mmm-yoso!!!

The Missus' new favorite restaurant; Sushi Tadokoro

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.

A Week of Sushi, the Traditionalist: The enigmatic Kaga Sushi

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

A Week of Sushi, the Modern - Traditional Shop: Sushi Tadokoro revisited, mostly in photos

I really enjoyed my one and only visit to Sushi Tadokoro back in August and was really wondering how they were doing. So I decided to return.

I arrived just at about 530.........I always like to eat early at a sushi bar if possible, you're assured of getting the best of what they have and if the Itamae is a really nice guy like Take-san, you'll get a full explanation of what's being served. I was quite amazed that Take remembered me, even what my preferences in taste....he even remembered my visits to Surfside even though I sat in front of Aki....something Akinori didn't even recall. In the end, I ended up returning with the Missus so if I went ahead and wrote everything up, I'd still be going at it tomorrow, so you'll just have to be happy with mostly just photos.

 And while I'm sure most folks will focus on the toro, the item that really got my attention was the "hobo sashimi" sitting right in front of the kanpachi (amberjack). Hobo is Sea Robin, something that I'd never had before.

Next was another new presentation - Hirame with Himalayan Pink Salt and Finger Lime.

Even though Take-san makes traditionally focused sushi, he isn't above incorporating new flavors within classic flavor guidelines.

Kohada (gizzard shad):

Mebachi (Big-eye tuna/ Ahi) Zuke with Shiso.

Marinating the ahi for a short period really was a nice touch, with the shiso clearing your palate.

Hobo:

Some of the best ankimo I've ever had.

I sent the Missus a photo of this from my phone.....She immediately responded by saying "we're going there tomorrow night".

Nikiri painted Ika with Shiso:

Uni:

Shoyu Ikura:

Quite good.

Take-san wrapped things up(no pun intended) with what he called an "Ice Cream Cone".

Toro, uni and tororo (grated yamaimo) temaki.

I made reservations for the Missus and I for the following evening....Take-san was surprised and couldn't help but laugh.

Of course we returned early and Take-san told me, "you are lucky, we have some good things today".

Hamachi, Kanpachi, Toro, Mebachi, and what was a pleasant surprise, a favorite of mine since having it at Urasawa, Sayori, Halfbeak, a Hikarimono (shiny fish), a category that includes Aji and Kohada.

The Missus has really gotten more adventurous and it paid off as She loved the Sayori.

There was of course the Ankimo.

She told me this was the best She's ever had and we placed a second order for Her.

My Sayori Nigiri.

The Missus got a Saikyo Miso Chilean Sea Bass.

I got Kohada Nigiri, this time with Yuzu Rind on it.

Take-san told me that because I was just here the previous evening, he needed to prepare items I've had before slightly different.

Aji(Horse Mackerel).

Hirame.

At first I thought the sauce topping it was made from uni. But seeing how much we enjoyed the ankimo, Take-san made a sauce with ankimo, ponzu, yuzu rind, and a couple of other items. Really good!

Hobo sashimi topped with ginger and green onion. We were provided with a bowl of the "ankimo sauce" for dipping, which turned out to go well with the Robinfish. Rich, creamy, hints of citrus, with a mild tangy flavor.

I asked Take how common hobo was. He told me that folks in the city usually don't eat it as sashimi, but in fishing villages it is quite often eaten that way in Japan.

Mirugai for the Missus and I.

Clean, this refreshed our palate. No wonder "YY's" Dad calls this "cucumber"!

Mebachi (Big Eye Tuna) Zuke Nigiri. This time with yuzu kosho......

Great combination for the flavor of Big Eye Tuna.

Next up asari clams.

Finishing off with some uni for "dessert".

 For me, Tadokoro defines what a nice neighborhood sushi restaurant should be. Good product, clean, understated, atmosphere, an Itamae who remembers his customers and their tastes. In terms of price, the meals here were the cheapest per person of all the places this week. It was funny that I mentioned Take-san to Aki and vice versa.....having both worked together at Surfside, they had very nice things to say about each other....both classy guys.

