Here's another one of those C(learing) O(ut) the M(emory) C(ard) posts. Just the same old places that I've posted on a zillions times.
You can figure out where is where, right? Just photos for this warm Saturday night.
Geeez....all the same places. Sometimes it's a wonder that I'm able to post on new places.
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On our last full day on the Big Island we decided to just relax. We took a walk down Ali'i Drive then back around Kuakini Highway.
It was a quiet day, so we just drove around a bit and talked about lunch.....yes, you know us. Teshima's"old school Japanese restaurant" charm had really gotten to the Missus. So with not much else to do, we drove back up to Kealakekua and stopped by Teshima for lunch.
The Missus was craving fish so She immediately went for the "Fresh Catch" Sashimi Tray ($17.50) which was ahi.
For some reason, the Missus really enjoys the old fashioned tsukemono and sunomono. Ditto the old school miso soup.
The fish was very, very fresh, and the Missus scarfed up all twelve pieces in no time.
I went with the "Monday Special" ($12.75). Now I've read some complaints about the prices and portion sizes at Teshima.....but take a look at this for $12.75........
Geeez.....really?
Five slices ahi sashimi, the teri beef was very "local" a bit chewy. The fried fish here is quite good as well.
The makizushi and inari sushi take me back to "small kid" time...though combined with a chawan of rice....man, that's more carbs than I usually consume in a whole day, or two, nowadays.
The Missus got the fried fish, tsukemono, sunomono, and miso soup.
So I had an order of the famous shrimp tempura($7.25) as well.
If you like crunch, these will fill the bill. The tempura is surprisingly light and crisp.
We both thought that it tasted a bit of old oil that needed to be changed though. There seemed to be a bit of an off taste and even some greasiness to all the tempura.
So in the end a good meal, but not wow'd by the tempura.
Teshima Restaurant
79-7251 Mamalahoa Hwy
Kealakekua, HI 96750
We spent the rest of the day "just cruisin' around". Went to various stores, including a couple of health food places and walked around a bit.
After a very typical afternoon nap, we went out and took another walk around......through Long's, Hilo Hattie looking for gifts for the Missus's relatives and friends.
As it was getting to late afternoon, we discovered we were still pretty full. So we thought we'd go for some poke and beer for dinner. We walked back to the KTA and the pre-packaged selection looked terrible, so we went across the street to Sack n' Save. The poke selection there was better. I eventually settled on some ahi limu with inamona and of course boiled peanuts (not pictured), which went well with the Mehana Humpback Blue, which was the best of the three we gried during this trip.
This was ok. Not the best quality fish, the ogo kind of tough and dry, but passable.
I'm not a big fan of seaweed salad, but the Missus likes it......
As evening settled we saw a good number of locals who seemed to know each other parking in the back of the King Kamehameha. It seemed like there was a big party going on. So after eating and a quick shower we headed downstairs and strolled over to Kailua Pier.
That's Ahuʻena Heiau in the foreground. I guess some company was having their Christmas Party....yes, it was that long ago.
The chatter and laughter brought smiles to our faces as we just sat and took in the wonderful Kona evening. We had a great time in the Big Island. It had been too long since we were here last. We'll be back again soon......
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Here's the fourth installment of my ramen-mania posts. With the exception of Hinotez, I've had tonkotsu ramen at all of these places before and had long ago decided that long simmered pork bone soup (or in a few instances tonkotsu base) was not the way to go. In the battle of shoyu versus shio, salt is my preference. I like the mild briney and in some cases complex, salt flavors along with a nice, clean, but rich broth. For me the margin of error is slim....temperature and richness really do count.
After being tonkotsu'd out, some shio ramen sounded just plain refreshing to me. Here's my visits in chronological order.
Gunco Ramen:
I last visited Gunco over two years ago with our resident ramen ruminator, Dennis. Things look just the same here.......
I really enjoyed my Shio Ramen here. It seems that the ramen has been getting better with every visit.
While the broth is relatively simple and very low on oil, there's one flavor that really sticks out....ginger. But either my tolerance has improved over the years, or they've learned to temper the flavor while still giving the broth here a touch of uniqueness, I dunno.
