Sushi and Sashimi – Page 6

Vancouver – Dinner at Miku Restaurant

August 14, 2016 mmm-yoso Beer, Canada, Canada Food and Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Seafood, Sushi and Sashimi, Travel, Vancouver, Canada

We took a short nap after our poutine lunch. It was pretty warm in Vancouver and the sun didn't set until 9pm, so having dinner fairly late (for us) sounded like a great idea. Upon waking and freshening up, we decided to take the long way to dinner. So we headed Southeast on Robson, then down Richards, and back onto Georgia, where we came across this impressive structure.

This is the Vancouver Public Library. I loved the distinctive design. From here we took a left down Cambie Street, the neighborhood started looking a bit more gritty, though still much cleaner than Seattle.

This is the Cenotaph in Victory Square.

The main reason for walking down Cambie Street was to view the Gastown Steam Clock. I pointed to it as we headed down the street. At first the Missus said, "that's so puny, what's the big deal?" Until we walked up to it and She saw puffs of steam coming out of the top of the clock.

For some reason She was smitten as were a good number of tourists. This being "Gastown", the steam clock might seem to be a remnant of some bygone era. This was actually built in 1977. Gastown much like Pioneer Square in Seattle is the oldest neighborhood in the city. It has all of the kinds of things that these type of neighborhoods have; tourist shops, boutiques, bars, restaurants, and a good number of homeless. Still, the Missus really enjoyed the character of this neighborhood and we'd return to visit Kit and Ace and Lululemon….and even walk down Alexander to the Alibi Room. But that's for another day.

We walked to the waterfront, the views were quite nice, the air clean and crisp. Looking away from the water, here's a photo of Harbour Centre.

I had made reservations for dinner at Miku and we were trying to find the entrance. There was quite a bit of construction going on and the signs pointing to Miku lead to a locked door. A nice young man saw us and asked, "are you looking for Miku?" How the heck did he know? Anyway, he provided some directions and we found ourselves at the quite busy Miku Restaurant.

I gave my name to the hostess at the stand, who looked, frowned, and asked us to wait a second. A few minutes later, a very nice young man came up to us, and introduced himself as Kevin. I believe he was managing the front of house. He was so pleasant, shook our hands, then told us that they'd missed something on our reservations. I'd requested their kaiseki dinner when making reservations and immediately had reservations about doing so. Kevin explained that they would do the best they could to put together something for us, but I told him not to worry, we'd be perfectly happy ordering from the menu. He smiled and said, "great……I'll make sure that you both get one of the best tables we have!"

I saw this fellow waiting for his mom or dad outside Miku while we waited for our table to be prepped.

Poor guy. Folks kept taking photos or trying to comfort him, but he wanted nothing except his owners. He was adorable.

We loved the view from our table.

In case you're wondering if Miku was one of these touristy, overly fusion, pan-Asian, type restaurants…..you might be partially right. You see Miku is owned by the Tora Corporation headquartered in Miyazaki, Japan. I believe they own a number of Kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi) and Aburi/Oshizushi type restaurants in the Miyazaki area. I was quite intrigued by a aplce specializing in aburizushi. I've had a nigiri or two of aburi sushi at a number of places, including Urasawa, though in most American style sushi joints it's kind of a gimmick.

Anyway, we were on vacation…in Vancouver….it was time to relax and have a cocktail….or two.

There were a few interesting custom cocktails along with some standards like a Moscow Mule and Pisco Sours…which I ordered. The Missus looked at me and told me to "not be so boring…." So I relented.

The Missus ordered the Genmai's Tea, which included green tea infused vodka and cucumber. It was fine, but nothing special. I ordered the Shiso Mojito which we both love….shiso was a natural for a mojito, as this tasted so clean…..it also seemed fairly low in alcohol as well. Delish!

We started with the Aburi Beef Carpaccio, which was everything we expected and more.

The torched beef was very beefy in flavor and the texture was fantastic. The sousvide egg added a wonderful creaminess and the yolk tasted delicious. Nice, not too sour ponzu, with a mild kick. The Missus felt that the baby greens was a bit of overkill, detracting from the overall flavors of the dish; though the Asian Pear added a nice mild sweetness and crunch, like in a good Yukhoe.