Sushi Tadokoro
2244 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110

Open
Mon - Sat 5pm - 10pm

- Go early for best selection and a more relaxed pace and atmosphere

- I'm sure selections change from day to day. I'm hoping you'll have the same luck we did

A Week of Sushi, Going New School: Akinori Sushi

From then end of summer last year through winter, I heard a lot of good things about the newly opened  Akinori Sushi in Hillcrest. So near the end of the year, I called and made reservations for an "Omakase" meal to share with my good buddy Candice. Having eaten at Surfside Sushi a couple of times, in front of Akinori twice, I already knew of his friendly, accommodating, and laid back demeanor, so I was sure that this would, at the least, be a nice meal.

The interior of Akinori is spartan, but neat and comfortable looking. There's nothing stuffy about the place. In this way, it reflects Akinori's personality.

We had seats front and center....and Candice, ever the beer-maven, quickly noticed that Aki-san had brought in some local brews from Monkey Paw. I quickly noticed that the "heritage" of al the fish being served was listed on the chalkboard on the wall.

We happily chatted and munched on our amuse.....

And our first course of kazunoko and gobo.....

Of course, all attention went to Aki-san as he prepared our next course.......

You can't really make it out, but a lobster was being dispatched......

Not quite as fast as say.....Hiro-san, but quick enough.

It was interesting watching the head of lobster still bobbing around as our plates were being prepared.....

Which looked wonderful.

The hirame (halibut) was cut paper thin, something I really enjoy as cutting it in that manner really changes and heightens the texture. Of course the uni, being local, and "gold" grade was outstanding, that was to be expected. But what really surprised me the most was the Ise Ebi (lobster) sashimi. Personally, I'm not a big fan of lobster sashimi, for me it's sort of bland and rubbery.....even when having been prepared by Urasawa. This however was sweet and quite tender.....very nice local lobster.

Next up was the nouvelle course....the new style presentations.

This was an interesting mixed-bag. So much of the Itamae-customer relationship is based on multiple visits. It's tough trying to figure out a new customer who walks in the door saying "feed me". So some of what I got, like the by-the-books saikyo miso Chilean Sea Bass.

Was good, but really didn't wow me. I make this every couple of months for the Missus.

And I'm just not a big fan of the burnt pseudo-mayo-cream cheese "roll" thing called the roll with Tokyo Bam Bam aioli.

On the other hand.......uni and hotategai (scallop) is a classic pairing, so the Hotate with Uni paste was a fantastic take on a classic combination.

Sweet, sweet, ocean....would probably be a wonderful name for this!

And yet, it wasn't my favorite item on the plate.......which was the "uni tofu".

Think of this as a sort of whipped uni cake, almost like a decent tamago. Light, spongy, permeated with the ocean-custard flavor of uni. I could have easily have eaten a whole tray....then die with a smile on my face.

Next up was a wonderfully refreshing Kumamoto Oyster with ponzu paired with one of my favorite things; ankimo (steamed monkfish liver "pate").

 It funny, both Candice and I took bites of our ankimo simultaneously....we both stopped and looked at each other. The texture of the ankimo was perfect, but there was a certain, almost cheesy pungency to it. Whoa.... it was pretty heady stuff!

All during the meal, Aki-san is conversing with us....and being the sharp Itamae, I think he picked up on my preferences with regards to fish along the way as the next item up was a wonderful, lightly sweet, chewy, piece of engawa (halibut dorsal fin muscle), the most treasured part of the fish.

Right up next was something I would never have thought of......

Yes, it was a really nice piece of hirame....but sprinkled on top was a really fragrant truffle salt! For some reason, I really took to the fragrance and flavor of this. I'm almost thinking of sneaking that jar of truffle salt I have in the cabinet and ordering hirame sashimi from Wal Mi Do. Now that would be pretty funny, huh?

And while the mebachi (Big Eye tuna) looked good, but was nothing special, I had time to appreciate how Aki-san put together his rice.......not too tight, which allows the rice to disperse easily upon eating.