The noodles were fine, everything else is pretty sparse, no soft boiled egg, and the chashu quite tough.
Still I had a pleasant lunch.
Gunco Ramen
305 Palomar St
Chula Vista, CA 91911
Hinotez:
Funny thing, I've had many breakfasts at Hinotez, a couple of dinners, but it wasn't until I read Kirbie's post on Hinotez, that I realized I hadn't had the ramen here.
I guess that perhaps I thought the ramen here would be the same as Yakyudori.
Upon arriving I noticed that there have been some minor renovations, curtains on the booths and such.
I must go during some really off-peak hours. There never seems to be many people in te place when I eat here. Such was the case on this day.
As I mentioned before; I expected Yakyudori Shio Ramen, which this was not.
The visual difference was pretty significant, no corn, no menma(dried then rehydrated bamboo shoot).
The broth was also a bit strange. I'm wondering if the Yakyudori group has changed their salt? This had a strange almost bitter flavor, rather than the mild sweetness of the shio ramen I'd had at Yakyudori.....well you know that I just had to check into that, right? The chashu was nicely flavored but tragically ice cold and thus somewhat waxy and not pleasant to eat.
I don't think I'll be coming back to Hinotez for the ramen....breakfast, but not ramen.
Hinotez
7947 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111
Tajima Ramen House:
It was MrsZ who first informed me that Tajima was undergoing renovation. So about two weeks later I dropped by. The reworking was almost complete, the place looked very nice and modern. Hey look folks, Tajima looks all grown up now.....they even carry local craft beers!
But would the Shio Ramen suddenly be better than the rather mediocre stuff I've had here before?
Seriously, because of the temperature of the broth.... not hot enough, this seemed like a greasy mess. The noodles were over-cooked, the chashu here never wows me, and it was very consistent in being very dry and tough.
I usually hedge my bets by adding kakuni pork, which wasn't very good on this day as it was lacking in flavor and tough. At least the egg was nicely done.
Just think if that broth was hot enough.
Service, as has been my experience at Tajima was very nice.
Tajima Ramen House
4681 Convoy St., #1
San Diego, CA 92111
Izakaya Masa:
Frankly, I haven't had much luck here in the past. But I still believe Masa is in what I call the top tier with regards to ramen.
There has always been a kind of metallic flavor to the broth here. In fact, I think Dennis has picked up on that as well as he calls this place the Sandra Lee of Izakayas.
Strangely, one of the biggest complaints about the ramen at Masa was rectified, at least on this visit. The noodles were nice and firm.
But this was way too salty, the broth almost lukewarm, and it had a strange feel to it. It seemed milky in color even though I didn't order the tonkotsu.
Here's a photo of the Shio Ramen I had here on my previous visit.
Add to that the strangely surly service on this evening........
At least the Chuka Kurage delivered as it always does.
Like Tajima, the food here probably tastes better after a couple of beers or at the end of a long night.
Izakaya Masa
928 Fort Stockton Dr
San Diego, CA 92103
Yakyudori:
By the itme I hit Yakyudori I was hitting the wall. Luckily, they have lunch specials with "small" ramen. This being a Thursday, it came with chicken karaage, quite a bit of chicken karaage, and some might-as-well-have-been-from-a-bag-of-frozen shumai.
Over my last couple of visits, it seemed like Yakyudori is slipping with regards to ramen. This was decently done, but the cracks are showing. The chashu was still very cold....just like Hinotez, what's up with that? The broth also tastes a bit different, which really makes me wonder if they've changed the salt they use. The noodles were done characteristically well.
Still, this was not the same Shio Ramen I had here over the last three years.
Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
You know, I've been wondering if I should actually go on and do posts on some of what I consider to be "second-tier" ramen. what do you think?
My previous Ramen Renaissance Posts:
Part 1 : Underbelly revisited
Part 2: Tecchan Yakitori and Izakaya
Part 3: RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen, Ramen Yamadaya, and Santouka
Thanks for reading!
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After visits to places like Teshima's, Suisan, and Kawamoto's, you can see there's a kind of a running theme in our visit to the Big Island. With that in mind, I just had to stop at the Manago Hotel.