The Missus had never had Tori Nanban, which I thought was kind of strange….but thinking back, I usually order the stuff for lunch. So I decided to get that.

I was surprised at how much She enjoyed the rice vinegar tones and mild sweetness in this, though She could easily leave the tartar sauce out. The chicken was light and crisp outside, very tender and moist. I was told that they get their poultry from Fraser Valley Chicken in BC. Very nice.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Oshizushi on the menu at Miku. As I've mentioned before, oshizushi is a bit of a specialty. There are three aburi versions here at Miku; Salmon, Ebi, and Saba. Now for me, Battera is the classic pressed sushi. The Missus isn't the biggest fan of saba as in most places it's oily and fishy….though for some strange reason She loves sardines and some anchovy. I convinced the Missus to try the saba version and am glad we did.

The prepared rice was pressed well, though it was rather mild in vinegar tones. The saba, which had cured inhouse and torched was really good, not too fishy, but with a nice cured-cheesy flavor to it. The torching provided a touch of pleasant smokiness. The miso sauce was nice, slightly sweet, savory, but not too salty.

By this time, I needed a drink. Kelsey, who was our Server was fantastic, efficient, pleasant, friendly, but not overly so, suggested something by a local brewery; Strange Fellows. The ale was very nice….the Missus actually loved this and we'd be getting their brews every chance we had.

We finished our meal with a foursome of aburi nigiri. Clockwise from the top left; Hotate (scallop), Wagyu, Toro, and Hirame.

All of the seafood was fantastic and the beef decadent. The one problem for us and since this is nigiri it was a major issue was the rice which was really mushy and formed with too much pressure……I'm figuring most folks wouldn't notice; but any nigiri lover would immediately pick that up. The hotate was tender and sweet, with the torching adding a wonderful touch of flavor. The hirame was very fresh, but the toro was just fantastic as it melted in your mouth as did the wagyu beef which was out of this world.

Night had settled in as we finished up our meal. We marveled at how the service and pacing here at Miku was just perfect for us. They struck the perfect balance in terms of service, friendliness, and made us feel very comfortable. Kelsey was quite knowledgeable and his recommendations, after asking us a few questions, were spot on.

And while Miku looks like one of those stylish-hip places, the food delivered, and the atmosphere was totally not stuffy.

There are times when you just have a great experience….where a place just seems like a perfect fit for you. Miku did that for us. In terms of price; our meal, including drinks came out to something like $115 US……which I thought was a bargain. I've spent more at Sushi Yaro for dinner! I'm sure we'll be back to Vancouver. And we will definitely be back to Miku.

Miku
200 Granville Street Suite 70
Vancouver, BC V6C 1S4, Canada

Clearing Out the Memory Card: 777 Noodle House, Santouka, and Sushi Yaro

June 23, 2016 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Sushi and Sashimi, Vietnamese Restaurants

After all the heat over the last couple of days, it was to have moderate June weather. I figure most of you are enjoying that; so just a short post on places I've done a ton of times:

777 Noodle House:

Maybe just because I get a kick out of the way they always call me "sir".

Though that Hu Tieu Nam Vang Kho ain't bad for $5.77.

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Santouka:

I've learned that when the Missus hears Santouka calling, She must answer……regardless of the weather.

Definitely not as good as Santouka in Asahikawa. Still, the shio toroniku is our favorite in San Diego.

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

Sushi Yaro:

**** Sushi Yaro has closed

I dropped by on an evening where the temps were getting close to triple digits.

While not as good as what I recently had with Ed from Yuma; this was good enough. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'll often drop by when I need a "sashimi break"…..as I did on this visit.

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Clearing Out the Memory Card – Revisits to Village Kitchen, Thai Papaya, and Sushi Yaro

June 7, 2016 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, Thai Restaurants

Man, it's been quite busy since we've returned from our (all too short) trip. I've had to work everyday, so I'm starting to feel it. So here's another one of those COMC posts of places you already know.

Village Kitchen:

The Missus requested Village Kitchen a few nights before leaving for Lima.

We tried a couple of the newer dishes like the "Green Vegetable Cooked the Old Way", which, in spite of the preserved vegetables was very bland, and the Intestines with Chilies and Bamboo Flavor, which tasted really good, but I'd have preferred the intestines being a bit more crisp.