 The kohada (gizzard shad) was lightly brushed with a mild nikiri, which really helped since the flavor didn't have quite a pronounced milky flavor.

As good as the engawa and hirame was, nothing could compare with the Aji.

We watched as a huge layer of fat was trimmed from the fish....we already knew this was going to be good....... The texture was just plain decadent, something I never thought I'd say about aji. The fish almost melted away in my mouth and yet kept that wonderful lightly milky flavor of Spanish Mackerel. Best aji I've had, maybe forever......

Next item needs no description......

It was very good....but because of the timing, was only the second best miso shiro I had that week. (more on that later). Still lobster miso shiro....c'mon.

I wasn't a big fan of the anago, which felt kind greasy to me.

At this point, I was waving the white flag....so Aki-san told us, "just one more item". And it was some item.

 Uni lovers of the world unite......uni risotto, topped with shoyu ikura, tororo (grated yamaimo), and uni. Nice uni flavor with hints of sesame oil. A excellent rice dish, perhaps not up to Raku's Kamameshi, but what is?

In the end, it was a very good meal. Because Akinori is not familiar with me, by no means did I expect a perfect meal. We'll save that for maybe two meals down the road....which based on the price; this was $70 without booze, is doable. Like I said, the relationship between the customer and Itamae is a sacred one....something folks forget. A while back I had a conversation with one of those "sushi snobs" who really had nothing good to say about any other sushi bars except his favorite...he's loyal, which is nice, but is also something that colors his judgement. There's no place that makes everything perfect, every time......now folks who know me realize that I'm a very boring, pragmatic, person...so I ask the guy a simple question- "how many time did you give these places a try?" His answer? "Just once, they never lived up to how good xxxx is."  "So how many times have you been to xxxx?" "Well, we go sometimes two times a week, xxxx-san knows me there and know what I like!""So you give these places one try and say they don't know you like xxxx-san, then hold it against them....what do you do?" "I'm a barber...." "So what if I came into your shop and had you cut my hair and told you....it's not as good as my regular barber I go to every month? What would you say...." Well.....he just cursed at me and moved a few seats down at the counter of one of those one-and-done sushi bars that-would-never- be-as-good-as-his-favorite.

Give Akinori a try....or two....or three..... oh, and if you plan of having the Omakase, call ahead.

Akinori Sushi
1417 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Oh and if you ever wonder why I don't read that four lettered review site; when I mentioned visiting Akinori to a friend of mine, he pointed me to this. Good grief!

 

A Week of Sushi, Starting with the "Old School": Sushi Bar Kazumi

For some reason, I'd accumulated a small collection of photos from visits for sushi over the last couple of months. Each place had it's own personality. I thought it would probably be appropriate to start with my visit to what I call "transplanted Kazumi", now located in Moby Dick Fishmarket. Before there was Sakura, Kaito, or Shirahama, there was Sushi Bar Kazumi. Kazumi was actually the first sushi bar I ate at back in the late 90's. My clients were located in the Hillcrest area and Kazumi was within walking distance. And to take things even farther back, from what I've been told, the current location of Sushi Yaro, was the original location of Sushi Bar Kazumi, before it was Ishikawa. After moving to San Diego proper, I always found parking to be a hassle in the area, so I didn't return until about early 2005. By then Kazumi had started looking a bit run down and the sushi I had that evening kind of reflected that. Eventually he closed down......Zo-san, who I seem to run into all over the place told me that Kazumi was looking to reopen in the Convoy area. But I never expected him to reopen in Moby Dick Fishmarket and Grill. The concept seemed a weird marraige of fishmarket, pseudo fast-food, combined with sushi bar in the evening. Still, I was delighted when reading Kirbie's post on Kazumi, it seemed he had returned to form. Nothing nouvelle about it, but good, solid, old-school sushi.

I had made reservations and I arrived finding the sushi bar empty, but groups of patrons, "roll-a-holics" all on the tables in the restaurant. I took my seat and saw Kazumi moving at the speed of light, a one man show, with a single Server, efficient, and just friendly enough.

