Recently, I had to deal with parking at H Mart on Balboa at 1030. Well, finding a space wasn't bad, though things filled up quickly and it was kinda crazy as I was about to leave. Since it was just about lunchtime, I decided to head on back into H Mart and peruse the ever changing food court. The last time I had taken a look at the food court was when Bann had closed. Of course, no sooner than had Bann closed that they were replaced with another "concept". One place that I thought wasn't too bad in the Food Court was Katzya, though my last visit there was not too satisying. They eventually closed as well. I had heard that they had been replaced by a Katsu shop, named KZ Mori. For some reason, the name sounded familiar. When I saw the logo, it hit home. I had read about a katsu shop in the H Mart food court in Arcadia named "Kazu Mori". And I think it's related somehow?
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.
There was one other guy working and I saw him take out a huge batch of katsu and start chopping away. Oh my. After watching the first couple of orders go out, I was wondering how he knew which was the chicken and which was the pork. My plate was made from that "pile".
Instead of getting my order to dine in; I got it in a take out box, which was a good move since it was pretty darn hefty.
Opening things up on the table revealed "blotchy" katsu to the left and "blotchy" katsu to the right, a huge pile of shredded cabbage, and some nicely cooked rice.
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.
There was standard issue Japanese Sesame Dressing for the huge pile of cabbage, which was fine. The Katsu sauce was too sour and thin for me to enjoy.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting, say EE Nami, but there seems to be a lack of QC here as I think Homestyle Hawaiian and if we're looking at food court katsu even Musashiya (though it's been a while – I need to revisit) is better. Though, if you're really hungry, perhaps this would fill the bill? I think it's more about portion size here, the place seems quite popular – I ended up taking about half the food home with me.
I mean, take a look at the katsu…….
KZ Mori (In the H Mart Food Court)
7725 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 8pm
Way back when 
Man, that plate looked kinda sparse? So, going down things, the bi was missing the roasted rice powder which would give it a wonderful nuttiness; the one slice of Tan Hu Ky was dry and flavorless. This would be the common theme of the meal, as the "cha" the pork -egg "cake" was dry and bland. The meats were dry and tough; you get the point, right?
Good lord, this was greasy, and rubbery, there were like three shrimp, it was terrible.
Good lord. The fish was supposedly mahi mahi, overfried, not seasoned, and dry as heck. The tortillas were like cardboard. The purple cabbage slaw was flavored with ginger and the other had mango "salsa" which really needed some spice. It was all accompanied by a pool of pasty black beans, which at least was seasoned adequately.
With not too much of anything, I could try the biscuits and gravy. The gravy wasn't too salty or greasy, the texture was on the lighter side of things, but it wasn't bad. The egg was perfectly easy over, the yolk having no off flavors. The breakfast potatoes nice and crisp on the exterior, the breakfast sausage routine. This was good enough to bring back memories of old school – diner breakfasts I'd had in my younger days.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Marbled Rye was used, which added an interesting yeasty-tangy-sourness to the sandwich. As a whole, a routine sandwich, basic mass produced sliced turkey; we enjoyed the cucumber and sprouts the most. It was enough for our lunch and we walked thru this western theme town to our car and headed off.
The fish looked not bad. As I looked at the seaweed salad and surimi salad, then had a taste of the poke, I got full on 
It might have been a bit much, but was really not bad at all. What was bad was the brown rice which was severely undercooked and hard. Not good eats.
My first thought when I opened things up was "what's up with the mac nuts?" The half nuts were just too big for this. The shoyu wasn't overly sweet, but was used quite sparingly. The quality of the fish, while not bad, wasn't to my liking. Too much "sugi" – rubbery connective tissue. The rice was cooked nicely….I forgot to ask about brown rice. I might have been traumatized after my visit to PB Poke House.
The portion size seemed on the smallish side, but still isn't bad compared to the "manini" 2 ounce portions I've seen at the chi-poke places.
Good lord, this looked totally like "saku", Carbon Monoxide treated fish. So much sugi, so dry looking, I was kinda not wanting to eat this. I tried a piece and it was mushy, yet chewy, with a metallic tinge. Yikes. 
The consomme was aromatic and slightly rich without having that greasy "tongue feel" that I don't like. It was just slightly gamey, but not bland, and you knew there was some "chivo" swimming around here. It wasn't very salty and really needed the lime to help things out. I prefer my consomme having a bit more goatiness, but this was decent.
I preferred the Barbacoa, which was moist and more tender than the Birria, which was on the chewier side of things. The birria did well with a dip into the consomme, some salsa, and a squeeze of lime. While it was a level above 
Man, when the tripe is right it is so buttery as is the tendon. The other cuts of cow are so beefy. This has some decent spice. The key is to eat it at the restaurant and let it sit over the heating element for a while before giving it a good mix. It'll sizzle away and the onions at the bottom will get soft and creamy and absorb all the beefy-spicey goodness.
According to Diego, there are 700 of these in the city, which mark historic structures in the city. Whoa, 700!
