Suzuya Japanese BBQ - A Revisit

*** Suzuya has closed

The Missus has been on a roll lately, on a Yakiniku/Korean BBQ roll to be precise. So after a very nice meal at Tsuruhashi, the Missus decided that She was ready for Suzuya....just for comparisons sake, of course! This was great for me, since I'd enjoyed my previous lunches at Suzuya, I was looking forward to trying out the dinner menu. We arrived at about 7pm on a recent Tuesday to find Suzuya completely empty.

I liked the way Suzuya is designed, with nice spacing between tables, and a understated but classy set- up for an Asian BBQ joint. Now there is one specific item that sets Suzuya apart from Tsuruhashi, and that would be that Suzuya serves Shabu-Shabu(Japanese style Hot Pot). Now the Missus was pretty excited at the prospect of having some Shabu-Shabu, it's one of Her favorite styles of eating, and frankly, it had been a while. The bummer was that on the placard it says "Two order minimum", which it would seem would blow the possibility of having a combo Yakiniku/Shabu Shabu dinner out of the water. And this requirement kinda made sense since the table had only one brazier on it. So we mentioned this to the nice young man waiting on us, who said, "just one minute", and walked to the kitchen area. He came back in a minute and said that since the restaurant was empty, they'd make an exception, and charge us slightly more. We had no problem with that, in fact we were really pleased with the service.

Soon enough the dipping sauces for the Shabu-Shabu arrived.

The condiments were the standard "Gomatare"(sesame dipping sauce) which in this case was a combination miso and sesame dipping sauce and lemon based Ponzu. also provided was a rustic type of Momiji Oroshi(usually grated daikon and chili), which in this case was grated daikon and togarashi, and thinly sliced green onions.

Soon enough a pot of water with some Kombu(kelp) arrived and placed on the burner.

Notice a problem with the photo? Well, Kombu should NEVER be boiled, as it will add a bitter flavor to the liquid. I just had to remove it.

Soon enough all of the "stuff" started arriving.....remember, this is for one order of Shabu Shabu. First the thinly sliced Rib Eye.

Well marbled meant a very moist and tender meat when briefly submerged in the liquid.

A nice generous helping of Napa Cabbage, Shingiku(Garland Chrysanthemum), Shiitake Mushroom, Tofu, Gyoza(dumplings), Onion, Carrot, and Udon. The shingiku was very fresh and had a nice flavor. The Missus enjoyed the Udon the most, as it had a nice, mildly chewy, pull to it.

This was a nice start to the meal....in fact it almost felt like enough food for the whole meal! As soon as we were done, everything was whisked away and the cooking surface placed on top of the flame, and we were ready for the Yakiniku portion of the meal.

The sauces provided for the Yakiniku was a Aka(red) miso based sauce, that had a nice sweet-miso flavor, and the standard ponzu sauce.

We started with Beef Tongue, which has become the Missus's favorite.

This however, was not the best version of tongue we've had. It was very tough, and was a bit off in terms of flavor.

The Mixed Vegetables.

Everything was as good as veggies should be. Being the carb lover, I enjoyed the boiled potatoes after they'd been grilled for a while. The Shiitakes also were excellent, but overall, I felt that I could make this at home.

The "Prime" Rib Eye:

Unfortunately, in this case the picture doesn't lie...you can draw your own conclusions......

The Mixed Seafood.

Not very impressive, especially after having the Mixed Seafood at Tsuruhashi. Everything was fine, and the scallops were good, though not sashimi grade. The shrimp looked and tasted like regular black tiger shrimp.

In the end, we were left scratching our head. I mean the service was so nice and accommodating, and we enjoyed the very relaxed atmosphere....maybe due to the fact that we were the only people in the restaurant. The Shabu-Shabu was good, but the Yakiniku fell a bit short.

 

We so wanted this meal to be great, since we really like this restaurant....

So how about price? In keeping with the Tsuruhashi post, I decided to wait till the end to summarize everything.

Shabu Shabu - $18.00
Seafood Mix - $9.50
Tongue(Jo-Tan) - $7.50
Mixed Vegetable - $5.50
Prime Rib Eye(Jo-Rosu) - $7.50
Rice - $2.00

Total $50.50 w/o Tax

And to make me feel even worse about doing this post, they didn't charge us extra for ordering only one order of Shabu Shabu! But then again, how is it that all of the Yakiniku is more expensive than Tsuruhashi? Sigh........

We will return to Suzuya, though we may just stick with the Shabu Shabu. I'm hoping that someone will comment and tell me this was just a very off night for the Yakiniku.

Suzuya Japanese BBQ
5447 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 505-0611

Lunch - Mon-Fri 1130am - 230pm
Dinner - Daily 5pm to 11pm

Comments

[Kathy]

Hey Kirk!
As much as I enjoy shabu shabu, I can never help but feel that I would have saved so much just by making it at home, never understood why it was so costly compared to other types of dining!

[howie]

Hmm... that prime rib has a weird gray ring in the middle of it :-( It doesn't look as beautiful as the kobe in your Tsuruhashi post.

[Michael]

Sushi Deli 3 just opened up on Kearny Villa by Clairemont Mesa, you need to go there and let us know if it's good! Keep up the good work!

[Fred]

I went to Sushi Deli 3 the other day. It's pretty much the same as the other Sushi Delis.

[Kirk]

Hi Kathy - Yes, since nowadays you can get good quality prime shabu-shabu cut beef, it is easy to make Shabu Shabu at home....though it was nice a relaxing to have it Suzuya.

Hi Howie - Funny, it's (supposedly) the same grade of rib eye as what I had a Tsuruhashi, I didn't get the Kobe there since they were out. This was the prime rib eye.

Hi Michael - You can take Fred's word below......

Hi Fred - Thanks!!!

[Chubbypanda]

Ye gods. I wouldn't go back there after seeing that yakiniku beef. I probably wouldn't even have eaten it. Then again, I'm a little gun shy after my recent bout with an invasive intestinal organism. Bleeding internally makes me cautious.

[Faith]

Hi Kirk,
Yes, this must of been an off night because the yakiniku is definitely delici-yoso at Suzuya. The meat used at Suzuya is a very high quality meat from Nebraska. The owners take pride in the quality used and try to focus on providing that authentic Japanese flavor and style to their customers. The price of the meat is definitely an affect from the cost of the product and the owners are not making much of a profit. Anyways, I'm sorry to see that you were not completely satisfied with your meal but I do hope you consider giving Suzuya another try. As for the empty restaurant, considering the location and local competition, it has been tough for small local businesses to survive.

[Kirk]

Hi Faith - Suzuya was one of the restaurants that we so wanted to like, the service was nice, friendly, and accommodating, and we like the decor. So maybe we'll give it another try in the future.

[Artie]

Hi Kirk,
I've been lurking on this site for a while now, it's actually on MY rotation... for websites that is. Anyway, I've been to Suzuya twice now (because they had a 30% off discount thru June) and I really like it. I'm not quite the connoisseur you are, but I like to think I can tell bad vs. good vs. great food. Anyway, if/when you and the Missus go back there, you MUST try the Harami Ponzu. It's on the small dish menu (which is all in Japanese, so good luck trying to figure out other stuff). I assure you it's flat out delicious!

Btw, great site, I've found some great eats from you and the Missus. Thanks mucho!

[Kirk]

Hi Anrtie - Thanks for the kind words. We will make an effort to revisit Suzuya in the future. I think that Skirt Steak (i.e. Harami) is probably one of the tastiest cuts.