 He had a pile of fish sliced in front of him when I arrived and I just told him that I'd take whatever he thought was good, and not to worry and rush. To my surprise, he immediately started making nigiri of the fish in front of him, stopping only to cut two pieces of engawa, and within minutes things were started with a rather shabby looking eight pieces of nigiri.

When I asked, I was told that the tuna was Bigeye, aka Ahi, and what my relatives called "mebachi". That explained the rather lean chu-toro....which still looked like it had part of the dark blood line it in, making it look rather unappetizing. The akami was dry and had broken into pieces before being placed on the rice. The hamachi was dry and stringy.....not a good start at all. Though the engawa, the dorsal fin muscle of the halibut was very good, very mildly sweet, with a nice chew, it was also cut in a rather haphazardly way.

To me, this just seemed like "neta ( the topping of nigiri) fail" and just kind of sad overall. Yet Kazumi was working like a madman putting together roll after roll, even handing me a negi-toro (fatty tuna-green onion) temaki.

The chu-toro in this handroll was actually better than what was on the nigiri.....I love negi-toro and negi-hama, so this pleased me. I was once told that temakiwas actually invented in the United States! I also noticed that Kazumi's sushi-meshi was not quite as strong in the vinegar department; though time could be a factor here.

After a few minutes, the dust had settled and things had slowed down a bit. Kazumi then got down to work......opening and cleaning a Hotategai(scallop) and creating a combination of scallop nigiri and hotate-uni gunkanmaki.

The gunkanmaki seemed a bit sloppy and the uni was not of the highest quality, but it was not bad. Kazumi had not put any wasabi on the hotate nigiri, which was an excellent choice, as the wonderful sweet and mildly briney flavor came through quite well. That was quite a treat. Kazumi had wound down a bit and started making conversation with me as well......I still enjoyed his wit and sense of humor.

I enjoyed the saba-kazunoko (fish roe) temaki.

Great combination of textures.

I love shiromi, white meat fish, but the hirame (halibut) I was served was dry and on the gummy side.

Amazingly, only 40 minutes had passed at this point.......but I was just about totally gassed, so I gave the sign for "just one more"......which ended up being pretty good. This was a cured-"smoked" salmon, which I really enjoyed.

This was something that all the "old school" places used to serve ages ago, but I don't see much nowadays. I asked Kazumi about this prep........he mentioned salt and hickory, but not smoking. Then I realized, this is cured in a combination of salt and liquid smoke! Man, I got to figure this one out.

Dinner ended on a high note, and I'm sure that he'd do a good job if not inundated by orders for 6 California Rolls and 5 crunchy rolls at a time. Also, this dinner ended up being the most expensive of the four at over $80, so I'm not sure I'll return, especially in this format/ locale.

Sushi Bar Kazumi (Inside of Moby Dick Fish Market & Grill)
4805 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
(619) 988-6522

Happy New Year!

Don't know about you, but we've just finished doing  the dishes of our New Year's dinner. Nothing fancy mind you, just me and the Missus.

I hope everyone had a most happy New Year!

Like most we've, well I've had a routine on New Year's Eve......I get up early then hit Nijiya, Marukai, and maybe Mitsuwa to see what was going on, something I've done just about every year since our first New Year post. As I've noted over the last couple of years, the variety and quantity of Osechi-ryori, the traditional Japanese New Year dishes has flagged. I'm sure that it will never totally disappear, but what's available has surely gone down over the last couple of years as old traditions fade and new ones replace them.

This year I had a shopping companion....the biggest change in our household over the last year is that the Missus has taken an interest in cooking and shopping......so it was great having a companion when browsing the aisles.

Though there were many temptations....

We decided not to do the time consuming typical Japanese dishes I'd usually make for New Year. Instead, we bought something I don't recall seeing at Marukai......some really nice Argentinian Red Shrimp...not the freezer burnt stuff from TJ's, but some really nice, almost sashimi grade stuff.

I ended up doing a simple salt bake.......