The best dish was our old favorite the Eggplant and Green Chili with Preserved Egg .

There's an interesting story about the folks here…..one day I might get around to sharing it.

Village Kitchen
4720 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Thai Papaya:

**** Thai Papaya has closed

Another favorite of the Missus, as long as they keep serving up the Som Tom Khai Kem; the papaya salad with Salted Egg, which the Missus pounced on so quickly, I never got the chance for a shot.

And the Spicy Thousand Year Old Eggs.

Another favorite of hers.

They actually had Roast Duck Larb on this visit.

Thai Papaya by Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

Sushi Yaro:

**** Sushi Yaro has closed

DW has been doing some great consulting work for us…..but she's from Missouri and had never had raw fish ever in her life. She does enjoy a bit of spice in her food and in spite of being terrified of some of the stuff I eat, is quite game….she had her first ramen that didn't come from a package a few weeks back, crawfish, raw oysters….but she was still terrified of raw fish. So I figured, since she loves rice, why not have same make her a Hwe Dup Bop. Knowing she was really nervous, he put the Makisu up around the prep area so she couldn't see anything, just to make her a bit more apprehensive…….you gotta love Sam!

Anyway, she really enjoyed her meal….though the look on her face when I had to explain what various things were….like masago; oh, and that cube thing was tofu. And that nice crunchy green vegetable was seaweed.

Aaah the things we take for granted. It's always nice to introduce folks to new experiences.

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

3 San Diego Meals – Kokoro, Halmouny, Sufi, and More

May 3, 2016 ed fromyuma Japanese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Persian Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Kirk and Cathy are traveling, eating, doing important stuff, or maybe just resting today. So Ed (from Yuma) is posting about 3 meals (from San Diego).

Kokoro

I had to have some sushi. Just had to. Tina had memories of a good chirashi at Kokoro and its website said it would be open at lunchtime on Friday. And it was:

In addition to tables, Kokoro has an L shaped sushi bar that surrounds an elevated workstation and ingredient storage area, which I think helps executive chef Akio Ishito work more comfortably:

Although I don't remember it from before, the chirashi meal started off with a little lettuce and tomato salad:

The lettuces were very fresh, the tomato very ordinary, and the dressing seem to be based around rice wine vinegar, miso, and soy. Refreshing. Palate cleansing.

For soup, we were given the alternatives of miso or udon. So udon it was:

The noodles were perfectly cooked, toothsome and tender, but the soup overall was bland.

The chirashi looked beautiful:

Underneath the fish and friends, the sushi rice was faultless. The toppings presented a nice selection of sushi bar favorites, all good quality and offered good value at $19. We both liked the sizable slice of mackerel and the halibut (hirami), which was especially firm and fresh – in fact, much like the halibut crudo we would eat the next evening at the Wine Vault. We also liked the uni and shiso leaf pairing, and the surprisingly first-rate ebi, unusually meaty and flavorful. The hamachi also stood out. There were no bad tastes, though the slices of octopus and squid were exceeding thin. Overall, we enjoyed.

Halmouny

It had been a long time since Tina and I had been to any Korean restaurant. We weren’t looking for a smoke filled room or for cooking our own food, so we decided on Halmouny, where we’d always enjoyed our visits in the past:

We noticed they'd remodeled the interior, and we liked the changes – the place seemed cleaner, more modern, and more open:

A flagon of chilled water was brought to the table along with my beer:

A mysterious box on the table, when opened, contained stainless steel soup spoons and chopsticks – nice touch:

A funny thing happened. Tina and I started looking over the large menu, discussing things, and trying to figure out what we wanted. There were so many choices, and almost every one of them seemed inviting. Twice the friendly server came over and asked if we were ready, and we had to say no because we weren't. Then, when she came over the third time, we ordered two of the most standard dishes on the menu.

Soft tofu soup with vegetables:

And dolsit bibimbop:

I'm sure our server must have been laughing with her coworkers about the clueless gaijin taking so long to order such a simple basic meal.

But it was good. While the soup lacked a certain depth of flavor, it was certainly tasty, and the interplay between creamy tofu, spicy broth, and veggies and ‘shrooms was pleasant. The bibimbop was great comfort food. The simple meal was really what we wanted.

