Tsuruhashi Japanese BBQ

I was overjoyed a few months ago when I learned that we now have not one (Suzuya Japanese BBQ), but now 2 Yakiniku restaurants in San Diego. That would be a 200% change since this time last year. I was especially excited about the opening of Tsuruhashi. Why, you may ask? Well, if this Tsuruhashi is in any way affiliated with Tsuruhashi in Fountain Valley, I was in for a taste of pretty good Yakiniku. Yakiniku for the uninitiated, is translated to "Grilled Meat", and is basically the Japanese version of Korean BBQ. Yakiniku back home in Hawaii can mean many things, it could mean a regular Korean BBQ, or a version of a more traditional Japanese style BBQ. Tsuruhashi itself is a district of Osaka well known for the large Zainichi (ethnic Korean residents of Japan) Korean population. Tsuruhashi is also well known for....what else, Yakiniku.

I had been trying to get someone to check out Tsuruhashi with me for a few months, but to no avail. It seemed that everyone familiar with Korean BBQ, like Ed from Yuma balked at the fact that most Yakiniku meals came without the "free" Panchan. In most traditional Yakiniku restaurants, panchan is ordered off the menu, and you are charged for it. Problem number two.....a few people mentioned how "expensive" this place was....so what I'll do, is not detail how much we paid, until the very end.

I also did a bit of "research". I knew someone whose roommate worked at Tsuruhashi, and he provided some advice, which in one case turned out to be pretty handy, and in another case might have been useful, but was not.

We arrived a bit before the usual 5pm opening time. Piece of advice #1, either get there at opening or be prepared to wait. Tsuruhashi is a fairly small restaurant.

There are only 11 tables in the restaurant, and in one section, 3 of the tables are "movable" for large groups. Since Yakiniku is a leisurely experience, and Tsuruhashi does not accept reservations, the wait for a table can be pretty long if your timing is not right.

The Manager who runs the place is a really stoic, serious Gentleman, who can come across as downright stuffy....unless you speak Japanese, or are a regular customer. This was the only time I saw him smile the entire evening, so I had to take a photo.

In some ways I don't blame him, I'm sure he gets a variety of questions and queries from people who have no clue. There were two older women who sat across us, who obviously didn't have a clue, asked a ton of questions, made demands, and only ordered two plates, one of which were vegetables, before hurrying out.

A quick word about the "grill". Because the two ladies hurried out post haste, we got to see the hard working Servers replace the "grate", and low and behold...the gas burners are supplemented with charcoal. I'm not quite sure if it was Binchotan, but it was without a doubt lump charcoal and not briquettes.

Piece of advice #2...get there early(sound familiar?), Tsuruhashi will often run out of what they call "top tier" meat. When you peruse the menu, the cuts of meat are divided into sections, and items like Short Ribs have several "grades", each priced differently. This piece of advice was not of any use to us on this evening, as the restaurant was out of the top two tiers of "Kobe" Short Ribs, and "Kobe" Cap Rib Eye. So we had to "settle" for USDA Prime Grade Meat (insert sarcastic "poor thing" here).

One more thing before I (finally)get on to the meat. With this style of Yakiniku, some of the best quality meats are served unmarinated(though there are many exceptions), and unsalted, unless specified. In the case of Tsuruhashi, you are provided 2 "sauces" initially, and additional dish-specific sauces are provided as necessary.

I had a notion of dividing up this post into two, since it is very long....but the Missus told me to "stop being a tease, and show them the food...o-Kay!" So here we go.

We started with some Kimchi....well since, I just had to have some.

And though I think this was fine, you can get better in most any Korean Restaurant...or even out of a bottle in some cases.

Pork Cheek.

Looks a lot like Toro(fatty tuna belly) doesn't it? This was served with spicy bean sauce and lettuce for wrapping. The meat itself was served with only a light sprinkling of black pepper. In retrospect, we should have gotten the Pork Belly, as this was on the tough side, but still if grilled to a crisp state, it was decent. It was also the cheapest meat we had all night, so I'm not complaining much.

Prime Cap Ribeye.

This almost qualifies as food porn.... In case you're wondering, the "cap" is the small bit of meat right at the top portion of the Rib Eye. This came unseasoned, and was very tender. It would be an absolute crime to over cook this piece of meat. Just think, this is what is considered "second tier" on the menu.

Salted Prime Tongue w/Shiso:

Four wonderful rolls of thinly cut and well marbled prime beef tongue wrapped around Shiso. This was so soft I almost thought it was thinly sliced prime rib eye!  This was served with a little bowl of Ponzu sauce. The Missus would have wished that this tasted a bit more "wild"...but it's hard to complain about beef that melts in your mouth.

