Just like Cathy and The Mister recently did, I had to perform my civic obligation. That would be Jury Duty.
On the good side, I'd read that Ramen Yamadaya's Downtown location had finally opened. I'd first heard about this back in Spring of 2013. Over a year later, I noted that the sign had finally gone up. They must have run into some major problems.....over two years in the making! Even though my last couple of visits have been less than stellar, I wanted to check them out.
The area look a bit smaller than I thought it would be. There's a three table and four seat "bar" looking area near the entrance and a sunken area with tables and another bar; I didn't see any seats, but am pretty sure they'll be there soon.
Upon arriving, it took a bit to be noticed. I was told to sit anywhere I wanted. The service was friendly, if a bit on the slow side.....going thru those opening jitters.
I went with the Kotteri Tonkotsu, done "Yamadaya Style", which made my bowl $12.95. Wow, more expensive than places I'd been to in Japan like Nagi, Ippudo, and Rokurinsha!
So you're basically getting one extra piece of chashu, another half an egg, and a cube of kakuni pork for three bucks. The broth was actually a bit richer and more flavorful than what I'd had on my previous couple of visits to the Clairemont location. The flavor is still not quite "there" for me. It needs a bit more porkiness and oomph. I forgot to order the noodles "katame" and was punished with weak, soggy noodles. Historically, I've not been impressed with the chashu at Yamadaya. It is often cold, dry, and flavorless. This was actually decent, it was warm, and while still not great, at least it had some flavor. That piece of kakuni was terrible though. Hard and chewy, lacking in flavor. The egg was good, just making the cut in terms of doneness, had some flavor and was also warm, which added to the enjoyment.
In spite of all my criticisms, I believe in terms of broth, this bowl was much better than what I'd recently had at the Clairemont Mesa location. I recognized two of the staff working in the kitchen, though it did take a while to get to my table.
Will I return? Well, it seems that I have jury duty every year, so maybe......if I'm in the area, perhaps. Will I be making a special trip here? Not really.....though I'm sure it's a boon for folks who work and live downtown.
Ramen Yamadaya
531 Broadway San
San Diego, CA 92101
:(
Posted by: kat | Sunday, 20 December 2015 at 09:33 PM
Bowl looks pretty I wish I had a disappointing bowl like that in Tx ;-)
Posted by: nhbilly | Monday, 21 December 2015 at 06:27 AM
I had jury duty recently (well, two months ago). I don't think Ramen Yamadaya had opened yet. As you said, it's an option.
Posted by: Sandy | Monday, 21 December 2015 at 08:05 AM
Hmm... I'll have to try the Tonkotsu Shoyu sometime...
Posted by: Soo @ hungryones | Monday, 21 December 2015 at 09:32 AM
The last time I went to the Clairemont location the soup was pretty weak. They dropped a few notches on my (short) SD ramen list.
Posted by: Junichi | Monday, 21 December 2015 at 11:21 AM
Well at least it wasn't as bad as my last two visits to the Clairemont location Kat!
I hope you get some good ramen one of these days Billy!
Hi Sandy - It's a nice walk from the Hall of Justice.
Hey Soo - If you do "upgrade" get it kakuni style instead of Yamadaya style, which IMO is not worth it.
My last 2-3 visits to that location wasn't very good Junichi. This was actually a bit better.
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 21 December 2015 at 06:51 PM
Although one would prefer to give them benefit of the doubt, the thought did cross my mind that the slow service might not be attributed to opening jitters. The Clairemont location has been open for years and the staff seems to be just as painfully disorganized and slow at times.
Posted by: LL | Tuesday, 22 December 2015 at 05:58 PM
Hi LL - I usually try not to visit Yamadaya during busy times. They seem to be able handle a normal/non-primetime (i.e. no lines and all tables not full) service. But once things get really busy it's chaos. I would hope that having only 3 tables of customers as was the case here would not cause that with 3 Servers on duty and 4 people in the kitchen.
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 23 December 2015 at 07:06 AM
I gave up on Yamadaya on Clairemont Mesa awhile ago. They could never get it all together (food and service) which drove me crazy!
Posted by: jack | Wednesday, 23 December 2015 at 07:20 AM
Yeah, I haven't been back there in a while too Jack.
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 23 December 2015 at 10:03 AM