Though the ban chan was totally standard and uninspired, we enjoyed them. Here’s some items:

The dried radish was our favorite of those four. There was some baby bok choy and some other veggie that I can't remember, but our favorites were the regular kimchi:

and the wonderful dried tofu

For us, this dinner was, paradoxically, exotic comfort food.

Sufi

For lunch on Saturday, we were looking Eastern Mediterranean, but La Miche Kabobgee is closed for lunch on Saturdays. We remembered seeing a large restaurant, Sufi, on Balboa not too far from Convoy that promised Mediterranean food. So that's where we went:

It is large, and at lunch, it serves a popular buffet:

Photographing the entire buffet was pretty much impossible as other customers were coming and going. Plus I was getting hungry, so this fuzzy shot shows just a small part of the available choices:

Tina's first plate looked like this:

She really liked the chicken and the fire roasted veggies (the big zucchini slice and the charred tomato half). She also enjoyed the garden salad with the feta dressing, and we both liked the Shirazi salad with chopped onion, cucumber, tomato, and parsley.

Here's my first plate:

For some reason, I chose three slices of sausages, which were okay, but not really unique or outstanding. The baba ghannouj was decent, and the hummus was creamy, but far from the best I've had in San Diego. The chicken wing was OK, the pickled beet excellent, and the beef kebab just okay. Tina and I both enjoyed the stewed zucchini.

At first, the breads were not ready, but soon we were able to get pita bread and Persian naan:

For me, the breads said a lot about Sufi. The pita bread was pitiful – cool, store-bought, and boring. The Persian bread, on the other hand, was warm, tasty, and probably homemade. But in some ways that is the essence of the restaurant. While it calls itself "Mediterranean," Sufi is really a Persian restaurant that serves some generic Lebanese food to broaden its customer base.

In fact, most of our favorites from the lunch were Persian, like this interesting pomegranate soup, a lentil soup with a distinct sour tang:

And the stews on my second plate:

I believe the one on the left is called fesenjoom, a chicken and pomegranate stew. On the right is ghormeh sabzi with a big chunk of tender beef covered in greens along with large dark red beans. The closest item is, I think, gheimeh, beef and yellow split peas. I have no idea about the green bean stew furthest away. In any case, these Persian stews were the most interesting items on the buffet, and I wished that I had focused on them right from the beginning.

Nonetheless, the buffet was interesting and we certainly got to eat all kinds of things we can't get out in the desert.

Balboa Bakery

This little place is the "and more" in the title of the post. It's located right next to Sufi and looked promising, so Tina insisted we visit:

There was a bewildering array of Persian pastries:

So our late-night snack that evening consisted of these walnut or pistachio treats:
We were expecting something like baklava, but these were different. The pastry was not fila and they were a little more savory and less sweet than baklava. Four years ago Cathy visited the same bakery and hinted that a post might be forthcoming. Hint hint.

Anyway, we enjoyed all three of these meals. None was spectacular, but each scratched an itch, and that's a good thing: too long in Yuma and I get awfully itchy.

COMC, the two “T” edition: Tadokoro and Taisho

December 15, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

It's time to Clear Out the Memory Card (COMC). It's been a few months since I did one of these. It's also a nice coincidence that two of my favorite places here in San Diego are Tadokoro and Taisho. If you check the Big List you'd see how many posts I've done on these places. So, here we're doing mainly photos.

Sushi Tadokoro:

It had been a while. It was nice chatting with Take-san.

For some reason the lighting gave me fits – that's Tai.

Kisu – which I believe is Whiting

My favorite Ankimo.

Sushi Tadokoro
2244 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110

Yakitori Taisho:

During one of our weekly "fixes" at Taisho.

Yakitori Taisho
5185 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

Nigiri Break at Sushi Yaro

September 26, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

**** Sushi Yaro has closed

Man, it has been a tough week. I decided to give my self a break and headed over to Sushi Yaro. It had been a while. I arrived right at opening, so as not to tax Sam and the staff too much.

I simply told Sam, "can I just get 8 pieces of nigiri……you choose". This turned out to be quite a meal. It seems like Sam's recent trip to Japan has energized him a bit and he's trying a few new things.

Anyway, here are the photos…..