Seafood Combination.

Where to start? Everything was ultra fresh. I enjoyed the Tako (Octopus), when grilled it reminded me of days at the beach, spearing Tako, turning it inside out to kill, pounding it against the lava rock to tenderize, and simply grilling over charcoal! The Ika could almost be considered entertainment, as it would "puff up" when placed on the grill. The very fresh salmon was problematic as it stuck to the grill, and tended to break apart. The shrimp were very good, fresh and sweet, we devoured it shell and all.

But the best item were the scallops.

These were sashimi grade, you could just have eaten them raw. We just barely grilled them. I did cook one a bit more to see if they shrank, a good sign that they had been injected with brine. These kept their size and shape. Good stuff!

Beef Tongue Marinated in Miso:

The Missus's favorite of the evening. A thicker slice of beef tongue marinated in a Aka(red) Miso marinade. Nice flavors, and more of a chewy texture.

Prime Short Ribs:

To think, this is the lowest grade of Boneless Beef Rib Meat on the menu. To be honest, it was a bit tougher than I anticipated, so I'm still looking forward to the first or second tier choice.

Beef Tail(Oxtail) Soup:

To be honest the Missus was disappointed in this. She thought the broth way too salty, and the Oxtails way too tough. We had kind of ordered this as an after thought, and should have left it that way. It was a bit cheaper than similar versions at various Korean Restaurants though.

Quite a bit of food, huh? Before I reveal the bill, why don't you take a wild guess......

Kimchi - $2.50
Pork Cheek - $5.50
Prime Short Ribs - $6.25
Prime Cap Rib Eye - $8.25
Salted Prime Tongue w/Shiso - $7.95
Beef Tongue Marinated in Miso - $5.95
Assorted Seafood - $8.95
Beef Tail(Oxtail) Soup - $7.25
Rice - $3.00 !!!
Hot Tea - Free

With tax about $60. It might seem really pricey....but come to think of it, our recent dinner at Seoul BBQ was just about $4 cheaper! That doesn't mean that everything is very cheap...the tier 1 Kobe Short Ribs are $14.95, and the Kobe Cap Rib Eye is $16.95, and I'm assuming that the portion sizes are the same. The seafood combination is a bargain in our eyes, as are the pork offerings, most are priced at $5.50. Beef heart, tripe, liver, and intestine, are priced under $5. Chicken Leg meat, either salted or miso marinated is $4.25, and there was a large group of young men who ordered maybe 10 orders of the stuff with beer.

The service was very good, efficient(our tea and water refilled) and friendly(except for the Boss), and rather unobtrusive. This location of Tsuruhashi is affiliated with Tsuruhashi in Fountain Valley. I'd advise going early, as we left there was quite a long waiting list.

Tsuruhashi Japanese BBQ
3904 Convoy St (In the same strip mall as Sakura)
San Diego, CA 92111

Hours: Thurs-Tues 5pm-Midnight

Closed Wed.

I'm thinking we'll be back very soon......

Thanks for hanging in there, I know this post was really quite long!

Comments

[kyle]

Hey Kirk,
Interesting post. Hard to imagine since most of our yakiniku "back home" is Korean owned. Damn, you eat some of the wierd stuff man. Power to you though, with me there's some stuff I draw the line with!
BTW BOLA and Oishii, still read your blogs but can't post, great job on both of 'em!
Thanks Kirk! Kathy's posts are on it too!
Kyle

[nhbilly]

$3.00 for rice what the heck!
Sounds price like Anjin in Costa Mesa, but well worth it for better quality and grade of meat that melts in your mouth and not it your hands.

[clayfu]

There is something like this off the 15 freeway off mira mesa. I think its called Shogun? its about the same price for the food.

and btw if you can't find someone to eat with on convoy, i'm always here haha.

[howie]

$30 a head is not bad compared to some of the Korean BBQ places in SD. Those strips of ribeye look *very* tasty.

[Kathy]

my god, that is food porn!...now all I want is a huge hunk of super marbled meat...ROAR! hehe, is that drool dribbling down my chin? ;)

[Joseph E]

Kirk, this one is going straight onto my list. I haven't said that often enough in the past few months, but those pictures look too good to pass up. I agree that $30 a person for that variety and quality of food is reasonable.

Is this the first time you have posted a photo of the owner or manager of a restaurant? I don't think I've even seen a picture of Sam (of Sammy's Sushi). And you even have a photo of the guys eating at the long table. Is this the start of a trend? Well, you have my permission to post my picture if I ever wander in front of your lens.

