A couple of things to break up the week.....
The Original Sab E Lee moving into the (former) Bale location:
Funny thing. This past weekend I wanted something with a little "zip", so in spite of some not so great meals in the last year or so, since I needed to grab something from Thuan Phat, I decided to get some take-out from what was once our favorite take-out spot, the Original Sab E Lee. Over the last couple of years, there seems to be a rotation of young people running the front of house....on this day, the young lady was, well, kind of rude..... But taking a peek back at the kitchen, I saw one of the "old crew" who had moved over to Rancho Penasquitos location cooking in the back. Needless to say, it was a very nice meal....though I found that my tolerance for heat....I used to be a level 10 kind of guy, has gone down. A "7" on this day was kicking my butt. Still, this was the best stuff I've had from here in a while....especially the salted fish fried rice!
Anyway, I also noticed that Bale had closed down....well, they lasted two years.....
Yesterday, I was on my way to a meeting and I decided to drive by and take a photo for a post......and my goodness what a surprise!
Way back in 2008, Kobey told me they had looked at this spot, but thought it was too expensive. I'm glad they're pulling the trigger now. The spot really hasn't done well since Le's closed, in 2009 it became LV Sandwiches, in 2010 Toan Ky, Bale opened in 2012, now in 2014 it's going to be the TOSEL...more tables, more parking, I hope the staff and the kitchen can keep up.
The Original Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111
moving to
6925 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111
Marukai has new hours:
This past weekend, the Missus went back to work. She requested Sukiyaki, so I decided to drop by Marukai. I got there a bit earlier than the usual (former) opening time of 930 and noticed folks were already exiting the market.
That's when I noticed the new hours.
I also did pretty well in the meat department.
I'm glad to have the new hours....9 or 930 is kinda late to get started shopping for me on weekends.
Marukai Market
8151 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111
Hope you're having a great week!
That beef looks amazing. I thought the price was amazingly expensive....until I saw this: http://www.costco.com/.product.100115176.html?cm_sp=RichRelevance-_-itempageVerticalRight-_-CategorySiloedViewCP&cm_vc=itempageVerticalRight|CategorySiloedViewCP
Posted by: janfrederick | Wednesday, 05 November 2014 at 07:57 AM
You should see how much Kobe A-5 costs in Japan Jan.
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 05 November 2014 at 08:00 AM
I wish more places opened earlier here!
Posted by: kat | Wednesday, 05 November 2014 at 03:00 PM
I shall bide my time until the new TOSEL opens. Thanks for the heads up!
Posted by: caninecologne | Wednesday, 05 November 2014 at 09:20 PM
So how was the Kobe?
Posted by: nhbilly | Thursday, 06 November 2014 at 05:45 AM
Hi Kat - Yes, we found ourselves wishing the same thing when we were there!
Hi CC - Hope you like it!
Like buttah Billy! Like buttah! But not as good as what we had in Kobe buttah! ;o)
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 06 November 2014 at 06:29 AM
Ooh new location for TOSEL! I wanted to go there with coworkers but the place is so small and lunch time is limited. I hope you let us know when they are finally open!
Posted by: Lynn @ Oh-So Yummy | Thursday, 06 November 2014 at 12:09 PM
I found TOSEL from your blog and it's still THE spiciest food (for me) here in SD. I always prided myself in being able to order spicy level 10 at other places but at TOSEL, no way. A 7 is pretty darn hot. Thanks for the heads up on the new location.
$68.99/lb for wagyu. The slices look beautiful. I think I recently saw wagyu at Nijiya as well - do you have a preference (recently) b/w protein found at Marukai v Nijiya?
Posted by: Faye | Thursday, 06 November 2014 at 12:29 PM
I will Lynn!
I've never seen wagyu from Japan at Nijiya. They will have Australian wagyu, but haven't seen the stuff from Japan....as someone who has eaten A-5 Kobe beef in Kobe....it's a whole different ballgame.
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 06 November 2014 at 06:48 PM
One of these days...
Posted by: nhbilly | Thursday, 06 November 2014 at 07:52 PM
That would be great Billy!
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 07 November 2014 at 06:35 AM