This was so simple. you didn't even season the shrimp.....just make sure not to overcook them. They go really quickly....like 8 minutes over a hot bed of salt in 500 degree oven.

The Missus was in heaven. We paired this with a shaved kale salad, I made some three oil noodles, and also a dish that had been created a couple of days before. Late the previous week, the Missus just wanted to eat fish each day.....so She kind of threw down the gauntlet so to speak and I had to come up with three different fish dishes on three consecutive days....I call it pulling a dish out of my rear end...so to speak. Anyway, one of the winners was a pan fried fish with a Oyster Sauce-Chinkiang Black Vinegar-Honey Glaze on top of mui bok choi.

The flavors were right in the Missus' Northern Chinese flavor ballpark - sour-salty-sweet.....

For dinner we picked up JohnL and headed to our favorite little neighborhood sushi joint.

Loved the "two way ika"......

It was a nice low-keyed evening. The Missus and I almost never go out on the eve, but decided that this would be a perfect new year eve curveball.......and we really enjoyed it.

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Nothing fancy for New Year morning....well, at first glance it would seem so. The Missus had challenged me with coming up with zhōu like we had at Shanghai No.1. So this meant starting the night before....I changed up my porridge technique and soaked the rice the previous evening. The next morning while I got the zhōu started, I warmed some water and soaked 2 ounces of dried scallop. I shredded the scallop and added the strained soaking liquid to the porridge. Then made a very Taiwanese thin omelete of egg and prevserved turnip. After about an hour and a half, the porridge looked close....I added more water and turned up the heat to allow for the total breakdown of the rice....giving it an almost luxurious texture.....

Dried scallop congee.....

Of course I'm of Japanese ancestry, so I needed to have soba as my meal to enter the new year - toshi-koshi soba. I went with a version of Sansai Soba......of course I needed to have some egg with it, right?

Dinner was the other half of the Argentinian shrimp....salt baked of course.

Some salad, oven-blasted cauliflower, and another item whose recipe is coming up soon. Porcini crusted ono, with seared truffled polenta, and a porcini-cremini sauce.

So this is the way we started 2013!

I hope you all had a great New Year, and a most delici-yoso 2013!

Thanks for dropping by!

Memorable Meals of 2012

Wow, man, another year has just flown by.

I usually don't do these end of year round-up type of posts....well, because we've usually done quite a bit during the year, and yes, it can be quite a bit of work. This year however, FOY (friend of yoso) Candice asked me to contribute something for end of the year round-up. This in turn made me take a look back.

I did come to the conclusion that I really didn't have a "best" meal, but several memorable experiences....and that's kind of what it's about for me. It can be the simplest of things, a great bowl of noodle soup, at just the right moment. It could be doing something new and different, or trying something new and different.

Eating something different, tasting something you haven't tried before, having a dish be your window into a different culture, place, or time.....that to me is priceless.

Or like dealing with Mr Piggy above, you have to overcome things in your attempt to succeed. In the end, it wasn't about the destination, but the journey....and of course proving to my friends that I'm willing to spontaneously com-bust for some pork.

The setting can be a backyard, graciously donated by a friend's mom, knowing that the potential exists of being totally decimated by flaming pork. Or something as wonderful as a stand by the roadside, grill smoking, pelts of sheep slaughtered that day proudly hanging, a sign of freshness and of popularity.....who needs 10,000,000 served? We've slaughtered and grilled three whole sheep today and have sold out!

I'm still thinking that once one of those television travel/dining personalities bites into the tender olive wood grilled lamb from these stands in Tunisia, it's going to blow up.

Well, maybe not......

It's also about learning things....like the "other white meat" seems like filet mignon compared to "dromidaire".

Anyway, I did have a couple of very memorable meals during the past year........

But strangely, I haven't posted on any of them yet!!!

Two of them are from our long trip this year.

We enjoyed the first meal at Le Golfe in La Marsa, a suburb of Tunis, that we returned the next day!

In between beach side homes on the Mediterranean, you couldn't beat the scenery.

 

Except for maybe the food!