That Sunazuri Hamachi was really good.

At the end of the meal I saw Sam laughing to himself……he then passed this to me. Sheesh…what the heck… It was like a half piece of unagi. I put my chopsticks next to for scale.

Apparently one of Sam's sushi stops in Tokyo made something like this…….

Needless to say; this was a very nice meal and it really hit the spot. Sam needs to take trips more often I think!

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Post #2999: Some Sashimi and the “Big List”

August 29, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, yoso-silly

It was nice of some of you to notice that out 10th year "blogga-versary" came and went back in May. I guess we'd celebrate….but it seems that we're never home and I kinda stopped all that stuff a few years back. I did notice however that we were coming up to post #3000 soon. Considering that I started this little blog with no objective in mind….it was the suggestion of Reid from Ono Kine Grindz (we miss you man). His blog really hit home for an expat Kama'aina….the things I missed, the food mainly. So I just started typing…and we haven't stopped since.

With that milestone in sight, I decided to finish something I started back at the end of 2012….yes, 2012. I call it the "Big List". It's a listing of all the restaurants (I might have missed a few) that we've done posts on going back to the beginning. I completed it a few weeks ago. It's an interesting list and you can find it under pages on our sidebar. I've also included photos that were sitting around in folders that for some reason I forgot to delete, or have posted only to my Flickr account. For me, it's the listing of places that have closed (at the bottom) that brings back a nostalgic feeling….. Thanks to the folks who have already noticed it and commented. Please check it out and let me know what you think. I'll try to create pages for our travels as well.

I can't go further without thanking Cathy and Ed from Yuma. Without their help, this blog would not exist. It is as much their blog as mine. Much has changed over the years; social media and instant delivery (and gratification) has taken over….we just keep chugging along. Just think, we started in 2005; the first iPhone was released in 2007, Twitter was launched in 2006, remember MySpace?

Anyway, I decided to celebrate and went to Sushi Yaro and had some sashimi.

This is after all, still a food blog.

I'm not sure if anyone has been with us since the beginning, but a really warm mahalo to you if you've been here all these years.

And just to go off on one of my usual digressions, Sammy and Frankie have been along for the ride the entire way. And this gets me thinking about when they first became part of the family.

As always….thanks so much for visiting, reading, and commenting….all these years!

COMC: Sushi Tadokoro

August 21, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

It's been a while since I've posted on Sushi Tadokoro. If anything, what I've been eating here is better than ever. Anyway, I thought a minimum of verbiage would work here….a nice C(learing) O(ut) the M(emory) C(ard) post for a beautiful Friday. After all, at Sushi Tadokoro, I believe photos are enough….though I'll have some interesting stories in a future post.

Tai

Kanpachi

Madai

Amazing Ankimo……

Hotate

Mirugai

Amaebi

Had the atama (head) later in miso soup….sorry…I was just having a great time and forgot to take a photo of that.

Toro

Aji

Tsubugai

San Diego Uni

Mebachi zuke

Ikura

I could go into minute detail about all of this….but I think the photos speak for themselves. Yet another wonderful meal at Tadokoro.

Sushi Tadokoro
2244 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110

Yonaka – Modern Japanese in Vegas

August 2, 2015 ed fromyuma Japanese Restaurants, Las Vegas, Nevada, Sushi and Sashimi, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas; today, however, Ed (from Yuma) will tell about a dinner that happened there anyway. Tomorrow, Kirk or Cathy will be sharing food with you.

In a previous life, when I lived in Monterey, California, Corey and I worked in the same shop. He now lives in Las Vegas, so when Tina and I were in town, we all had to get together. I remembered that sushi was one of Corey's favorite foods, so it seemed appropriate to meet up at Yonaka, a modern Japanese restaurant:
Not wanting to spend a lot of time going over the menu, we ordered an omakase – our server recommended the 11 course chef’s special tasting menu which he said would include a range of dishes and be enough to satisfy three hungry appetites. Corey had beer, Tina wine, and me sake.

The first course to arrive was Scottish salmon: The chunks of fish were accompanied by pieces of Asian pear and baby heirloom tomatoes, all topped with a sesame/ginger dressing. While this picture isn't much good, we all agreed that this was a pretty good beginning course. The pear and tomato balanced the salmon well.

