Japanese Restaurants – Page 62

Hogetsu Bakery

June 19, 2005 mmm-yoso Bakery, Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers

I’m almost sure that 99.9% of the people in San Diego or Chula Vista have never heard of this place.

Located in another one of those non-descript strip malls strung throughout Chula Vista, Hogetsu Bakery makes excellent Manju and Mochi, and also sells Castella and other Japanese goodies.

A friendly, Family run operation, Hogetsu has been in business since 1983. So I’m still amazed that only 1 person that I’ve spoken to has ever heard of this place! Many people I know still drive to Los Angeles to get their Manju, or just buy them from Nijiya or Mitsuwa.

The prices are reasonable ranging from $.95 and up. And there are many varieties available. I purchased a small box of goodies ($9.00).

It’s amazing when you bite into a “fresh” Habutai; usually somewhat chewy, this one is softer, more delicate. It’s almost strange being used to store bought manju how different this was.

So there’s really no need to drive to Los Angeles for mochi anymore. It’s just down the street in Chula Vista.

Hogetsu Bakery
1210 3rd Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Open Tues-Sat 10am-6pm

(619) 422-6677

One quick post-script – For fellow Chowhounds, Hogetsu Bakery is located in the same mall as the infamous Kaga Zushi…..

Osaka Kitchen – like Night and Day

June 15, 2005 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

*** Osaka Kitchen has closed yet again.

*** Osaka Kitchen has reopened in the same location. A post can be found ~~here.~~

*** Osaka Kitchen has closed and has been replaced by (another) Sushi Deli location……

Ever been to a restaurant who's character is vastly divergent from day (lunch) to night (dinner?). Osaka Kitchen is one of those restaurants. Located in a very nondescript strip mall next to a Mexican Restaurant and around the corner from Denny's on Kearney Villa Rd, all you see is the sign JAPANESE FOOD, with the little yellow sign Osaka Kitchen next to it. Blink and you've driven right past it.

Having heard some nice remarks about the City-Style Japanese Food and Izakaya Type dishes at Osaka Kitchen we decided to give it a try. The first thing you notice about the restaurant is how small the dining area really is. 6 plain tables lined up along the window area and a small eating bar area with 6-7 chairs is all it is; the place looks alot larger from the outside. We arrived at 530pm on the dot and were seated and handed an 8 page menu – one side in Japanese, the other in English. The first two pages listed 51 items from Uni-Pasta(???) to Noodle Soups to Combination Plates ranging from $6.50 – $19.00. On another page is the drink menu with a decent selection of sakes such a Otokoyama and Kikusui, Shochu, Beer, Wine, and soft drinks.

The last page was the most interesting (click to enlarge) this listed the Izakaya type items. We ordered the Japanese Meatloaf with Demiglace ($9.00) and Ten Don ($7.50), both meals came with a salad and miso soup. The salad was just iceberg lettuce with some shredded carrots and cabbage, and worst of all, lying on top of the salad was a dressing that had the distinct taste of the "Miracle Whip" of Japanese food, Kewpie Mayo, not among my favorite things. The miso soup on the other hand was superb and probably among the best I've had served as a "side" with this type of meal. I usually will not consume the miso soup that's served as part of a lunch or dinner, it's usually watered down, or even worse that instant stuff – yuck! In many instances the miso soup will have "stuff" added, most of it to hide the terrible quality. But this miso soup was great, not too thick (believe it or not I once had miso soup so thick it was like a bisque), not watered down, with nice oceany overtones. Very simply served with a few tiny pieces of tofu and kelp, delici-yoso! The Ten-Don arrived first, again, very plain, no garnishes, just 3 pieces of shrimp over rice covered with tempura sauce. The shrimp was totally saturated, but that's the way the Missus likes it! (She even requested extra sauce). Though the batter basically fell of the shrimp, it was perfectly cooked! Soft and tender, not rubbery and overcooked as is often the case. The tempura sauce was too mild and not sweet enough for our tastes.

The "Meatloaf" arrived on a plate along with a bowl of rice, smashed potato salad, and it had garnishes! Two pieces of red & green bell pepper and a piece of steamed broccoli. The salad was flat, lacking any real flavor. The Meatloaf was actually more of a hamburger steak lying in demiglace. The Meatloaf was cooked perfectly and had a nice taste along when mixed with the demi. This was nice and tasty, but not worth $9.00 in my mind. Still, this was interesting and worth another try. The clientele were mostly Japanese speaking and the restaurant was starting to fill up as we left.