The hotel was built in 1917 and is still owned by the same family. There's a real "old-time" vibe to this place.
Walking down the hallways is like journey back in time.... You wonder what stories would be told if these walls could talk.
I hadn't stopped in here since the early 90's, but it looks the same to me. Especially the somewhat ramshackle, but charming "lunch room"......yes, they call it a restaurant, but it really reminds me of a plantation lunch room....mismatched furniture and all.
There's no menu handed to you when you are seated.....you read what's being served on the peg board and order. After placing your order, the server returns with your "side dishes", which you eat family style....you serve yourself.
Today, along with the big bowl of rice, there was long rice, macaroni-potato salad, which was well chilled, and blanched and marinated bean sprouts which was sort of like namul. The Missus pretty much whacked the bean sprouts and our server brought us another plate!
The one item I always have to get here are the pork chops. The big dilemma is; whether so get it pan-fried, or smothered in gravy. Seeing that there are kids now in college who weren't even born the last time I had the pork chops here, I went for the straight-up pan fried version.
I've been told that the cooks here use cast iron pans which are....well, older than I am. That's a well-seasoned pan. The bone in chops were a bit thinner than I remembered, but the wonderful crust and simple seasoning, salt, pepper, and maybe granulated garlic was just what I wanted. The chop isn't super-tender, but it has a pleasant chew, and was really moist. Sometimes I wonder if my food memories are a snapshot which has snowballed over time, creating its own reality. I'm glad to say, in terms of flavor, this was as I remembered.
The Missus had the pan fried ahi.
Which She said was simple, but well and honestly prepared.
There's something about a good meal which puts you in a nice frame of mind. There's also that great feeling you get when an old favorite still delivers....it makes everything seem right in the world for that moment. What the Manago hotel serves is good, simple, homey, honest, food, a snapshot of a different time. In this day and age of food fads, gimmicks, slow food - fast-food, farm to table, etc, etc, etc..... There's something almost refreshing about that.
Manago Hotel
82-6155 Mamalahoa Hwy
Captain Cook, HI 96704
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It seemed like the coqui frogs had a curfew of around 3am as I drifted in and out of sleep until then. Still, I got up at around 530 and we packed up and checked out of the Dolphin Bay Hotel. We had enjoyed our previous day in Hilo and we weren't quite done yet.
There's still a sleepiness to Hilo Town and many places are closed on Sundays. Still, I couldn't help but stop by Kawamoto Store, which holds typical Okazuya hours, opening at 6am and closing around noon....and they were open on Sunday to boot! Places like Kawamoto's holds a special place in my heart.....I basically grew up eating the most common and traditional Okazuya fare.
You basically say how many "bento" you like and then choose your items. All the classics were present and accounted for, shoyu chicken, maki sushi, "cone sushi" (what we call inari sushi back home), stuff like that. We put together a small bento to snack on later.......
There's something about places like this that are timeless......
Kawamoto Store
784 Kilauea Ave
Hilo, HI 96720
Hours:
Tues-Sat 600am - 1230pm
Sun 600am - 1200pm
We then headed off to our breakfast destination; Kuhio Grille.
Located to the side of Prince Kuhio Plaza, this place has been around since the 90's and is probably most well known for the 1pound laulau, which I don't remember being that great, but that was a while ago. Since it was about 615 in the morning, no laulau for us, we were here for breakfast.
Not much going on this early in the morning, just us and a couple of tables of older folks......who else gets up so early on a Sunday, right?
Still recalling how much She enjoyed "my" Japanese Breakfast at Teshima's, the Missus ordered KG Combo #3 ($10.99), with brown rice, ugh.....
This was just passable, the egg was nice and runny, but the fish was rather dry, and the miso soup was on the weak side.
Not wanting to fall back into a food coma; I went with the Loco Bowl ($6.99):
This was not bad, the egg was done right, though I could have done with a bit more crisp edges. The rice was decent, perhaps slightly on the dry side. The gravy was average, mainly salty. About that burger....well, it had that nice, old school char, seems like this griddle has some seasoning to it. The flavor was decent, the texture was very old school.......something I appreciated. The Missus had a taste and agreed.
