I can understand, if upon reading the title of this post you do the "head slap"…….and sigh….Izakaya Sakura again you may ask. And yes, I do understand….I just counted and this is our forty-first post on Izakaya Sakura or "Izzy" as a good "FOY' calls it. There are many great memories I have of the place, dating from my first post back in July 2005 on a wonderful meal with the late Ed from Yuma. And over the course of the last 15 years or so, there have been ups and downs. And many of my favorite dishes are no longer on the menu.
Yes, much has changed at Sakura over the years. And I've sometimes gotten folks emailing or telling me about the impending demise of Sakura. From back when they first started serving California Rolls….the place used to have posted notes around the dining area stating "we do not serve California rolls". To when the business finally put up a sign…yes, the restaurant never had a sign for over a decade! Which one "FOY" equated that to the "Tearing Down of the Berlin Wall"….such drama. And in recent years the place has tried to keep up with some fads…though it's always a couple of years late, by adding stuffs like ramen to the menu. I've jokingly said "in 2028 they're going to add KFC to the menu"!
All the changes and the sometimes surly service and to be perfectly honest, the increased variety of what was offered in San Diego had decreased my visits over the last couple of years. Still, I make it a point to drop by Sakura every once in a while. And on a recent day, with temperatures hitting the high 70's…..I'm thinking the change in temps from the high 40's to the 70's in a couple of days intensified the perception of "warm", I decided to head on back to Sakura for lunch.
I walked in a few minutes after 11. There were several tables already filled with folks. Back in the day, Sakura would be full of salarymen. The great shift over the years was magnified by the conversations I overheard. No Japanese, several tables speaking Mandarin; the guys behind the sushi bar conversed to each other in Spanish. In some ways this is great as it emphasizes the diversity of San Diego.
I've noted that one of my warm weather favorites, the Gyokai Natto Don is no longer on the lunch menu….perhaps not to scare off those afraid of the "fragrance and neba-neba"? A chirashi would have been good, but heck, I just couldn't justify parting with $34 on this day.
So, I decided on my usual warm weather favorite these days at Sakura; the Zaru Soba. But, I wanted a bit more and decided to push my luck. You see, Sakura for a period had some pretty surly service. I had enjoyed the Ebi Kakiage don over the years and wondered if I could get the Tempura Zaru Soba, but with Ebi Kakiage instead of the shrimp tempura. The woman waiting on me said "ok, no problem"! Nice!
Good lord, look at the amount of Ebi Kakiage!
Granted, there was a lot more veggies to shrimp than I recall. But the nice crunch, variety of flavors, with a dip in the wasabi and ginger enhanced Tsuyu, alternated with the perfectly cooked slightly stretchy soba was just what the doctor ordered on this day.
And at least on this day, to paraphrase a famous quote; "word of Sakura's demise have been greatly exaggerated". For now. Though I'm not sure what I'd do if they started serving "KFC"!
Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St Suite 121
San Diego, CA 92111
Have a great week everyone!
I prefer my cheesesteak to have thinly sliced beef, not chopped too finely like this was. One could not complain about the portion size nor price. Looks like a great neighborhood place to take the family for some slices and maybe enjoy the art, but perhaps not for a cheesesteak. Looks like I'll be headed to Evans or Wise Ox soon…..boy do I miss 
Soon enough my lomo saltado arrived. Quite a bit of onions and papas frita in this. The rice was fairly dry and chewy, but edible, and seemed to have been seasoned a bit.
The presentation was lovely; though the boiled egg was overcooked. The chicken was fairly bland, stringy, and there was a bit too much mayo. The potatoes were nicely done though.
Loved the crust of the empanadas. Even though it wasn't slightly flakey, it had a nice crunchy texture. I didn't care much for the dusting of sugar as I think it detracted from the overall flavor. Like I mentioned earlier, the sauce did well with the pastry, deflecting some of the sweetness and helping with the texture of the beef which was pretty chewy.
This was a lot less stuffed than the version at The Peruvian Spot. It had a drizzle of Mama G's sauce which did a pretty nice job of adding a creamy, mild spice to things. The ratio of camote and salsa criolla to meat was quite balanced.
The young lady working asked me if I wanted to try the spicy versions of Mama G's sauces and brought some over when I said yes. The verde was quite nice, not overly spicy to me. I added a tad more to the sandwich and used it to dip the very dry and limp fries.
It was too delicate; a bit over baked, the laminated exterior just falling off. You know what was going to happen when I actually bit into it, right? A certain song by the Rolling Stones came to mind:
First thing I noticed was how "clear" the broth was. Second thing was how the basil was starting to brown. Well, at least there was some ngo gai, a rarity these days it seems. I enjoy the more intense the peppery-cilantro-ish-slightly bitter flavor it provides. Even this leaf was starting to go south as well; I could use most of it. 
As for the broth…can you say MSG water? With a dose of that sweetness that has been pervading pho in San Diego over the last decade or so. The soup was quite thirst inducing; or perhaps I'm just more sensitive to the stuff as I get older?
There was a good amount of meat in this "small bowl". So perhaps that's the calling card?
The soup, while being a bit overly defatted had some beefiness, mild anise-oniony tones, while it still had that "San Diego" sweet flavor. It wasn't overly salty. This was better than I recall having on previous visits.
The proteins, while not as well prepared as "da cow" were fine, though there was no tendon to be found! The flank and brisket were cut a bit on thicker side, but the beefiness came through. The tripe was a bit more "hard" than crunchy.
The texture of the baozi dough was not as fluffy as I enjoy; but it had a hint of sweetness and was not bad. We enjoyed the pork version more….pork here is mighty tasty. There were hints of sesame oil, ginger, soy sauce….not sure how easy it is to get it in Genoa, but this was pretty good overall.
The portion of rice was quite large there was corn and edamame scattered about the hot plate. The beef, supposedly four ounces was topped with a small scoop of butter, which I thought wasn’t necessary.
This was interesting. The katsu had been sliced lengthwise and were as long as my fork. Rather unwieldy to eat.
The katsu sauce was very "local", being ketchup based, tangy and perhaps on the sweeter side of the scale. The mac salad was quite "local" tasting as well, having a touch of vinegar and some shredded carrots. The macaroni was nicely cooked, but unevenly coated. This was probably my favorite item on the plate.
One big minus was no mac salad, which I kinda liked on my previous visit. One big plus; they have Tabasco! Tabasco sauce has been the condiment I've used for loco mocos since small kid time!
