*** BBQ Express Teriyaki has closed and is now Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori.
BBQ Express Teriyaki Hawaiian BBQ (whew that's mouthful), recently replaced the Convoy location of Extreme Pita. My first thought was, just what we need, another Teriyaki joint in the area, or is it a Hawaiian BBQ, or maybe .....???
You've got to give them some points for creative use of a former locations sign....just check out the sign from Cathy's post on Extreme Pita. I guess it's not that far a stretch from Extreme Pita to BBQ Express Teriyaki Hawaiian BBQ (I sense some redundancy).
One quick look at the menu, the crew, and the "salads", and you'll know right away this is a Korean owned and influenced restaurant.
So what is the food here like? I walked in and ordered a Teriyaki Chicken Plate ($6.95):
The chicken was taken from a portable steam-table unit sitting on the back counter, chopped, placed on rice, and covered with a too sweet teriyaki sauce. Very mundane.
You get to choose 2 salads, and among the choices was a dangmyeon dish, reminiscent of Japchae, it was in fact the best thing about the whole meal. It also had me wishing for something along the lines of Gina's BBQ, or even a Yummy's Korean BBQ. Now that's a Korean style plate lunch!
This on the other hand.......
Still, thoughts of perhaps getting just the side dishes with rice, brought me back. And I asked if I could just get the Japchae, macaroni salad, and rice....and got a smile, and a blank stare in return. I asked again, and got the same response. I'm guessing that was a "negatory sir"...... So I splurged and ordered the BBQ Kalbi plate ($8.45):
This time the very thinly sliced cross-cut ribs were cooked to order, but I could have done without the very liberal amount of the same bad teriyaki sauce poured over the ribs before serving.
Again the Japchae was the best thing about the meal.
And though the macaroni salad was on the runny side, it wasn't terribly sweet as Korean style mac salad tends to be, and was actually not bad.
In the end, nothing really compels me to return. In spite of the long name.....BBQ Express Teriyaki Hawaiian BBQ...I felt the place fell very short. And I'm still wondering what part the Hawaiian BBQ is? To me, it's just another teriyaki joint. Maybe you'll have better luck.
BBQ Express Teriyaki Hawaiian BBQ
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Boy you sure are thorough with eating your way through San Diego Kirk. ;)
The comment of the redundancy in the name totally made me laugh..
Posted by: Dennis | Sunday, 14 September 2008 at 08:48 PM
They could have really saved on the signage re-do by calling themselves "Extreme Teriyaki"
or
"Chipotle Teriyaki" since chipotle is a hot advertising word. More people know about chipotle than Sarah Palin
Posted by: dennisw | Sunday, 14 September 2008 at 09:46 PM
Hi Dennis - I'm trying my best.
Hi DW - LOL! But than people would be wondering what's so extreme about the place!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 15 September 2008 at 07:41 AM
Looks like another ho-hum plate lunch place. Ah, Yummy's Korean BBQ...I love that place, especially the one in Ala Moana and the Navy Exchange at Pearl. Sigh...
Posted by: Carol | Monday, 15 September 2008 at 10:28 AM
Hi Carol - Perfect description...ho-hum, bubblegum! Man, do I miss Gina's, I lived right up the street....
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 15 September 2008 at 08:34 PM
hmmm, why is it that so many mac salads just rate not bad most of the time.. and teriyaki sauce is almost always bad? They should include some kimchee and pickles to offset the sweetness!
Posted by: foodhoe | Tuesday, 16 September 2008 at 09:16 AM
Hi FH - I think it's because they don't use enough, or decent quality ingredients. The scourge of Teriyaki sauce is Corn Syrup.....
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 16 September 2008 at 09:44 PM
I still think they're better than the Teri Cafe. At least they don't deep fry the gyoza.
Posted by: local eater | Sunday, 28 December 2008 at 01:06 PM