Kuhio Grille
111 E Puainako St
Hilo, HI 96720
Hours:
Sat-Thurs 600am - 10pm
Fri 600am - 11pm
After breakfast we headed over to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. We've been here many times and we love coming here. We actually had a late honeymoon at Volcano House all those years ago. There's basically one place we head to, which I'll get into later. A portion of Crater Rim Drive was closed because of fumes, so the Missus was a bit disappointed.
But the steam vents were going strong.
Halema'uma'u Crater, which is located in the larger Kilauea Crater wasn't nearly this active the last time we visited. No wonder there were all the sulfur dioxide gas warnings!
We saw several offerings to Pele as we walked around the crater..
It was quite a sight.....
There are many things to see here, the Thurston Lava Tube, great hiking trails (when they are open). The Iliahi (Sandalwood) Trail is one we've enjoyed several times. Or you can just drive down Chain of Craters Road and marvel at all the old lava flows. Each one is different.
With all due respect ot the wonders of Volcanoes National Park, the Missus and I have one tradition whenever we visit. And even the passing rain showers didn't stop us. We always drive to the end of Chain of Craters Road, park, it used to be that you'd park just a couple of yards from the flow, but now you walk about a half mile or so. I always take a photo of the Missus at the point where the lava is covering the road.
When we look back at the older photos, we've noticed that the flow has moved and even though things might seem the same when the picture is taken; looking at the photos all lined up reveals that nature never stays still. For us, this is a nice timeline of sorts....the Missus on the lava flow, moving, maybe at an imperceptible speed, but nevertheless, still slowly moving.
Mission accomplished, we headed back up the road and the back way to Kona. After a short "bento break" of course.
In the past, it always seemed that the Missus enjoyed Kona more. But like that lava slowly creeping forward, it seems that Hilo had won Her over after all these years. We'll spend more time in Hilo next time.
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I usually get into work at around 6 in the morning.....this means that I'm actually able to spend more time with the Missus and Da Boyz during the evenings and I get a ton of work done before other folks get into work. One drawback of going to work so early is that I can get pretty hungry by the time 1030 rolls around. So I'm always looking for places that open by 1030 or 11. A couple of years back, Cathy posted on BH Chung, I also know of a few people who enjoy the Katsu Curry here as well. An added bonus is that even though BH Chung is housed in the Convoy strip mall with the parking lot from hell, they, along with Tofu House open pretty early.
Frankly, I'm not a big fan of most of those Korean-Japanese "Hwe" type places, though it's really hard to screw up katsu too badly.
The older Korean woman who works here is very nice; always offering me seconds of panchan. The service is very mom-and-pop, though I've only eaten here before 11am.
On my first visit I ordered the Chicken Katsu Curry....not cheap at $9.99. Though you do get some standard panchan with your meal. And as I mentioned before, the nice woman working here has always asked me if I wanted more.
The curry itself was not exactly photogenic, brown gloppiness poured over some form of fried protein.
The chicken itself was on the dry side, though I noticed that the cooking and prep was done correctly since the breading wasn't peeling off the chicken. I prefer my katsu on the crisp and lighter side, this one was very hard and in my opinion a bit over-fried. The curry wasn't anything to write home about, though I've had worse....it was kind of lumpy though.
Still it was quite a bit of food. I later mentioned this meal to an acquaintance...who told me to try the Tonkatsu Curry instead. So a couple of weeks later....famished at 10am, I marched on over to BH Chung and had the pork version.
You gotta hand it to these folks, they seem to be pretty consistent. This was pretty much a replay of my previous meal, except the curry was a little bit less gloppy and had a more pronounced flavor.
With a sprig of parsley and slice of orange as garnish, there's something unabashedly "diner-like" in the presentation. So I thought, "well that's that....." and moved on. But a couple of days later, I had gone into work at around 530, by 1000 I was starving. I jumped in the car and headed to Convoy. I intended on grabbing a bite from Tofu House, but for some reason, I just ended up walking into BH Chung. On my previous visit, I noticed a young lady having the Dolsot Bi Bim Bap. It looked decent, so I decided to get that..... I guess you get five panchan with the Bi Bim Bap.
