Green Noodles, kim chee, teriyaki and, well a fusion-Nozomi

mmm-yoso is not on vacation, and apparently never was...but I have a few posts  to put up because, well, I eat daily and am now used to documenting each meal.  Oh, this is Cathy, BTW.

Hi. You drove by Nozomi...either in Carlsbad, that little corner in La Jolla or probably saw the one on Convoy Street, in the same mall with Convoy Noodle House...and you thought...what??? A Japanese place inside a mall with mostly Korean restaurants (and the Vietnamese Convoy Noodle house) Yep, me too. . .well, it turns out Nozomi is Japanese-Korean.

So, the menu...its extensive...with sashimi, sushi rolls...all kinds...like about 50 different rolls. There are photos in the front window, there are photos over the sushi bar inside..but not the take out menu, which is photocopied...and besides, we didn't get any rolls. Nope. Soft shell crab was on the menu. We had to ($6.95).

Lightly breaded, crispy, quite large; not like the frozen soft shell crabs sold...in freezer sections of various stores. This reminded The Mister and I of soft shell crabs we'd get fresh back in Virginia. Then we were brought out two bowls of Kim Chee.
The kim chee on the left was more finely chopped, had a soy/salty base...basically was pickles with some red pepper interspersed and very good. The larger bowl was mostly with bok choy and other veggies and had a nice heat. Bowls and spoons came out with it. It was our "salad". The Mister ordered the Green Noodle soup, which we were warned came in a LARGE bowl ($8.95). Oh my... the bowl was 12 inches square...as large as a BIG old floor tile!
This photo was to show you what was in the bowl, after The Mister had removed one large bowl (that was for kim chee) of broth. The broth was *very* light...barely chicken flavored...it ended up needing the kim chee to be added to it. The noodles, by themselves were nice, chewy and a good texture...they had a nice not too deep but discernible vegetable flavor flavor. The soup had 2 full shrimp, one mussel, a lot of small chopped (canned) clams, potatoes, onions, squash and mushrooms in it. Way much food. Way filling. I ordered the dinner Bento Box ($9.95) with BBQ'd pork.
Salad, rice, 4 pieces of California roll (with real crab), tempura'd vegetables, one shrimp and one piece of fish. Oh the pork. First of all, it was a *huge* portion...and the flavor was superb. Grilled just enough to get some smoke into it and a light, not too sweet of a teriyaki sauce...saltier more than sweet sauce.
Lots of food, lots of flavor if you add the kim chee, fresh food, lots of different rolls and good service. Try it.

There are donburi and curries on the menu also.

Nozomi #1 4637 Convoy #104 San Diego 92111 (858) 569-7773
Nozomi #2 4159 Regents Park Row #190 La Jolla 92037 (858) 452-7778
Nozomi #3 3050 Pio Pico Drive #A Carlsbad 92008 (760) 729-7877

Comments

[wandering chopsticks]

Oooh, that soft-shell crab looks awesome. And the noodles look like they'd be very tasty. Not green tea noodles? That's the only green noodle I've ever heard of.

[Cathy]

Not at all green tea, WC. I was surprised also, but the flavor was nice, albeit mild. It was good to eat teh seafood with noodles and a little broth and then add the kim chee later....got to taste verything. Oh, and that soft shell crab was *excellent*.

[Captain Jack]

Hi Cathy,
MMM, I love soft shell crabs almost as much as I love uni. Are they in season?

[Cathy]

The blue crabs on the east coast typically shed from May to July, CJ. But the Asian crabs pretty much shed year round...and basically have to be watched in cages when they are ready to shed/ shedding (since they won't eat and therefore can't be trapped) and then they have to be eaten wihin 4 days after shedding so that the new shell doesn't start forming. I think they are so neat in that you eat every part of them; no waste!

[clayfu]

this place always has hugeeeeeeeee portions.

i've ordered a double order of green noodle to share among four, largest pot you'll ever see at a restaurant!

Also the soysauce based diced "kimchi" is supposed to go with the noodle i believe

[SK]

We go to the Nozomi on Convoy fairly frequently. The rolls are pretty much always good although comprehending all the permutations on the menu can be daunting. They're also an excellent value for the price.

