetizer menu for $5. A nice addition to this bento.
When you first walk in, before turning to the cash register, look at the wall ahead. Daily Lunch Specials from 11-2:30.
Bento Lunch ($9.75) Six pieces of California roll, one piece Inari, three pieces of fried seafood (fish, squid, shrimp), pickled vegetables and rice. This is a very pleasant lunch and good for the budget minded.
The Gyoza Lunch ($9.25) is also really nice. Six meat filled dumplings steamed or deep fried. Salad, rice and (a very good) miso soup. You might notice that miso soup is no longer included with the bento meals; it is $2.50 on the appetizer menu.
I do prefer the gyoza being steamed then quick fried 'pot sticker' style. The deep fried is a nice, crisp texture but I think overwhelms the filling.