It looked pretty good overall, but after further investigation, this really didn't pass muster. Bi Bim Bap is a humble dish, so I don't expect a huge amount of meat, though the amount here was good. It was however, very bland bulgogi. So I quickly banished any thought of having that. For some reason, no matter how long I waited, the rice in this stone bowl just never really crusted up. The cho-gochujang tasted kind of weak and watered down as well. This just didn't do it for me.
Well, after three meals here, I think I'll give the place a rest. I'll resist temptation and just head over to Tofu House like I intended. Unless someone has a great recommendation????
BH Chung
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
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Ramen has been picking up a good head of steam in San Diego the last couple of years, now it seems that just about everyone is serving the stuff. I call it San Diego's Ramen Renaissance...so I thought I'd go and grab some ramen. In Part 1, I revisited Underbelly for some hipster-ramen. In Part 2, I checked out Tec Chan, a Yakyudori wannabe. Now part three gets kinda boring as I revisited three places....a couple of which I've probably posted on ad nauseum in the past. My apologies....but it's kinda ramen weather out there tonight, right? So why not?
RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen:
It seems that the place is blowing up, at least according to The Eater, which has RakiRaki as one of the 19 hottest ramen shops in the US.
I did enjoy the Tsukemen and love the noodles, but have been less than happy with the really salty broth and the rather skimpy; even for ramen portion sizes. The menu seems to be ever changing and living partially on the alkaline water hype.
Every time I visit, there seems to be another page added to the menu. On this visit, there's now a line of "Super Deluxe" ramen? Which of course, I just had to try. So there went $11.75 for the Shoyu Tonkotsu, with flame blistered prime XO Underbelly Chasiu. Man, these guys are really hyping it up......which is what it ended up being, as I wasn't too impressed with "Super Deluxe".
The noodles were just wonderful as always, nice crunch and all. The chasiu slices were as thin as playing cards, slightly dry, and very low on the flavor scale. The broth was served at too low a temperature, giving it a slight greasiness, rather than being rich. For me, the most disturbing thing about the broth is how salty it was....man I just blew up like a gorged tick. Now for all the we use alkaline water, health benefits, and all that, I'm wondering, do these folks use MSG?
Still, I decided to return yet again. And guess what? Another handy, dandy, new page to the menu! It seemed like a good deal, ramen combined with a rice bowl. What really struck me was how they like to associate "names" with everything here. Now I don't know who the poster boy Chef Takeo Araki is....but I have heard of Junya Watanabe....at least, Junya Watanabe the fashion designer. Well, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that. I'll go turn in my "man card" tomorrow. Based on the size of the ramen, there's almost no doubt that this was created by someone who needed to keep his models slim and trim. For a scale perspective, compare the amount and size of the bean sprouts to everything around it.
The piece of charred lean pork, tasted like charred lean pork. The noodles were perfect and this wasn't nearly as salty as what I had before, though still pretty high on the sodium scale. The broth has some seafood tones to it as well.
The rice bowl had a good quantity of rice, making this a bit of a carb bomb.
I enjoyed the texture of the chicken karaage which was crisp and light. I really don't think it shouldbe burdened with what basically amounts to a cloying sweet chili sauce, but that's just my opinion. Just as it's my opinion that the folks working here are really nice and getting more efficient with every visit.
Personally, I'm going to give RakiRaki a rest....when the weather gets a bit warmer I'll drop by for the Tsukemen. I'm wondering how large that menu will be by then? How many different types of "premium super-duper delux-a-rooney" tsukemen will there be on the menu? Be still my heart......
RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Ramen Yamadaya:
So the Missus was asking me why I've been having all this ramen and She hasn't? Well, She's kind of ummmm... shall we say selective? But after being married all these years, I have an understanding of Her tastes and preferences.
She loves Santouka, but I finally knew there would a bowl to compete with Santouka's Tonkotsu at Yamadaya. It's the Kotteri Tonkotsu with Kakuni Pork and extra firm noodles.