Like th seches grille - baby cuttlefish grilled over olive wood.

Or freshly caught Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna Carpaccio!

We also finally found our favorite little restaurant in Istanbul.......we ate there three times! We escaped the clutches of Kumkapi and found this place.....

On our first visit, all the customers were men.....everyone was a regular it seems.

Items were served in the style of meyhanes.....giant trays of mezes brought forth and you selected. You could still order off the menu too. I saw something that every table had and decided we needed it too. The Missus was a bit apprehensive....but after one taste was sold. One of our new "desert island dishes" Çiğ köfte.

It's raw ground lamb mixed with bulghur and herbs....you wrap it in lettuce with a couple of mint leaves.....oh man!

The third occurred at the end of the year, when I finally managed to get into one of the more enigmatic sushi shops in San Diego. If you know your sushi here in San Diego, you know of this place.

It's not quite like what most folks think.

I'll get to these three posts in the New Year I'm sure!

The fourth meal has a special place in my heart. In September of this past year, Candice and I received emails inviting us to dinner in remembrance of Naomi Wise, who sadly, and suddenly passed away on December 15, 2011. Though I had only met her once, she did have an unforgettable effect on me.

 I did have some reservations about attending because I'd never really been a part of her "posse" and didn't want to intrude on such an intimate moment.  But I also knew that Sang ("Sam"), who really worked hard to put together this dinner, was such a warm and friendly individual. When I attended it became clear; this was a small intimate dinner of folks who have been touched by Naomi Wise, whether in person, or through her years of writing the dining column for the Reader.

The meal was an excellent, unpretentious, but well put together family style meal at AR Valentien. Chef Kara Snyder did a great job.

 There was one particular moment during that evening that I recall clearly. We were eating on the balcony and the fog had moved in. We were seated as the first course started to arrive. Distracted by the menu card, a drop of condensation hit me, getting my attention, in the background the "Hawaiian Lullabye" by the Brother Cazimero started playing.... at A R Valentien!

"Where I live there are rainbows
With life in laughter of morning
And starry nights
Where I live there are rainbows
With flowers full of color
And birds filled with song
I can smile when it's raining
Touch the warmth of the sun
I hear children laughing
In this place that I love"

It was a wonderful evening of conversation and memories! It was great meeting all the folks who attended, some of them members of Naomi's posse:

The Lynnester
Scottish Sue
Sheila
Sam
Cheryl
Robin
"pre-Raphaelite" Jennifer
Teresa

And the other folks who I got to meet:

Ed
Lisa
Katy
Mary
Marcie
Greg
Marcie
Greg (yes, two Gregs and Marcies!)

And of course my buddy Candice.

Sang, I don't know if you read our blog, but I'd just like to say thanks! I was honored to be invited.....you did such a great job!

So I guess that's it, this year is wrapped up. See you next year..........

Carlsbad: Yoshino Japanese Deli

I went up and spent a couple hours hanging out with my buddy "JohnL" today. We had a great time "talking story" and catching up on things. I often kid John about his (lack of) taste, as his recommendations often leave me a bit puzzled, wondering if he was playing some odd joke on me. So far, John has been oh-for-two....two strikes on him, so he's ben a bit more hesitant making recommendations. But today, John decided to take me to his favorite little hole-in-the-wall sushi to go joint in Oceanside named Yoshino. No it's not that Yoshino's, but this one.

Located near the corner of State and Grand avenue in downtown Carlsbad this little shop is run by an older Japanese couple. There's not much in the shop, just a cold case an ice cream freezer and the couple making rolls and poke bowls.

Nothing fancy and no frills, the couple is very friendly. Apparently they make whatever they can based on what's available that day....then it's pau hana, no more......

John's favorite here is the Poke Bowl($6.75), which is what I got.

While this is nowhere close to being as good as the stuff back home in Hawaii, it's a nice decent light meal. It's more of a poke "salad" of sorts since there are only about 4-5 cubes of fish in the bowl along with seaweed salad, cucumbers, and a good amount of avocado. The tuna is decent quality, better than the typical "saku" Sushi Deli stuff and is lightly seasoned. All of this rests on a bed of sushi-meshi, seasoned sushi rice, which was mild, though the rice quality is not the best. A piece of nori separates the rice creates a barrier for the rice.

