Way back when I revisited Zen Curry under its new iteration, Curry Club I had noticed a "Curry Moco" on the menu. I was tempted to order it; but I just really wanted to compare dishes I'd had when the place was Zen Curry, to the new, revised menu. I did make a note to return to try out the Curry Moco. On a recent weekday, the time seemed right to try a Curry Moco, so I headed on over.
Well, call it a senior moment, it was on a Wednesday and the Curry Club only opens from 5pm – 9pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, duh…..
So, what to do? Well, I thought about Katsu Cafe since it had been a while since my last visit. But, as I walked on over, I passed….
Yuk Dae Jang:
And took a look at the menu.
Well, since it was just me, I wasn't going to be ordering the Bossam nor the YukDae Jang with shredded beef. But, with the cold weather, I thought the Yuk Dae Jang with Soft Tofu ($17.99) might be just the thing. I went in and placed my order and then went across the street and did some quick shopping at 99 Ranch Market. When I returned my takeout order was ready.
It was quite a bit of food.
This was a bit different than what we'd had before. The baechu kimchi didn't taster fermented this time around; though the Eomuk Bokkeum, the fishcake panchan had a bit of spice and sour tones and was much better. The heukmi bap was on the mushy side.
The YukDaeJang…..in this case basically Soondubu was pretty one dimensional in flavor; good spice, but in need of salt and more savory components. It also had a greasy mouthfeel. This of course ensured that it was hot as heck the entire meal.
The soft tofu was quite nice, beany and creamy.
I think I'll wait on ordering takeout again. The next time, I'll get the Missus to join me and we can get the bossam which I think they do rather well.
Yuk Dae Jang
7307 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Wed – Mon 11am – 9pm
Closed on Tuesday
Well, I was now more determined than ever to try that Curry Moco. So, that Saturday, having completed all my errands and "JJ duties" I headed on over to the Curry Club, which now has a nice new sign.
The Curry Club:
I walked on in and placed my order choosing the Cayenne Pepper Spice, which I had enjoyed the most on my previous visit.
Here's what the Curry Moco ($16.50) looked like when I unpacked it.
The cayenne did bring some decent heat to the dish, but I also did the "typical" loco moco move…..I added a touch of Tabasco; the acidity-spice bumped things up even more. Old "loco" habits die hard I guess?
The egg yolk was starting to congeal, but was still slightly runny. I'll attribute this to the 15 minute drive home. The edges were slightly crisp.
The hamburger patty was quite lean and chewy, but the beefiness did come thru and completed the dish well.
The curry was creamy, with the typical savory-sweet flavor profile, with just a hint of spice.
There was a ton of rice in this. I think the dish could have used a bit more curry.
I did enjoy this and would gladly have it again. I'm wondering why no one else has done this? Or perhaps I just wasn't paying attention to menus? Makes me wonder what else I've been missing??
The Curry Club
7309 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Tues – Wed 5pm – 9pm
Thurs – Sun 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm
Closed on Monday
The wings weren't overly sticky as before, though it was still more sweet, than savory and I really couldn't make out any garlic. The wings were again much more moist and tender than the drumettes which were on the tough and dry side. 
Now, I believe that you're going to think I'm strange, but for us, the meat was the weakest part of the meal. The beef belly was tough as was the short rib; the pork belly did well, but again wasn't anything special; the rib eye was supposedly prime, and was adequately tender, but nothing special. At a point in time, I took over the cooking duties as the wonderful young folks, whom I'm sure were doing their best and working on their experience with other customers…can you imagine; they were doing the cooking on all the tables! Well, things were turning out overcooked.
I'm glad I ordered my dish in this fashion as it was a heck of a lot of JaJang! While it still has a bit of that greasy mouthfeel, this wasn't overly sweet, had some decent umami tones, and some interesting pungency. It was definitely better than what I had experienced at Hong Kong BanJum in the Zion Food Court.
Ok, the beef in the meat jun was nicely marinated, if a bit on the chewier side; sweet-salty-hint of garlic, very bulgogi-ish, the batter was a bit thicker and gritty than I prefer and it had been over-fried a bit. But, the Missus enjoyed the mild eggy-ness and the combination of flavors. She liked the meat jun dipping sauce which also had a hint of vinegar, some spice, balanced sweetness.
Wasn't sure what to expect with the hash browns….there were three to an order, more than I could consume. This was typical Sysco quality, fast-foodish hash browns dusted with a truffle-Parmesan powder. It had a sweet tinge to it, I later found out that it is also dusted with black garlic. Not sure what hash browns are going for these days at your local fast-food joint, but I'm guessing that it's pretty reasonable for $4.50. Not that I would order it again though.
Just having the mix of cheddar-mozzarella which made things nice and gooey and the under-seasoned egg was not enough to overcome the brioche toast. There was a lack of savory flavors to me. I'm sure that some folks might really take to this, but it was just not my kind of thing.
This was a pretty messy sandwich. The bacon, which almost reminded me of "Canadian Bacon" hadn't been crisped up enough and was quite rubbery. Still, the savory-saltiness…it didn't seem smoky to me, really added balance to the sandwich.
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.
These were those jumbo sized wings; the batter was really thick and more hard-crunchy than crispy. The seasoning was a good amount of salt and black pepper. The wings were moist, especially the flats, and looked to be of good quality. As whole, just way too much batter for me, but decent wings. It threw the entire proportion off and I really needed that cabbage with dressing and the mul kimchi, which hovered on the sweeter side of things to reset my palate.
The batter for this seemed a bit different; it was thinner, more lacquered, but still on the crunchy end of the spectrum. The menu says "aromatic and slightly spicy", I'd go with barely spicy and teeth rattling sweet and sticky. The wings were, as before moist and tender, but this was too much for me. I ended up needing the cabbage a mul kimchi to recover! Also, I had to request extra napkins, because of that sticky sauce. Perhaps they'll stock some wipes in the future?