This clocks in at about the same price as RakiRaki's "Super Deluxe" ramen. The Missus loves a rich tonkotsu style broth, with that wonderful think broth that coats your tongue and tummy. This is also one of the least salty tonkotsus out there as well. When the temp of the broth is right, all the Missus can say is "aaaah".
The problem is that the Missus is not fond of the standard issue Hakata style straight noodles. Even though we order it extra firm, it just never holds texture for the entire bowl.
The kakuni is preferred over the chashu, though it may seem a bit over the top to some.
I've had it when it just wasn't right here, waxy and a bit tough, but most times it's decent.
Speaking of temperature....we were speaking of temperature, right? The place is nice, warm, and cozy right now, though based on my previous experiences, I'm wondering if they have the heat under control, because it got really hot in here during the summer and fall. Well, at least they've got the outside seating squared away. Service has been ok, sometimes things are forgotten, on occasion you get the idea they are trying to get you out the door.....well mainly because of the mass of humanity waiting outside in the wind and rain, so that'sunderstandable. This is another place to hit up early on in the evening if possible.
Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairement Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117
Santouka Ramen:
Which leads to the shop which I think got the ball really rolling on this ramn-mania back in 2008. I really wasn't too impressed on my first visit due to broth temperature problems. Luckily, things got straightened out and I've never had a BTM...."broth temperature malfunction" since then. and of course, the Missus' favorite version at Sanotuka is the shio toroniku style, with fatty pork on the side. So of course after requesting and eating at Yamadaya for the second time I just had to ask Her which She preferred.....Yamadaya or Santouka. This led us to grabbing some ramen at Santouka, for research purposes of course.
Shio Toroniku Style........
I kind of know which way this tree is falling, so to put it in the Missus's words. "The noodles at Santouka are much better, firm, with a slight crunch, they also hold texture for the entire meal." The pork for the toroniku style ramen has a better flavor, more porky, though tonight's pork is on the tougher side, it is usually much more tender." "I prefer the broth from Yamadaya, because it's less salty and also almost velvety. But the broth at Santouka seems to retain heat better; perhaps it's the bowl, but that makes it very comforting." "I guess it depends on what kind of mood I'm in." "We're going to have to find my perfect bowl." Uh-oh, that sounds like a never-ending quest.
Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111
I'm sure you folks have a ramen place that's your favorite for whatever reason. I think it's great to have choices!
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Man, the Missus sure had changed over the last couple of years.....it used to be that She would only go for the Albacore, Hamachi, and Salmon at sushi bars.....and I'd get the "good stuff". But Take-san at Tadokoro has changed all that. The Missus has come to trust him totally....and Take-san has really picked up on what the Missus enjoys and has gotten Her to try things She never would have.
I think it all started with the ankimo. She loves the version here.
And of course the sashimi, which is how we usually start our meals.....
What has really amazed me is how eagerly She'll go for items the She "never knew were so good!"
Like ika......
And tako.....
Culminating in the Missus actually trying Shirako (cod sperm sac) tonight!
Which the Missus loved! This was melt in your mouth soft, with a slight milky edge to it. I'd had it many times.....with it being more often than nought...well terrible. This was very good. I didn't even realize it's Shirako season.
We'll often get a something a bit different, like this hobo (robin-fish) wrapped around ankimo(he knows the Missus loves his version) and scallion with ponzu.
A wonderful contrast of textures........
Or perhaps some anago broiled over bamboo leaves.....
Which is such a nice surprise when you give yourself over to the man behind the bar.
And of course there are our favorites like engawa, the dorsal fin muscle of hirame (halibut).
Or any number of other "standards" done well......
Take-san paid us a very nice compliment the other evening when he told us, "most people who order Omakase don't really know what that means, but you, you really do."
And it's quite easy when someone understands your taste and still tries to push the envelope a bit when he believes he has something top-notch on hand. This is what makes dining enjoyable. Whether it's a simple bowl of noodles from a stand in Luang Prabang or dinner at Urasawa it's all about experiences, learning, and enjoying. And we've been enjoying Tadokoro quite a bit recently.
Sushi Tadokoro
2244 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110
Open: Mon - Sat 5pm - 10pm
Like I said before:
Go early for best selection and a more relaxed pace and atmosphere. Even better, make reservations and go early.
