Closed – Page 107

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*** Osaka Kitchen has closed and has been replaced by (another) Sushi Deli location……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

Caffeine Fix – San Diego Trolley Stop Coffee

June 10, 2005 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix

In need of some cash I headed to the nearest local ATM – only to find that the entire bank had moved! As I walked back to my car I noticed this across the street:

My curiosity piqued, I drove across the street, and lo’ and behold it was a real, running, operating trolley-coffee shop on wheels – called San Diego Trolley Stop Coffee! Naturally, I had to stop and have a cup. Today, the trolley was less busy, so I was able to ask John (the owner) a few questions which he happily answered; yes, he did buy the trolley and converted it to a Coffee Cart on Wheels, it took him about 9 months (6 months full-time) to complete the conversion. Yes, it does run, and yes, that is a coffee "degree" from The Seattle Barista Academy!!! So John actually went to school to learn how to make coffee.

Located in the same mall as Save-On on Sandrock Rd in Serra Mesa, John makes a good cup a’ Joe. You may want to drop by and ogle the Trolley. And based on his Certification, John probably makes a mean latte as well!

Ba Ren

June 6, 2005 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

*** Ba Ren has closed

*** Updated and additional posts on Ba Ren – Post#201, an update 06/06/2006, the Huo Guo post, the seasonal menu on 01/02/2008, and other silliness. Sheesh, do you think we eat here enough????

"Forgive me Kitchen God for I have sinned; it's been 3 weeks since I've been to Ba Ren….."

When we first moved to San Diego, we used to make periodic pilgrimages to Chung King in Monterey Park for Szechwan. We lamented the lack of a good Szechwan restaurant in San Diego. We tried a few, but they were utter disappointments, so we would end up behind a steering wheel driving to LA for our Fuqi Feipian fix.

Than in 2003, we turned down Diane Ave, and saw this sign:

It seemed interesting and several days later we visited Ba Ren and haven't stopped since. Some weeks it seemed like we'd be there 2-3 times during the week mostly for take-out. In a few months we had pretty much worked our way down the menu as well as the all important placard:

The last two dishes on this placard, are probably some of the best Ba Ren has to offer; the second to the last dish is Dry Fried Beef Slivers(Gan Bian Niu Rou Si? -12.99) and the last is the Twice Cooked Fish(9.99) that everyone on Chowhound.com raves about. We also got to know Wendy, one of the owners very well, and she would guide us toward new and interesting items. In August, I went ahead and with Wendy and Bill's(one of the other Partners) help set up a Chowhound get together for a 17 course Szechwan "feast" that turned out really well. San Diego Chowhounds at Ba Ren.

We had been busy over the last three weeks or so, and hadn't had time to visit Ba Ren. So having an open evening we dropped by. Being a Monday at 5pm it was really quiet. I also noticed that the infamous Chinese placard now had a second side and even more dishes. So in the end we decided to order two new dishes and two of our favorites – Rice Crust with Sliced Chicken (9.99) and Hot Pepper Prawns (12.99).

Squares of crisp rice is brought out, than the toppings, in this case sliced chicken, cloud ears, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, sauce, and other veggies is poured on the rice crust creating a sizzling sound. We enjoy the chicken version of this dish the best because the sauce has a nice condensed chicken taste. I think Ed from Yuma describes what makes this dish so good when he says "as the sauce and the rice crisps interact, the rice becomes softer, so the dish's textures change as it's eaten". Yes, every bite of this dish is different!

The next dish was from the placard. Fish with soft jelly noodles(9.99). This was fantastic, not quite a soup, not quite a casserole; perfectly marinated and prepared fish with Konnyaku-like Noodles, red peppers, ginger, lily buds, and pickled vegetables. The taste was hot and sour, imagine the most prefect Hot and Sour soup, peppery, with good sour overtones! Delici-yoso!

The Hot Pepper Prawns were next. This is the prawn version of the Chung King Style Chili with Chicken. Battered and fried prawns covered with fried dried red chili's, you'd think that this would literally blow your head off, but the subtle sweet and salty taste made this highly addictive.

The last dish was Dry-Cooked Lamb (12.99), that is lamb slices cooked without broth or water. This dish was a good example of layers of heat, the chili pepper hit the front of your tongue, the chili oil the middle, and the black pepper the back. This dish can be a bit overwhelming, but the herbaceous taste keeps you eating more! This dish also features Chinese celery, shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced garlic, and what was my favorite part of the dish – the mung bean sprouts. The meal was finished off with a bowl of Eight Treasure Black Rice Porridge to cleanse and clear your palate and stomach.

On the placard the Fish dish is the sixth one down. The Lamb is the second. If you want the dish with chicken it's the first one, if it's beef you want prepared in this manner it's the third; frog is the fourth. All in all another successful visit to our favorite restaurant!

Some notes on Ba Ren – Mandarin is the main language spoken, but don't let that dissuade you. I don't speak any Mandarin and am able to do fine! The staff is very helpful and friendly! The chef from Ba Ren originally was a Chef at a Four Star hotel in Chongqing and was one of the original Chefs at Chung King in Monterey Park (wow, the original chef from our favorite LA restaurant, what a coincidence!!!) and has over 30 years of cooking experience with this type of cuisine.

Ba Ren
4957 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

The Thai Grill

June 4, 2005 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

*** The Thai Grill has closed

In the mood for Thai food we decided to forgo a visit to one of our favorite Thai restaurants, and instead went to a new restaurant we saw a few days ago. The Thai Grill, located in Hillcrest, is very, very small, with only 4 tables in the restaurant, and 2 outside, one of which holds up the menu. Our waitress said that they’ve only been open 7 months.