[MeltingWok]

Hi Mrs Kirk :)) The noodles sounds delicious. Have not seen it like that before, is that mung bean noodles ? The soft shell crabs looks light and crisp to a perfection :) Glad you guys enjoy everything you ordered :)

[Cathy]

Hi Clayfu...yes, I hadn't remembered the portion size; had been here with The Mister many years ago. The waitress called it kimchee, but it was more like pickles, and came out with two huge bowls and spoons before anything else, so we ate a lot of it tht way first...but what we did not finish helped out the soup.
How true, SK...so many possiblities on the roll menu...it was overwhelming...like when I get to the Cereal Aisle in the grocery store...
Hi, MW- no, just vegetable flavored chewy noodles. I have never seen this kind in a store, but don't think they are made in house here, ether. The crab was perfect- and just a bit larger than usual, which was why we were so pleased with it...[and... Kirk has His Missus; I'm just the "and Friends" part of the title..and basically the Token White Girl from East County for the blogging part...with my own Mister, who is also very blond...we kind of give a little different perspective to similar foods and restaurants.]

[Fred]

Hi Cathy,

I've been to Nozomi a lot, since I work pretty close by to one. One of my favorite things to get is the Chirashi bowl, but I usually make sure there's someone to share it with! It's a bowl of sashimi fish (tuna, salmon, octopus, shrimp), masago, vegetables, and rice, big enough to feed 2 or 3 people. Good stuff!

[Cathy]

Actually, Fred, I love the Chirashi and get it from almost every Korean place I go (and have it already written as part of another post)...The one here at Nozomi is HUGE, but also the one at Happy Meal (inside Zion Market)(it's #4 on the menu) is excellent and very large also.

[Miss Vicky]

I love the noodles at nozomi's even the udon too. They use the chewy type of udon topped with tempura shrimp... *drools* I go in there for the green noodles right when I start to feel under the weather. You didn't review any of the rolls! They have some of the most innovative and crazy rolls I've ever seen. :) I recommend the La Jolla location since the tables and plates/spoons tend to be less sticky.

[nhbilly]

Interesting place...seems like a high ROI place :-)

[Cathy]

Hello Miss Vicky! We were overwhelmed by the amount of choices for rolls, and also saw the size of some on tables near us, and I figured one roll would be a meal...and, well, soft shell crab is something we pretty much consider a basic, so it was the choice that night. It turned out to be a great choice...I think the LJ locatin is not sticky because it just opened this past summer...give it time; it'll have that sticky table feel soon enough.
Billy-yes, excellent ROI, and it was even better when we used a coupon from the Entertainment Book a few years ago.

[i'lltaketwoplease]

ooooh yummy. I come to Nozomi for their kalbi, sometimes their curry. I noticed a lot of Korean folks came there to eat, and on hot days were ordering the salad.. which I learned is the Chirashi bowl.. and the cold noodles. I haven't tried the noodles yet, will wait for summer. I LOVED the salad, but yes.. you need to share with someone. Oh yeah, their sushi and sashimi is pretty good too!

[Cathy]

Thanks for the suggestions on what we can order next time, IT2P. We will go back. I had forgotten about it since when we go to that mall, its usually for quick Pho.

[rotochicken]

Been a Nozomi fan for a while. The Convoy Nozomi was owned and run by a family. They sold it and the name and are running the Regents Park Row location now. Menus are pretty much the same, but I think the Regents locale is slightly better. It is not clear to me that the Regents location is actually connected to the others, other than by name. They do pretty decent sushi as well, but Green Noodles are very satisfying.

[Cathy]

Wow, thanks for that info, rotochicken. I didn't ask when I went into the La Jolla location a few months ago. I agree about the green noodles. Thanks for stopping by.

[ScottyB]

I had to put Nozomi (at least the Regents Park location) on my "will never return" list. I used to work walking distance from them. About 10 of us went there for a birthday lunch. The sushi we ordered came out very fast, but the teriyaki chicken bentos took 1 hour and 10 minutes to arrive. No apologies from the waitress. I liked the sushi, but can't endure the service.

[Cathy]

Oh, that is terrible, Scotty. I understand completely. The location on Convoy had multiple waitresses, all of whom were helping at every table. It is very coordinated there. Again, the food is excellent. Thanks for taking the time to comment. I tried to go there (to the Regents Park Row location)last week at about 2 pm on Tuesday, and there was absolutely *no* parking on top or underground and cars were parked at the red line on the street.

[Kitty]

We just tryed the new Nozomi in Carlsbad last night- I was looking for their website and found you :)
The food was very tasty - the ambiance and decor wonderful (two levels- waterwall- coi pond) Downsides- no liquer license yet (they're working on it I was told) and the waitress, while polite was not very knowlidgable- even the teaserver couldn't tell me which teas were decaf.