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Here's one that slipped under my radar.....if it looks familiar, this is the former location of Yakyudori in Hillcrest. Man, yet another shop serving ramen......that's so surprising.....
It's a bit strange for me; I'm not sure if it's really Tec-chan, or is it Tecchan like the sign....well, whatever, I go with what the sign says. I hadn't been here since it was Yakyudori, though I passed by the place when it became Raku, but had never really been motivated.
So what brings me here now? Well my good FOY (Friend of Yoso), "YY" told me that they really enjoy the spicy miso ramen here. Personally, I've never really found a version that I've enjoyed, but if it's good enough for YY, it's well worth a try for me. But I just couldn't find the time to visit. Until Super Bowl Sunday....you see I really wasn't interested in halftime (which seems to get longer every year) and the Ravens seemed to be blowing out the 49ers. So I just jumped in the car to see what was up with this place....they say they open at 6, but were open a bit earlier on this day.
And I did get the Spicy Miso Ramen as instructed, with "thin noodles", which turned out to be your standard issue Hakata style noodles. The price wasn't bad at just over 8 bucks.
First the good; the noodles were done to the al dente, almost crunchy texture I enjoy and the egg was nicely cooked. The chashu pork was mild in flavor, but they had hit a nice balance in texture, not too firm and not falling to pieces....too bad it was ice cold, something that seems to be happening much too often nowadays.
And while this broth was indeed fairly spicy and not as salty as other versions....it really tasted like Japanese Kimchi base. You know, the stuff to make short cut kimchi? It wasn't really my cup of tea......
On the other hand....due to the immensely long halftime and the infamous "lights out", I actually made it back home in time to watch the last half of the 3rd quarter!
After thinking over things....yes, though I may not sprout the "Tao of ramen", or contemplate the meanings of the Hexagrams in I Ching, nor has anyone mistaken me for the "gangster of love" or ever called me "Maurice" (age check here!), I actually do think about what I eat..... I decided to just return and try the straight up tonkotsu ramen.
This time I went with the "flat noodles", which were just your standard issue ramen noodles, but were done up nicely.
The broth seemed a bit light to me. I prefer my tonkotsu a bit more rich. Also, there was a flavor that reminded me of burnt onions that I really didn't enjoy.
It wasn't terrible......but not something I'd go out of my way for.
The service was friendly, though one of the servers here has the kind of voice that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. But that's my problem, not hers. I also tried some of the other menu items......but that's for another day.
Tecchan Yakitori and Izakaya
3739 6th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
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I first of Kaga Sushi what seems like a lifetime ago....probably around 2002. One day, while purchasing some wagashi at Hogetsu, I noticed the very non-descript sign on one of the buildings. Well....here was the Kaga Sushi that I'd heard so much about. Granted, a good part of that discussion included words like racist, sushi nazi, etc...... Also, I understand that one of the graduates of Kaga's mentorship is a pretty, well how should I say it, rather temperamental fellow himself. After seeing him treat customers badly on my two visits there, I don't think I'd return. In fact, the last time there, I was with a friend from Japan who made it a point after leaving to tell me, "I want to let you know....REAL Japanese are not like that!" 'nuff said. Another word that has been used in various discussions is exclusivity, which kind of rubs me the wrong way.....I'm just not like that. What really changed my mind about Kaga Sushi was a discussion with Mrs Takeda of Hogetsu-do. She basically told me that the couple who run the place want to only serve traditional sushi and don't speak very much English. They basically feel uncomfortable with people they don't know and can't communicate with...there would be an additional addition to this a bit later on. I did try to get past this door with the neon open sign twice back in 2005......
And just to make the story short; I looked the part, but couldn't recite the lines. And that was just the way it was going to be. Folks I knew who were Nihon didn't want to go there....folks who thought their Japanese wasn't good enough were afraid. Still, this past winter, I was having a nice Friday drink when "Xiang Jiao" came along. For some reason, I happened to mention Kaga Sushi, and my own "xiang jiao" (which means banana in Mandarin) difficulties. Now being young and all, XJ saw a challenge....she was fascinated. As a plus, her beau (MrT) is from Tokyo and works for one of the major Japanese companies in San Diego. She asked me if I'd be up for Kaga Sushi. Thinking that nothing would come of it I said sure. And during our porcine party, XJ came up to me and blurted out a date....huh? She then reminded me of our discussion....we had a date set for Kaga, which was postponed once, but there I was standing outside that door on a rather cold late December evening. We also had XJ's friend "Trang" and her boyfriend, Masa, who is also from Tokyo for back-up. We walked through that door.....