Not being very hungry we ordered two dishes:

The first was, the top item on the Chef’s specials part of the menu. Crab Fried Rice ($10.95). The dish arrived steaming hot with flakes of real crab, peas, carrots, and bean sprouts. The good; rice was cooked perfectly, there was real crab in this, and the plate looked reasonably appealing. The bad; this dish tasted only of fish sauce, not that there was too much, it’s just that the combination of fish sauce and crab, with no other real flavor to balance the fishiness, made this dish very boring. Other Thai fried rice dishes that I’ve had have always had some flavoring other than fish sauce to add some depth of flavor to the dish, be it garlic, tamarind, sugar, etc…. This was a singularly uninteresting dish. I didn’t even finish this, which for anyone who knows me is an amazing thing, I usually easily finish anything I order.

The second dish was Rice Noodles with Hot Basil and chicken. The good; again this dish was cooked perfectly, the texture of the noodles was perfect, just enough chewiness. The chicken was also cooked very well. The flavoring of this dish was Superior to the fried rice, with nice heat and a nice tomato-ey taste. The bad; as you can see, only about 5 Thai Basil leaves, that means only 5 really “good bites” in the whole dish. I may have a big mouth, but there’s no way I can eat this dish in 5 bites. The heat was easily identified, Thai chili paste, and which adds nice heat, but is usually combined with other flavors to create a better taste profile. Again the dish lacked real depth, very one dimensional, and not enough to really keep you interested.

It could be that we didn’t order the dishes that Thai Grill does well. But I would think that the #1 item under Chef’s Specials would probably be the best the kitchen produces. In my opinion$10.95 is really steep for mediocre fried rice. Try it out and let me know if I’m wrong, or what I may have missed……

The Thai Grill
420 Robinson Ave. Suite E
San Diego, CA 92103
619-683-7725

Indulgence – A Sugar Free Bakery.

June 3, 2005 mmm-yoso Bakery, Desserts

*** Update: Indulgence has since closed.

Hard to miss this place – the bright purple sign beckons on Park Avenue.

They advertise themselves as a sugar free bakery. So we stopped by just to see what this was like. The interior is cafe-like and ecletic, with artwork lining the walls. And there is a large case filled with cakes, cream puffs, and other pastries.

That's a strawberry chiffon cake calling to you…. Though these treats are sugar-free, they're not low calorie! A slice of that chiffon cake is 477 calories. We chose two lemon bars – only a 100 or so calories a piece. The bars had a good texture, but as amazing as this may seem, tasted overly sweet! I enjoyed the slight tang and good aftertaste, but a little too sweet for me.

The staff is very friendly and helpful, so much so, that when I asked if it was ok to take a picture of the cakes, the Gentleman behind the counter, answered brightly, "of course", than proceeded to open up the case for a better picture! Breakfast is served from 9-5! With various egg or egg substitute options, quiche, and other items. Lunch is served from 11am to 5pm, with extensive menu of everything from Boca Burgers to Reduced Carb Pizza to Pot Roast. Indulgence A Sugar Free Bakery. So if sugar- free, low-carb, and organic is your thing, give it a try.

Indulgence Bakery
4207 Park Blvd
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 299-3404

Tuesday to Saturday:
9 am – 9 pm
Sunday:
9 am-5 pm
Closed Mondays

L & L Hawaiian Barbeque – College Area

May 29, 2005 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Plate Lunch

**** This location of L&L has closed

We were living in the Rowland Heights area of Los Angeles when the first L&L opened up down the street in Puente Hills Mall. Needless to say, I was thrilled, being somewhat plate lunch-deprived(we used to drive miles to try out plate lunch places in LA). And the food was as expected decent, but not great. L&L is not my favorite plate lunch place by far, but fills a need for me.

When we moved to San Diego, I found that an L&L was opening in National City – about 15 miles away. So the week they opened I drove down to National City in great anticipation…and was greatly disappointed. I never check my order at L&L because they seem to have a system of checking each plate before placing in a bag – so why check? Well I got home – and no gravy on my LocoMoco!!!??!! Second time, ordered my BBQ Chicken all rice, and got all Macaroni salad – three scoops mac salad? Third time, it seems that the BBQ chicken had not been marinated, it was almost white in color. Well 3 strikes and you're out! By this time plate lunch places had starting popping up everywhere in SoCal, so there are alot more choices, including two close to where we live.

Today I did some extra driving and went to the L&L in the College area – near San Diego St University – I've found this one to be the most consistent, and the service is always efficient.

Instead of ordering my usual LocoMoco, I ordered a Mini Chicken Cutlet ($4.29) and a Mini BBQ Chicken($4.29).

As usual service was fast and efficient, and the food decent. Actually the BBQ chicken was well flavored. The chicken cutlet was still crisp under the gravy – and of course I poured a ton of Tabasco on this anyway…..

L&L's Hawaiian BBQ
Campus Plaza 6083 El Cajon Boulevard, Suite 5B-1
San Diego, CA 92115
Phone: (619) 229-6888

Postscript – I don't know if alot of Ex-Pat Kama'aina's encounter this, but alot of people seem to think that a plate lunch is somehow some kind of Haute' cuisine??? For six bucks???? I've also gotten alot of comments about how the food is not worth the price, so I ask them, how much is a sandwich from Togo's or Subway? A large sandwich approaches 7 bucks. I'll take a $6.29 plate lunch over that stuff or Denny's any day of the week.

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.