Shizuoka Japanese Restaurant (La Mesa) (new owners)

mmm-yoso!!! A food blog.  Kirk is working to exhaustion this week.  Ed (from Yuma) is continuing his steady relaxation with his retirement schedule.  Cathy penciled in and checked off writing a post for today.

In December, I was simultaneously happy and sad to get a comment on my most recent post about Shizuoka from Nana, the daughter of of the owners of this Mom and Pop Japanese restaurant; her parents had decided to retire and sell the shop.

I had written about this 25+ year East County Institution only  twice before that post...but it was one of our regular stops.  Local, quality, friendly.  I really couldn't bring myself to stop in for a very long time.  But we finally have.  Well, it looks the same from the outside, other than a sandwich board on the sidewalk and the missing shoji window coverings.Inside, the refrigerator and one booth is gone and a small, three seat sushi bar and cash register is near the entrance to the kitchen...the tablecloths are gone, too.

Other than the addition of a few pages of sushi rolls, the menu looked about the same...but I wondered if the food tasted the same.Starting out, we each had a nice bowl of miso soup, which was good.  There were plenty of fresh tofu cubes. The calamari appetizer ($4.95) prepared in a similar, but not exactly the original way...lightly dusted with rice flour and crispy.  It was good and I'll order it again. The lunch menu was the same: choose a primary and a secondary for a Bento box ($6.99).  The Mister ordered the teriyaki chicken and pot stickers.  Everything was fresh and good.  The teriyaki sauce on the tender chicken was not too sweet nor sticky/gloppy; the pot stickers were quite good and mostly meat filled. The salad dressing was fresh and flavorful and the edamame in the center were still warm from steaming.

The difference?  Rice filled one of the compartments, so the mayonnaise covered noodles were missing...rice used to be served in a side bowl.  The rice was an excellent, almost sushi quality.The standard for me here are the primary of saba (grilled mackerel) and the tempura vegetables.  The large piece of mackerel was fresh, thick, not oily and grilled to a perfect doneness with a nice crispness of the skin. The tempura was perfect and included one shrimp and one piece of surimi in addition to the vegetables.

All in all, still good, still quality and still local.

Shizuoka Japanese Restaurant  9118 Fletcher Parkway La Mesa 91942 (619)461-1151 Mon-Fri 11:30-3 Mon-Thur 5-9:30  Friday and Saturday 5-10  Closed Sunday

Comments

[Black Belt Jonez]

Thanks for posting Cathy. Are the new owners Japanese?

[nhbilly]

I really miss SoCal for the mom and pop shops that get it right and the weather versus the crap attempt here in SATX

[Cathy]

You're welcome, BBJ. Yes, the one guy who is always working is Japanese...he's so young!
We are fortunate to have so many established neighborhoods and therefore businesses out here, Bill. I hope the song sense of community gets passed on to future generations.

[caninecologne]

Very nice! I just had grilled saba at our local Japanese eatery (well, local to west CV)...it's nice to go to these family run places. The servers get to know you and what you like in some cases.

[Cathy]

The original owner lady really did remember us, cc...she seemed happy when we'd use chopsticks and ask for hot tea...I'm sad to see that she and her husband retired, but am happy they did leave on their own terms and turned over the business to someone who kept the primary "heart" of the menu.