Now I'd like to say it was all dramatic and such, but the interior is quite humble and warm....much like what you think a neighborhood sushi place would be like in Japan.
The menu, written on very old-school style wooden slats were in Japanese. The couple who ran the place seemed to have aged quite a bit in the last 7 years and now looked like they were in their 70's. The woman who simply showed me a reserved sign and nodded "no" in 2005, now seemed like a doting grandmother....plus, she seemed a bit hard of hearing, which would make dealing with English speakers more difficult.
There was a Hispanic Couple in the place when we arrived, also with a Japanese couple....so this was not an "exclusive club" even though it seemed to cater to the Japanese Ex-Pat community. MrT, ordered, in what he later told me was in the "most respectful way" that it would be Omakase for us.
So after being presented with a wonderfully prepared tako appetizer which we all had to restrain from gulping down, the plate of sashimi arrived.
And let me just say, this was very, very good. Unadorned and traditionally straight forward, but very good.....
No fruit or vegetable carvings......no sauce "swooshed" on the plate, no neat little trinkets, no huge lump of yuzu kosho killing the hirame (my one really bad dish at Kaito).....this was just plain no hiding, no holds, delici-yoso. MrT told me that in terms of just prep and quality, this was much better than Ota, Kaito, Shirahama, or anything else in San Diego. The o-toro did melt in your mouth, the Saba was perfectly cured, milky, but without venturing into "cheesiness", the texture was just perfect. The shoyu ikura was like the kiss of the ocean with ika that had an excellent chew. The akami was interesting, the cut included a bit of chu-toro, which made for a textural exchange.
I've never been a fan of the typical awabi (abalone) served in sushi bars, and am still not, though it does make a nice visual impact.
Next up was a short respite with a very well done broiled saba. Nice oil, balanced salt and sweet.....
Then came the nigiri.
The first thing that struck me was the amount of komezu (rice vinegar) in the sushi-meshi.....it reallycaught me off guard. MrT and Masa thought it was just lovely. For me, the nigiri was not as thrilling as the sashimi. The highlites....well the blue crab was just plain delicious, the kohada was cured well, nice and lightly milky...the mirugai was good. The Ebi, in this case wild Mexican Shrimp was delicious as well.
Based on what I'd already eaten, I had high hope for tamago. Though I've never really bought into the "you judge an Itamae by how they prepare the humble egg" school of thought, I do like a light, mildly sweet, melt in your mouth tamago just like everyone else.
This was not it. It was served ice cold which killed the flavor. The omelet was also too hard and not particularly pleasant to eat.
There's some irony to this whole meal. We'd had all this sashimi and sushi, but the one real talking point for us after the meal was the miso shiro....yep, the miso soup.
As we took the first sip of this rich, yet balanced simple miso shiro with daikon, the three guys looked up...... I'm not sure what it was, but there was that simple comforting feeling this soup gave the three Japanese "boys" in the group. Like a warm blanket wrapping around you on a cold day.... Nice ratio of miso to dashi, not too salty, the daikon cooked to very tender, but not melted away. This was so nice.
After our meal, the Itamae came and spoke to MrT....when he found our XJ wasn't Japanese, he was amazed that she wanted to eat sashimi and nigiri and not just rolls. Hopefully, that contributed to a stereotype being torn down. The folks here just seem to want to do their thing. Even though I still don't agree with the way they do it; having grandparents who never spoke English, I understand it. MrT told me that he had heard this building had been sold and was going to be torn down and the owners look like they are close to retirement. I'm hoping that Kaga Sushi will give a little in who they serve. Though I don't think I can get into the place without someone fluent in Japanese even after eating there......
Kaga-Sushi
1216 3rd Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91911
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