Do post about the follow-up visit. I'd like to hear about those Kobe short ribs. Mmm...

And thanks again for lunch at Masa. The food was fine, but the company was excellent. Can't wait to read your review.

[Cathy]

Oh wow, Kirk. When The Mister and I saw there was no line, we should have walked in the other day, although our dinner at Sakura was excellent.
Thanks for the kind words, Kyle.

[Jack]

Kirk,
I've been trying to get here for some time but haven't been able to for some reason. From the looks of it, I really need to go there. Any chance you are going there soon? If that is what the "prime" grade looks like, I really want to see what the "kobe" grade meat looks like.

[Captain Jack]

Nice post Kirk,

I sure would like to try the tier one kobe meat. Did the manager say why they did not have it on your visit?

By the way, the photographs look great, you must have a spiffy camera.

[Darlene]

Fantastic post! I've only gone to Seoul BBQ on Convoy and this place is my next stop on next weekend to try out. In addition, I learned so much about food (for example scallops being puffed up with water to increase size) just by reading this.

Eat on...
Darlene

[Candice]

Yum yum! This sounds a bit like a place up in LA that I've been wanting to try. I've had a lot of beef tongue at Yakitori Yakudori lately - new favorite meat!

[Andy 美國土子]

spectacular!

[Kirk]

Hi Kyle - Thanks! Both BoLA and Miss Oishii Eats are not only excellent bloggers, but are two of the nicest people I know!

Hi Billy - Yep, that $3 rice charge ($1.50/pp) kinda stopped me dead. BTW, I passed Anjin the last time I was in Costa Mesa...you got some great choices out there...like Angotei. There, I said it for you.... ;o)

Hi Clayfu - I think you mean Suzuya:

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2007/01/suzuya_japanese.html

Shogun Kobe is Teppanyaki. I've still gotta hit up Suzuya for dinner....heard their Shabu Shabu is pretty good.

Hi Howie - I thought the exact same thing.

Hi Kathy - Well go grab some Yakiniku!

Hi Joseph - There is sort of a photo of Sam on my post:

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2005/09/sammy_sushi_eve.html

It was great having lunch...we'll do it again sometime soon!

Hi Cathy - It's funny, we checked out Tsuruhashi again, no line, but a long waiting list, and a 2 hour wait...where the people were waiting, who knows. Maybe they went to Home Depot Expo???

Hi Jack - You and me both.....

Hi CJ - Betcha my camera costs less than your camera... ;o) I just have a little cheap-y camera! Right?

Hi Darlene - Tsuruhashi and Buga are worth checking out.

Hi Candice - Beef Tongue does really well when sliced thin and grilled.

Hi Andy - There are some really good Yakiniku places up your way - you should check them out!

[Steamy Kitchen]

Hey there - I just found your site via Passionate Eater. I love your site! $60 isn't expensive at all - it looks like you got a ton of food!

[Kirk]

Hi SK - You're right, it's all relative. I don't know how many told me when I mentioned Tsuruhashi, about how expensive the place was.....that's why I didn't reveal the price till the end. It's really not that expensive.

[Andy 美國土子]

Kirk, where do I go for Yakiniku up here? Japanese food is so hit and missssssssss in LA that I practically avoid it except for the Mitsuwa food court in Costa Mesa and your recommendations.

BTW, does anybody read Kanji? In front of the restaurant, is that the Japanese simplication for Chinese 燒?

Per kirk's explanation, i assume, that Yakiniku = 燒肉

[Kirk]

Hi Andy - Billy mentions Anjin, I've heard it's quite good.

Anjin
3033 Bristol St
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

And of course, the original Tsuruhashi is in Fountain Valley:

Tsuruhashi
18798 Brookhurst St
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
(714) 593-8393

It can get really pricey if you eat all the Kobe stuff, and of course booze!

BTW, the Missus said that it says "BBQ Meat" on the front.

[elmomonster]

I love this line:

"...when grilled it reminded me of days at the beach, spearing Tako, turning it inside out to kill, pounding it against the lava rock to tenderize, and simply grilling over charcoal"

Coming from any other blogger, I'd say, "c'mon, you didn't *REALLY* do that"...but you?! I expected nothing less.

[Kirk]

Hey Elmo - Actually my Dad was a heck of a fisherman, and had a mean "Tako-eye". You look for the trail that the Tako leaves on the bottom, and follow it to where it lives. My friends are much better outdoorsmen than I, but I was always good at cooking and eating!

[clayfu]

i went here tonight, just delicious.

I got the seafood, prime rib eye cap, kobe beef short rib, salted beef tongue, and bbq rib.

after tax and tip and a large asahi, 60$.

delicious