All in all, not bad....I'd have this for lunch on occasion if I lived close by. There were a variety of rolls available, though as you know, it's not my thing.

We also got the "tako salad" - $2.75.

The octopus had a nice texture, this was solidly flavored with komezu(rice vinegar), sesame oil, and some sneakily placed thin slices of chili pepper.

There a couple of tables inside and right outside the little shop and it's cash only. So JohnL, looks like you didn't strike out! One for three still ain't that great though! Just kidding my friend, this is a nice little neighborhood shop.

Yoshino Japanese Deli
2913 State St
Carlsbad, CA 92008

 

Sushi Tadokoro

After being married all of these years, the Missus knows when I'm feeling a bit run down.....I'm not sure if it's work, the weather, old age, or maybe a combination of everything, but I think I've been moving at a bit of a slower pace recently. The Missus knows just how to pull me out of it; "why don't you go and get some sushi tonight....have a nice dinner!" I couldn't help but perk up.....plus there was a place I had in mind. A new place called Sushi Tadokoro. Now the first two recommendations I had for the place mentioned rolls and jalapeno rolls...stuff I really don't eat. But when Rodzilla asked if I'd been here yet and mentioned Edomae sushi....well I just had to check it out.

Plus, it's not that faraway from home, just South of El Agave and Old Town.

There are only three or so parking stalls in the strip mall, but this being an early in the week.....a weeknight, I had no problems parking. The restaurant is quite minimalist, but very nice looking. The bar is long, with quite a bit of space. I sat to the very left on the bar and did recognize Take from Surfside Sushi....I'm guessing all the guys form there are starting open their own places.

For me, Edomae sushi revolves around nigiri, so after Take asked me what I would not eat....basically a non-factor, unless he was planning on doing something with hoya, I asked him to make me whatever he felt. There was an "Omakase Special" on the greaseboard for a very low $25.....but hey......I wanted some good stuff.

Things started off with Hirame (halibut) cured in kelp with some of his own nikiri....his personal soy sauce mixture intended for sushi.

This was a nice start for me....I love shiromi(white fish) and the nikiri, while mild added a nice component to the dish allowing the mild smokey flavor imparted from the kombu (kelp) to come through.

Next up was some Ahi from Hawaii also dabbed with nikiri.

It was a beautiful piece of fish. Ahi (yellowfin), of course has a stronger, more oily flavor than maguro (bluefin). Take-san had given it perhaps a bit more wasabi than I would have appreciated. I did start to notice how nicely shaped his shari was....not humongous carb-blasting pieces of rice, nor huge slabs of protein, but nicely proportioned overall. I did expect a stronger sushi-su(vinegar), but this was mild and nice.

Loved the shari with the hamachi belly....not too tightly packed, not falling apart, it basically exploded in your mouth.

The fish was decent, not as silky smooth as what I would expect, but still good.

The chu-toro was also decent.

It did indeed almost melt in your mouth. Not magnificent, but nice.

The saba topped with a paper thin slice of kombu was just awesome.

Saba is not my favorite thing in the world, but this was just fantastic. The milkiness of the saba was tempered by the kombu, which imparted a smokey, flavor of the sea. This just made my entire day better.....I hope to have it again, soon!

One of the things I enjoy the most about neighborhood sushi places, is that the Itamae gets to know you, understand your tastes.....you can put yourselves in their hands knowing you'll get a good meal. At this point, Take-san started understanding what I enjoyed......and came up with an engawa duet. Engawa is the dorsal fin muscle of the halibut, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I love it. Crunchy and mildly sweet, it's one of my favorites.

The first piece was typical engawa, a slice of lemon was lightly rubbed against the fish, then a few drops of ponzu, giving it just enough of an acidic touch.

Crunchy, sour, mildly sweet, this was classic engawa.