Then a large bowl of charred brussels sprouts arrived, smoky, chewy, crispy and crunchy, with a light chili lemon touch: This was a tasty vegetable dish that we continued to munch on between other courses until the bowl was empty.

The next item was some decent hamachi with unusual accompaniment: Between each slice of hamachi, there was a slice of Gala apple, all covered by a Granny Smith apple relish and accompanied by a deep-fried latticework composed of dried apples. Hamachi with apples done three ways? Again there was a light dressing accompaniment. While each item was okay, my palate did not find hamachi/apple interplay especially interesting. Your palate might well be different.

A generous plate of tuna belly accompanied by walnuts and cranberry jelly arrived next: This was an attractive dish, the fish slices topped with micro greens and seaweed strips. The tuna belly itself was good, but not outstanding.

On the other hand, the sashimi plate was excellent: The maguro had an almost suspicious deep red color, but it was flavorful with a good texture. The flying fish sashimi was firm, a bit chewy, and mild. For me, the highlight was the golden thread sea bream – rich and fresh tasting, leading to a long creamy finish.

Also quite tasty was the moist cooked salmon accompanied by baby bok choy and sliced peppers, all bathed in a spicy coconut cream. Yep, this worked: The sea bream bones, deep-fried, showed up next, but they were a little too sturdy and thick for me, not nearly as pleasantly crunchy as a Spanish mackerel skeleton: Maine lobster and braised fennel in a spicy sauce: The idea of this dish was excellent; we liked the interplay of the fennel, sauce, and lobster. The lobster itself, however, was a little overcooked. Still it was okay.

Tender and flavorful wagyu beef, cooked rare, accented by a fruit salsa: We also enjoyed the roasted carrots that seemed to be standing guard over the plate.

The apogee of the meal had to be this: Perfectly prepared pork belly. Incredibly rich, fork tender, slightly sweet, and pleasantly porky. Yum. I salivate just thinking about it. That's apple kimchi in the background.

The final savory course was fried rice with broiled hamachi, uni, ikura, and baby bok choy: While I enjoyed the seafoods and vegetable, the rice seemed pretty ho-hum – something to fill up anyone still hungry at this point, and that was not me. Of course, the pork belly was a tough (tender?) act to follow.

The desert, on the other hand, was surprisingly good: Mango two ways – gelato on the left and panna cotta on the right. I believe the panna cotta was covered in a vanilla sauce, but the best touch was the panna cotta itself, stuffed with a mango center, so when you cut into it and opened it up, the yellow filling flowed out like an over easy egg yolk. Sadly, I was so amazed that I forgot to take a picture of it. Nonetheless, we all thought the desert was a nice finish.

It was great seeing Corey again, and all three of us enjoyed the meal. The extensive use of fruits throughout made our experience unique, and we all left full and happy.

Yonaka Modern Japanese, 4983 W Flamingo Rd, Suite A, Las Vegas, NV 89103, 702-685-8358

Sashimi Break – Sushi Yaro

March 21, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

**** Sushi Yaro has closed

Isn't it nice to be able to walk into a place and say, "I'm hungry, can I just get some sashimi?" And get something like this?

I'm not expecting anything mind-blowing, no Michelin star experience. It's been a long week and I want some decent fish, a good meal, to leave satisfied. I get all of the above.

I've known Sam for over a decade now. And he knows me….such is the relationship of the Itamae and his regulars. That is why the term "Sushi bar" seems so appropriate. Like your favorite watering hole, be it here or wherever……it's such a great feeling to walk in after a hard day and have your drink waiting on the counter when you arrive. As a regular customer, I feel that I have some responsibility as well. I'll often request to be served last, new customers are the lifeblood of a small business, I try to tip well, and I never take freebees.. At Tadokoro, I make reservations for the earliest possible time. I know Take-san will do his best and when you're slammed, regardless of your profession, you can't do that. It's about being a good regular customer as well……

The reason I'm writing this is because I've seen various posts on sites such as Chowhound that flaunt this idea of self-entitlement, and have even seen in person cases where folks will say; "I'm a Elite (the four lettered review website) member and I want xxxx". It disturbs me. So I needed a sashimi break……though really….it's not all about just me.

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111