Today I went for lunch, and thought I'd entered a different restaurant! First of all the menu was about 1 sheet of paper with 30 or so items, most of them teriyaki chicken, teriyaki beef, and "bowls". The clientele was totally different, most of the customers looked like they worked nearby! Looks like this little restaurant has found it's niche for lunch as well as dinner with quick bowls and teriyaki combination plates for lunch. I ordered the Chicken Katsu Curry ($6.25) and a side order of the miso soup ($.85). The Curry came with the green salad (mayo-time!) which I didn't really touch and a drink, and I chose the really good tea that they make here! The curry was simply (get the common thread) served over Chicken Katsu, with a good amount of rice! At least twice the amount of rice I had with the Meatloaf for dinner, enough to make an Ex-Pat Kama'aina happy! The Katsu was cooked and seasoned perfectly, with a nice texture, the curry was alot darker than I'm used to, even for Japanese Curry, and a little too sweet for my tastes, though I liked the "heat", there were only a few pieces of meat in the curry and nothing else – again simplicity! Happily the miso soup was every bit as good as the one I had for dinner!

I'll probably be back again, especially if I find someone brave enough to try Miso Tongue with me! Osaka Kitchen serves well prepared and cooked food, served without embellishment. Though the portions (for dinner at least) are rather small for the prices charged, and some of the flavors were not to my taste, I think this place is worth a try.

Osaka Kitchen
5447 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 467-0722

Road Trip – Sushi Komasa and Little Tokyo

May 27, 2005 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Sushi and Sashimi

*** An updated post on Komasa from 05/30/2006, can be found here.

Having the day off, we decided on a road trip to Little Tokyo, and our favorite little Japanese Restaurant/Sushi Bar there Sushi Komasa. We attempted to time our arrival to opening time for Komasa which is 530pm, at ended up in the Japanese Village Plaza Parking lot at about 520.

Sushi Komasa is a little operation with about 5 tables and a bar and serves only dinner. Though it’s not the most well known of establishments, it’s our favorite for good reasonably priced sushi and was a regular stop for us when we lived in LA.

We were happy to see the familiar Komasa lantern next to the door, but surprised to see 5 couples already waiting ahead of us. It seems that the word is out and Komasa is getting busier. We were able to snag the last corner table, ordered our tea (no sake for us, we had a 115 mile trip back to San Diego), and quickly marked our order off of the sushi order form; 5 orders Albacore, 2 orders Maguro, 3 orders Hamachi, 2 orders Hirame, 2 orders Tai, 1 Negi-Hama, 1 soft-shell crab roll, oh yeah, and one order ankimo.

This was met with the usual “Are you sure you want all this, this is alot of sushi?”, to which we gave the “Oh, yes, we’re REALLY hungry, the sushi here is so good” response. Plus we’ve driven over a hundred miles to be here, so we’re getting our money’s worth!

The Ankimo(steamed monkfish liver) was the first to arrive, smooth and silken, served with thinly sliced cucumber and green onions, in Komasa’s sour, yet tangy ponzu, this is always wonderful. I’ve been told that good Ankimo tastes like fresh crab eggs. I don’t know, but the Ankimo at Komasa is consistently good.

Next to arrive was half of our sushi order:

No need for explanation. The Albacore was topped with grated ginger and finely sliced green onion, tonight the Maguro was not as good as previous visits, but the Hamachi was heavenly, buttery, melt in your mouth delicious!

The second half of our order arrived just as we were finishing up the first – you’ll notice a few pieces missing, I’m new at this “photographing my food thing” and actually started eating the Tai (snapper) and Hirame (flounder) before realizing I hadn’t taken a picture of this dish! Oh well, needless to say, “delici-yoso”……

Our bill came out to a reasonable (for the amount of sushi we ate) $63. Komasa also makes an excellent Chirashi and good Tempura. Most Nigiri are about $3.80. Good solid old fashioned sushi!

Sushi Komasa is open from 530pm Tuesdays thru Sundays – closed on Mondays.

Sushi Komasa
352 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA
213-680-1792

We usually “hit” Fu-getsu-do before Komasa, and buy some mochi and other goodies to have for dessert. This Japanese confectionery shop was founded in 1903 and is still run by the same family today. It’s located on a portion of first street declared a National Historic Landmark.

But today we stayed around the Japanese Village Plaza and ended up having some Gelato from Mikawaya, another sweet shop located in the plaza. Cool and refreshing, a nice after dinner dessert.

We then walked down Second Street, crossed San Pedro and onto Ellison Onizuka Street and Weller Court.

I did some quick shopping a Marukai – bought some Okuhara Kamabuko, and other snacks. Also of note, a membership card is not needed at this location.

Some notes on Little Tokyo, there are 3 markets located in Little Tokyo, Enbun in Little Tokyo Plaza, Marukai in Weller Court, and Mitsuwa (used to be Yaohan) which has it’s own Shopping Mall on Third Street. Restaurants and shops abound. Little Tokyo is a quaint, safe, and fun little community that is anchored by the Japanese American National Museum, and is one of the places in Downtown Los Angeles that feels safe walking at night. Every year the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center hosts the LA Tofu Festival which is a fun time. This year it’s scheduled for August 13th and 14th. Though slowed by shifts in population and economy, we were amazed to see a frenzy of building currently going on in the Little Tokyo area, which hopefully ensures a prosperous future for the area.