For the second piece, Take-san brought out the torch and took it to the fish.....I'd never had this before. After squeezing 2-3 drops of lemon on it he placed it on my plate.

Man, this was great. The torching had brought out sweetness that I never knew existed in engawa. While cutting down on the crunchiness, it had developed the fat and collagen, making this a real treat.

Take-san really nailed it for my final item....I usually will have negi-hama to finish things off. I watched him scrape the hamachi belly and combine it with hamachi. It seemed that he read my mind......negihama. As you notice, I ate a piece before I remembered to take a photo.....

This basically melted in my mouth, it was the perfect ending to my meal.

The folks here are very nice. I did wonder how they'd do....Take-san said they don't get many Nihon customers, so having a fairly diverse selection is a challenge, but they did quite well. Plus, from what I could see on this visit, they treat you nicely whether you want a spicy tuna roll or omakase. Something that some places don't do.

Needless to say, I'll be back.

Sushi Tadokoro
2244 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110

Open
Mon - Sat 5pm - 10pm

 

 

 

Oahu: Mitch's Fish Market

My MIL actually gave me a "day off" during my stay....just joking, I was meeting friends for "dinner" and since libations were going to be involved driving back to Ewa Beach was out of the question. Though we weren't meeting until about 7, I started my day very early with a nice breakfast (a later post), then did some shopping for the Missus. The Missus had encouraged me to have a "really good" lunch and since the temps were hitting the high 80's, I thought sushi would be great.....not mayo-filled, mega rice bomb fast-foodish stuff, but a light meal of decent quality fish. My list of three was pretty easy....Sushi Sasabune...but they didn't open until 12, Sushi Izakaya Gaku is a strictly dinner only place, and Mitch's Fish Market. Mitch's opens at 1130 and is located in a warehouse in the industrial zoned area near the airport. It does indeed look a bit like a machine shop or similar business....

 I managed to squeeze my rental into a tiny little slot down the street from the tiny (5 seat sushi bar and two four tops) shop. The place was half full, a group of three to my left on the bar was hitting the Otokoyama pretty early in the day. don't blame them though....Mitch's is purely BYOB, so why not...hopefully you're not driving after all that sake, though. I looked over the menu in chalk on the wall, with various specials and the head Itamae, maybe because he didn't know me handed me over to his right hand man, Masa Murakami...perhaps he didn't deem me worthy? No complaints, though as I had an excellent light meal...which started and ended with o-toro.

At twenty bucks a pop, this ain't cheap, but I gotta tell you; it was very nice....melt in your mouth nice......touch it and it seems to start melting nice. The other piece had a slight brown streak on it, but also just melted in my mouth....such richness is worth the price once in a while. Cheap and sushi/sashimi are not inclusive of each other..... The rice was well prepared, you could count every grain, and it was not too tightly packed.

The only item I thought was not up to par was the Kohada(gizzard shad).

Which lacked the slightly cured milkiness that I enjoy.

The Kanpachi(Amberjack) on the other hand was quite good.

It looked dry and almost firm like shiromi, but man, when I put it into my mouth with just a drop of shoyu it almost melted away, rich and clean, with a slight sweetness.

I decided to try some other specials. First up, Isaki, known as Chicken Grunt(how's that for a paradoxial name) or Striped Pigfish, was something that I'd never had before.

Topped with a light drizzle of ponzu, green onions, and momji oroshi, this had a fairly delicate texture when compared to, say snapper or halibut.

I also got some Shima Aji (jack) which I know best by it's local name papio.

This had a nice mild sweetness to it, it was also a lot more tender and light than versions I've had before. I definitely want this again. I finished my meal with another duo of o-toro and left feeling refreshed......

 I really enjoyed my meal at Mitch's. And while it's not the best I've ever had, it was without a doubt very good and to me well worth the 80 bucks or so I paid. No fancy arrangements, no pretense, just straight ahead good fish.

Mitch's Fish Market
524 Ohohia St
Honolulu, HI 96819

Open Daily - 1130am - 830pm